Ben Keith Inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame by Neil Young

Neil Young Dedicates the Hall of Fame Award to Ben Keith in Heaven
Nashville, 1/28/14
Photo by Karen Kraft / The Tennessean
(Click photo to enlarge)
The late, great Ben Keith was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame by Neil Young in Nashville, TN this week.

"Everybody has these big shows for the hood ornament," Neil Young said, referring to other awards shows. "Everybody's cheering for the hood ornament. Don't forget what's under the hood. ... Without that, there's nothing happening but the chrome."

Pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith, Neil Young's longtime friend and bandmate died in 2010. They first played music together on Harvest, Young's 1972 album which prominently featured Keith's work on classics such as "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold."

DJ Tyson (Ben Keith's grandson) & Neil Young
From 2014 Inductees Announcement to Musicians Hall Of Fame:

Ben Keith (posthumously) – Known primarily for his work as a pedal steel guitarist with Neil Young, Keith was a fixture of the Nashville country music community in the 1950s and 1960s. He later worked with numerous successful rock, country and pop artists as both a producer and a multi-instrumentalist sideman for over four decades. The very first song Ben recorded as a Nashville session player was Patsy Cline’s timeless standard “I Fall To Pieces.”

Heidi Denning (Ben Keith's daughter) & Neil Young
Ben Keith (March 6, 1937 – July 26, 2010), Neil Young's long time band mate and dear friend, was a multi-talented musician who Neil Young first met in Nashville in February 1971 when Neil was recording the multi-platinum LP Harvest who passed away unexpectedly in 2010.


Ben "Longrain" Keith: 1937 - 2010

Bridge Benefit Concert 2008
Photo by Craig Abaya
Upon learning of Ben's passing, Neil Young issued the following statement:

On the full moon, the Thunder moon, the world lost one of the greatest musicians of all time. Ben was 73 years old the night he died on Broken Arrow Ranch in California, his happy home for the last years of his life. Ben played with Patsy Cline, Faron Young, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Ian Tyson and many other music greats. A great American, the quiet giant, he moved gently through the world, with kindness and grace.

My wife Pegi was lucky to share his last performance a few weeks back in San Francisco, where Ben was playing in her band, supporting her and lending his spirit to her every word as she sang her songs for us.

Of course, in Nashville Ben Keith is legendary, one of the last of the original country greats, the man behind the song. No one will ever fill his shoes. He has countless friends and admirers. They all miss him as much as I do. I will miss him every time I look to my side, remembering him, my brother and fellow traveler.

Thankfully, Ben's masterful playing can be seen and heard in two Johnathon Demme pictures: 'Heart of Gold' and 'Trunk Show,' as well as countless great recordings over the last 50 years. We are so fortunate to have these as memories and lasting documents of his greatness and grace. He started out on a homemade steel guitar he fashioned himself from a piece of wood and left over parts. He loved his music and his life and cherished his many friends and soul mates.

He leaves behind his wonderful daughter Heidi, and his grandchildren who he loved so much, DJ, Rachel, James, Meredith, Aubrey, Fletcher and Caroline.

May he rest in Peace.

Neil Young

Legend has it that Neil asked bassist Tim Drummond if he knew any pedal-steel players in town. Tim contacted Ben, who lived in town and off he went to the studio: "I didn't know who anyone was, so I asked, who's that guy over there?" and was told "that's Neil Young".

"They were already recording [Harvest] at the time," Keith said in the 2005 concert movie Heart of Gold. "I set up my steel and kind of snuck in there and started playing and we did five songs before we ever stopped and introduced ourselves."

Neil Young often referred to Ben Keith as "Brother Ben".


Ben Keith with Faron Young and band (via Rock Town Hall)Keith's career dated back to playing on Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces."


Rick Rosas & Ben Keith @ Cutting Room, NYC, NY 07-19-2007
Photo by Johnny Marr


Photo gallery by Tony Stack on Rock Steady Studios of Neil Young in Denver, CO on 4/27/09
Keith is also known as the producer of Jewel's debut album Pieces of You, which sold more than ten million units.

From Jewel remembers producer Ben Keith | tennessean.com | The Tennessean:

For Jewel, though, Keith will always be the man who helmed her breakthrough, Pieces Of You, an album that sold more than 10 million copies.

"I was signed to Atlantic Records, completely ignorant about the music business," Jewel said. "I met with maybe 50 different producers, and a lot of them wanted to change what I did. Ben was the first who made me feel comfortable with who and what I was. He had the mentality of, 'Let the musician be the musician,' and he believed in me when I didn't know how to believe in myself."

"He was a champion of the song and the songwriter, no matter what," she said. "He was a defender, and he helped give me confidence. He wanted to pay homage to the song, with no over-singing and no over-playing. He produced that album, and so we both hit the frickin' goldmine.

We were dark horses that beat the odds."

Ben Keith as "Grandpa" in Greendale as filmed by Neil Young - 2002
(Eric Johnson as "Jed", center)
More on Ben Keith: 1937 - 2010.

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NEW DATES: Istanbul & Copenhagen for Neil Young & Crazy Horse Concert Tour

More new tour dates for Neil Young & Crazy Horse in Europe this summer have been announced.

In a stunner, Neil Young & Crazy Horse are to play Istanbul, Turkey on July 15th at KüçükÇiftlik Park. See http://www.radikal.com.tr/kultur/neil_young_15_temmuzda_istanbulda-1173190 for details.

Also, 30 July, Neil Young & Crazy Horse will be in Copenhagen, Sweden Denmark to make up for last summer's canceled tour dates. On Monday 3 February, an exclusive presale for those who had bought tickets for the canceled concert in August, and the official ticketing starts the Thursday 6 February.

Thanks Brand New Guy!

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NEW VIDEO: "Mother Earth" by Neil Young from "Honour The Treaties" Tour

New video for Neil Young's song "Mother Earth" from "Honour The Treaties" tour, Calgary, Jan 20, 2014.

Breathtaking doesn't begin to describe, even after multiple views still processing.

"Recently, Neil Young completed a brief tour of his native Canada consisting of four benefit concerts under the banner of 'Honor The Treaties.' The nature of these shows were assembled to raise money and awareness for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Legal Defense Fund. The ACFN refer to themselves as K'ai Taile Dene, meaning 'people of the land of the willow.' A Legal Defense fund was set up to support the ACFN's legal challenges against oil companies and government that are obstructing their traditional lands and rights. As people of the land the ACFN have used and occupied their traditional lands in the Athabasca region for thousands of years, hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering to sustain themselves and continue spiritual cultural rights passed down through generations. The ACFN's legal challenges will ensure the protection of their traditional lands, eco-systems and unique rights guaranteed by Treaty 8, the last and largest of the nineteenth century land agreements made between First Nations and the government of Canada, are upheld for the benefit of future generations."

For more information on Honour The Treaties," head over to http://neilyoung.com.

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Comment of the Moment: The Taper Speaks on Crowd Sourcing

As we've blogged about, the recent "crowd sourced" YouTube video of Neil Young at Carnegie Hall, on 1/7/14, has been widely discussed and debated on its the ethics, morality and consequences.

Now, from the taper and editor himself, Tom Adams of Reel Life Productions has commented on the controversy on Neil Young News: The Crowd Sourcing and the Damage Done... or Not?:

Glad so many of you are enjoying my little concert film…

To be perfectly honest, I'm sort of surprised by all the hoopla surrounding this. This is certainly not the first of its kind. In fact, this type of thing has been happening for several years. I certainly recognize the complexity of the issues involved and definitely agree that there's no definitive "right answer". The issues and opinions surrounding live music recordings are of great interest to me since I have been a media producer/director/editor for 20+ years and went to school for this stuff… and I've been a drummer in bands since the early 90's…AND I've been trading music since the 80's and still have my treasured cassette collection to prove it:)

People have said 'why don't you just sit and watch the show and enjoy it instead of missing out on the whole show just to record it'…. to me before plenty of times but I did NOT miss out on a fantastic concert - i enjoyed every second of it… and I don't press the camera to my face or be obnoxious by sticking my phone in the air like so many others do. In fact, I barely look at the articulating wide-screen lcd screen of my canon sx30is (35x optical zoom) (and I dim the lcd screen settings, so it's barely visible).. in fact, for most of the show, it was sitting on the floor propped on my jacket…

and to be fair… I don't believe "Neil's Team" was actually "interviewed" - I believe he was emailed by the reporter for a comment on the subject and received the one sentence reply ' we think it's incredibly rude' comment… and I don't even think he was referring specifically to the crowd-sourced video that I produced…I actually think they were referring to the act of sticking a big glowing phone into the air and disturbing everyone around you (which is NOT how I do it…) - and for the record, I think it is indeed rude and annoying and I too wish people would stop doing it… don't know how to fix this or if we can actually stop it… The way I see it, and what I mention in the onscreen text at the beginning of the movie… is that this is great advertising ole Neiler… I'd love it if everyone who watched this film, went out and purchased Neil's whole catalog and also donated to the bridge school… Also… I love the irony in Neil's quote "Piracy is the new radio"
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/17/neil-young-piracy-is-the-new-radio_n_1889785.html) there's a lot more to be said about this but i gotta go for now…

I'll leave with one of my favorite Neil quotes: "Take my advice, don't listen to me" -from Landing on Water "Hippie Dream Also you might wanna check out the "other" crowd-sourced Neil show that I put recorded and put together: Neil Young & Crazy Horse full show 11/26/12, TD Garden, Boston

Thanks Tom! We appreciate your trying to set the record straight on this situation.

Your sharing the details makes it a lot easier for folks to assess the situation and try and do what's best.

As for us? We'll just repeat again what we said the other night on Thrasher's Wheat Radio on WBKM that the live concert moment is most sacred and nothing should detract from the experience of the audience and the artist.

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Pete Seeger: 1919 – 2014 (UPDATED)

Pete Seeger's Last Ride
"This Land Is Your Land"
John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Pete Seeger, Dave Matthews, Neil Young
Farm Aid 2013 - Saratoga Springs, New York
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Photo by Paul Natkin/Photo Reserve, Inc. via http://www.farmaid.org
(Click photo to enlarge)
Pete Seeger has joined the great gig in the sky.

Pete Seeger's last public performance was at Farm Aid 2013 in Saratoga Springs, New York with John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews, and Neil Young singing "This Land Is Your Land".

A truly priceless moment if there ever was one.



To say that Pete Seeger was a folk legend would be a vast understatement.

We'll try and update later today as tributes arrive trying to put in perspective something can't really be done.

From Neil Young's offical Facebook page:

Thank you Pete my friend, for all you have done for us. We sing in your voice about the things that matter, the story of the people and their struggle, with a laugh and a cry.
neil

U.S. President Barack Obama released a statement Tuesday morning:

"Once called 'America's tuning fork,' Pete Seeger believed deeply in the power of song.

But more importantly, he believed in the power of community -- to stand up for what's right, speak out against what's wrong, and move this country closer to the America he knew we could be. Over the years, Pete used his voice -- and his hammer -- to strike blows for worker's rights and civil rights; world peace and environmental conservation.

And he always invited us to sing along. For reminding us where we come from and showing us where we need to go, we will always be grateful to Pete Seeger. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayer to Pete's family and all those who loved him."

Pete Seeger's great heart was matched only by his commitment to social justice. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

— Bill Clinton (@billclinton) January 28, 2014

Arlo Guthrie wrote on Facebook :

Pete Seeger:

I usually do a little meditation and prayer every night before I go to sleep – Just part of the routine. Last night, I decided to go visit Pete Seeger for a while, just to spend a little time together, it was around 9 PM. So I was sitting in my home in Florida, having a lovely chat with Pete, who was in a hospital in New York City. That’s the great thing about thoughts and prayers- You can go or be anywhere.

I simply wanted him to know that I loved him dearly, like a father in some ways, a mentor in others and just as a dear friend a lot of the time. I’d grown up that way – loving the Seegers – Pete & Toshi and all their family.

I let him know I was having trouble writing his obituary (as I’d been asked) but it seemed just so silly and I couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound trite or plain stupid. “They’ll say something appropriate in the news,” we agreed. We laughed, we talked, and I took my leave about 9:30 last night.

“Arlo” he said, sounding just like the man I’ve known all of my life, “I guess I’ll see ya later.” I’ve always loved the rising and falling inflections in his voice. “Pete,” I said. “I guess we will.”

I turned off the light and closed my eyes and fell asleep until very early this morning, about 3 AM when the texts and phone calls started coming in from friends telling me Pete had passed away.

“Well, of course he passed away!” I’m telling everyone this morning. “But that doesn’t mean he’s gone.”

“@ant2608: @tmorello RIP Pete Seeger, finally reunited with Woody and Leadbelly, there'll be some great picking in heaven tonight.” True!

— Tom Morello (@tmorello) January 28, 2014

In 2009, Springsteen performed at New York’s Madison Square Garden in celebration of Seeger’s 90th birthday, and said:

“At some point Pete Seeger decided he’d be a walking, singing reminder of all of America’s history. He’d be a living archive of America’s music and conscience, a testament of the power of song and culture to nudge history along, to push American events towards more humane and justified ends. He would have the audacity and the courage to sing in the voice of the people, and despite Pete’s somewhat benign, grandfatherly appearance, he is a creature of a stubborn, defiant, and nasty optimism. Inside him he carries a steely toughness that belies that grandfatherly facade and it won’t let him take a step back from the things he believes in. At 90, he remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country’s illusions about itself.”

In Pete Seeger's testimony before The House Un-American Activities Committee, on August 18, 1955, his answer to the question of whether he sung to Communists:

“ I decline to discuss, under compulsion, where I have sung, and who has sung my songs, and who else has sung with me, and the people I have known. I love my country very dearly, and I greatly resent this implication that some of the places that I have sung and some of the people that I have known, and some of my opinions, whether they are religious or philosophical, or I might be a vegetarian, make me any less of an American. I will tell you about my songs, but I am not interested in telling you who wrote them, and I will tell you about my songs, and I am not interested in who listened to them.”

Pete walked like a giant because he was a giant -- yet he was the most humble and gracious giant to ever walk the face of music.

Pete, we all walk these lands for you ... and us.

Pete Seeger - 1995

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INTERVIEW: David Crosby - 'Serve The Song,' Not The Self : NPR

David Crosby
Photo by Francesco Lucarelli
(Click photo to enlarge)


From interview David Crosby: 'Serve The Song,' Not The Self : NPR:

David Crosby may have one of the most cherished voices in rock history, but it's rare for listeners to hear it alone. His new solo studio album, Croz, is only his fourth such release in more than 50 years of making music.
Wild Tales, by Graham Nash

Asked how he chooses which songs to attack on his own, rather than alongside his longtime partners , and , Crosby says it's less a decision than an intuition.

"If I have songs, then I want to be recording them. It's not as if I sit there with the songs and say, 'This is a Crosby, Stills & Nash song,' or 'I gotta save this until I can work on it with Neil,' or 'I'm saving this for myself; this is too good for those guys' — I do what comes naturally," Crosby says.

"Our job, really, is to serve the song," he adds. "That's really what making records is about. You have to really write a real song that you can sit down and play for somebody and make them feel something. If you don't have that, you shouldn't bother."

Croz is out this Tuesday. David Crosby spoke about it, as well as his Voltron-like relationship with and how his songwriting has changed since a brush with death in the early 1990s with weekends on All Things Considered guest host Kelly McEvers. Hear more of their conversation at the audio link.

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Photo of the Moment: Neil & Pegi Young - GRAMMY's 2014

Neil & Pegi Young - GRAMMY's 2014
(Click photo to enlarge)
Last night at the 2014 GRAMMY Awards, Neil Young & Crazy Horse were up for Best Rock Album for "Psychedelic Pill". Instead, - Led Zeppelin won Best Rock Album for 'Celebration Day,' a document of their one-off 2007 reunion concert which was released in late 2012. OK? Well, congrats LZ.

So here's a scorecard of Neil Young at the GRAMMYs:

GRAMMY Awards:
2011 - Best Rock Song - Angry World
2010 - Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package - Neil Young Archives Vol. 1

GRAMMY nominations:
2014 - Psychedelic Pill - Best Rock Album
2011 - Le Noise - Best Rock Album
2010 - Fork In The Road - Best Rock Solo Performance / Male
2009 - No Hidden Path - Best Rock Solo Performance / Male
2007 - Lookin' for a Leader - Best Rock Song
2007 - Lookin' for a Leader - Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance / Male
2007 - Living With War - Best Rock Album
2006 - Prairie Wind - Best Rock Album
2006 - The Painter - Best Rock Solo Performance - Male
2005 - Fork In The Road - Best Rock Vocal Performance / Male
1997 - Broken Arrow - Best Rock Album
1996 - Downtown - Best Rock Song
1996 - Peace And Love - Best Rock Solo Performance / Male
1996 - Mirror Ball - Best Rock Album
1995 - Philadelphia - Best Rock Solo Performance / Male
1995 - Sleeps With Angels - Best Rock Album
1994 - Harvest Moon - Record of the Year
1994 - Harvest Moon - Song of the Year
1994 - My Back Pages - Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (mit Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, George Harrison)
1991 - Rockin' In The Free World - Best Rock Solo Performance / Male
1990 - Freedom - Best Rock Solo Performance / Male
1989 - Freedom - Best Rock Vocal Performance

(Thanks Ralf on Rusties | Facebook!)

Should also mention that Neil Young was the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year, which is probably something more meaningful to Neil. Also, last weekend, Neil Young was Honored by Grammy Producers Engineers Wing.

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Comment of the Moment: The Crowd Sourcing and the Damage Done... or Not?

Should we post "crowd sourced" full concert videos?
Lots of chatter about the recently uploaded video on YouTube of the full Neil Young concert at Carnegie Hall on January 7, 2014.

Our exclusive Shakey poll results show that -- surprisingly -- most fans are OK with all of this. (Polls are still open if you have voted as of yet.)

So, to tape or not to tape? To upload or not to upload? To crowd source or not? And so on and on and on.

The Comment of the Moment is from The Crowd Sourcing and the Damage Done... or Not? by Dan1:

I was at the Jan 7th Carnegie Hall show and will savor the memories for the rest of my life.

I chose to live in the moment and respect those around me and didn't take any pictures. I was in a lower balcony seat and during the encore noticed some jerks taking tons of pictures from the first few rows and it clearly pissed Neil off and was over-all distracting and very selfish. I think there should be a distinction between videos taken which are done discreetly and tastefully so nobody, not Neil or other fans, are disturbed. Those are technically not allowed but as mentioned in other posts, bootlegs are as old as the music and the policy should be no harm no foul. On the other hand, obnoxious people who disrupt Neil or other fans should be subjected to consequences ...

Personally, I watched the crowd sourced video last week and loved it and will cherish the fact i can relive that amazing night. I think it would be punative for Neil or Elliot to take it down ... I'd be more than happy to send Neil and Elliot a check for $20 or $30 if they tell me where to mail the check, seriously ... its the same as Trunk Show ... please just put it out we're dying to pay for it, same for Archives II, III, IV, V, ect ... but bottom line my view is that I'll buy pretty much whatever they put out ... bought the archives in BD, bought most of the vinyl albums years ago, bought most of them again as CDs and DVDs ... my watching this crowd sourced video of Carnegie Hall will only cause me to BUY MORE from Neil not less ... I'll see more shows, ect ...

as an aside, I think the comments about Neil pricing out fans is a bit naive ... these shows are special because they're in small venues ... tickets for Carnegie Hall were between $50-200 ($50 is an awesome price btw), and tickets for on sale for weeks before selling out, then they were available on Stub Hub for $1000s the week of the shows ... its clear that Neil left tons of money on the table and anyone complaining about prices is just a complainer ... in summary, my guess is that this crowd sourced video will get around into more hands than just about anything Neil has for many years and he'll see renewed interest from fans who buy up lots of old records and sales and interest will spike ... thats what I hope happens and what I think will happen ...

bottom line, especially if these were'nt taped by Neil's camp, you cannot suppress great art ... the Carnegie Hall shows were highlight shows, they were an epic stop over in Neil's storied career ... in this day and age its just tough to control it and I do think the artist deserves to get compensation somehow but I think the days of locking things up in the vault for decades seems to have ended, for better or worse.

I say embrace it, the way the Grateful Dead did, make a recorders sections or something and enforce rules that are respectful to the artist and the audience but hey its Neil's show ...

Thanks Dan! Obviously, we struggled with all of this but made the call that we did.

We discussed this at length last night on Thrashers Wheat Radio, if you caught that. If not, download the podcast, if interested in our thought process.

The horse left the barn and has done and gone viral. Let us hope all for the better.

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Photo of the Moment: Stephen Stills & Neil Young - 2014

Stephen Stills & Neil Young
The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing GRAMMY Event
Village Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California - January 21st, 2014
Photo via Rusties | Facebook
(Click photo to enlarge)The Photo of the Moment is Stephen Stills & Neil Young at The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing GRAMMY Event at Village Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California on January 21st, 2014.

Always good to see the "brothers" having a good time.

And since you asked, FWIW, we understand from unreliable sources that around Neil's neck is a sack with dried peach powder which helps keep the bad vibes away and ensures future harmony amongst fellow travelers.




Thrasher's Wheat Radio
Tune in on WBKM.org, Saturdays @ 9P EST

Tonight, Saturday, Jan 18 at 9:00 PM EST, (~15 minutes from now) the Thrashers Wheat Radio Hour from WBKM.org will be streaming.

Tonight's edition will feature the latest Neil Young music and news.

Tune in details and podcast info @ Thrashers Wheat Radio Hour.

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The Crowd Sourcing and the Damage Done... or Not?

Bear with us as we attempt to justify the posting of the "crowd sourced" YouTube video above of Neil Young at Carnegie Hall, on 1/7/14.

First, from the video description:

Thanks to all those who contributed to the making of this video... ESPECIALLY, of course, NEIL YOUNG! Please continue to purchase from Neil's amazingly diverse and expansive catalogue of music (http://www.NeilYoung.com)

This video is a testament to my lifelong love of Neil's music and I strongly encourage you all to explore and purchase ALL of his officially published music ... but for the next 1hr 52min and 54sec, please enjoy this heavenly acoustic solo performance at Carnegie Hall...

Video recording & editing by http://www.ReelifeProductions.com

additional video: Jersey Nola, Tino Bekkering & Jefftgvid

Audio recording location: DFC 4th mezz ledge, mics split 12" placed inside small openings at foot level.

Thanks to the online communities of:
Rusties on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/RustP...)
Rusties (https://www.facebook.com/groups/rusted/)
Thrasher's Wheat (https://www.facebook.com/ThrashersWhe...)

also check out this radio show that I produced called "A Palace in The Gravy- The Best & Worst of Neil Young": http://youtu.be/QT5lE2eJgeU
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Neil Young Carnegie Hall, January 7, 2014 - FULL SHOW - a crowd sourced concert film

Set 1:
01 crowd
02 From Hank to Hendrix
03 talking
04 On the Way Home
05 Only Love Can Break Your Heart
06 Love in Mind (piano)
07 talking
08 Mellow My Mind (banjo)
09 Are You Ready for the Country (piano)
10 Someday (piano)
11 talking
12 Changes
13 Harvest
14 talking
15 Old Man

Set 2:
16 crowd
17 Goin' Back
18 A Man Needs a Maid (piano)
19 Ohio
20 Southern Man
21 Mr. Soul (pump organ)
22 talking
23 Needle of Death
24 talking
25 The Needle and the Damage Done
26 talking
27 Harvest Moon
28 Flying on the Ground Is Wrong (piano)
29 talking
30 After the Gold Rush (piano)
31 talking
32 Heart of Gold
33 - encore break -
34 Comes a Time
35 talking
36 Long May You Run

Now, we admit that we struggled with what to do about this situation, but after a bit of reflection we realized that we simply could not ignore the video and the associated controversy. Hopefully, out of all of this, maybe some good will prevail.

First, you'll note above that our website is listed as credit. 2nd, the video was posted to our Facebook page last week and it created quite a stir. Third, the Wall Street Journal picked this up and interviewed not only the video editor Tom Adams, but Neil Young's manager Elliot Roberts, as well.


When Neil Young is Playing, You Shut the Fuck Up
Backtracking just a bit, recently we wrote about Etiquette At A Neil Young Concert after there was all sorts of complaints about social media behavior at the Carnegie Hall concerts. Over the years, we've blogged on numerous occasions about etiquette at a Neil Young concert, here, here, and here.

So here's the situation, per Bernie B Shakey:

A couple days ago a so-called "crowd-sourced" Neil Young Carnegie Hall video made its way to YouTube…and went viral, or close to it. In less than 48 hours, the video, which captures the complete 1.7.14 show, generated an impressive 16,000+ views (and counting), but that's nothing compared to what's about to happen to it.

You see, the video, expertly created by my Facebook friend Tom Adams, not only caught the eye of rabid Neil Young aficionados, but the powerful and mighty Wall Street Journal also somehow stumbled upon it. And the WSJ deemed the video so noteworthy they opted to publish a story about it (which I've posted below).

In a nutshell, Neil's camp ain't too thrilled with Tom's amazing work: "We find this sort of practice to be incredibly rude toward both the audience and the artist," says Elliot Roberts, who was quoted in the article (which I've posted below).

These days, the practice of people snapping photos and video at any event, not just concerts, is as common as a yellow taxi in NYC, as turkey and mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, as Neil Young wearing a plaid shirt. *Snap!* People have a want, desire to make a digital copy of their life, their entire life - we record EVERYTHING now. *Snap!* Ironically, Neil made a now-famous "Selfie Rant" at the 1.9.14 show. But, hey, Neil this is the world we live in today, rightly or wrongly. *Snap!*

So what's the harm in recording some video at a show, as long as you do so in a respectful, unobtrusive manner…and don't sell it for profit? And think of all the amazing amounts of wonderfulness this video has brought to peoples' lives worldwide? Carnegie Hall seats roughly 2800 people, so over four nights that's 11,200 paying customers. So, consider all the people who wanted to be there, but couldn't, for various reasons. Tom's video allowed my friend in Singapore to see Neil work his magic at an incredibly anticipated show that was near-impossible to get tickets to.

I think that's GREAT!

But, hey, i'm just a fan……Elliot's a music mogul businessman protecting his client. I get it, I get it. There are two sides to this coin, and both sides can be argued fervently until you're blue in the face. But I know where I stand:

GREAT work Tom Adams! I hope you win an Oscar for Best Musical Score!!

*Snap!*

You can read the full story here:

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A Historic Neil Young Concert, Captured by a Crowd
Cobbling together a Carnegie Hall show for online–with some help

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303448204579338600817194242

By JOHN JURGENSEN
Jan. 23, 2014 5:59 p.m. ET

On Jan. 7, Tom Adams went to see a Neil Young concert at Carnegie Hall by himself. It wasn't until days later that he made a connection with a group of other fans who attended. Like him, they had all secretly videotaped the solo acoustic performance, part of a four-night stand by Mr. Young, in his first return to the famed New York venue since 1973.

On Tuesday, Mr. Adams uploaded to YouTube a video of the entire two-hour show, which he had stitched together from footage captured by fellow concertgoers seated around the theater. Most of the video was shot by Mr. Adams, a video producer from Williamsburg, Mass., on a compact Canon camera perched on the railing in front of his $150 mezzanine seat (102, Row AA). All the videos were edited to match a single audio recording made at the concert, which Mr. Adams downloaded from an anonymous source on an online-sharing site.

With most everyone who goes to a concert now packing at least a camera phone, more fans are taking the next step to pool their shots and produce so-called crowdsourced concert videos. Though the legality of most of these projects is murky, some emerge with at least tacit approval from the bands. In 2006, the Beastie Boys helped popularize the concept by handing out cameras to audience members, with the resulting concert film released in theaters. A few years later, Radiohead fans cobbled together their scenes of a show in Prague, which was enhanced by a high-quality audio recording supplied by the band. And Nine Inch Nails devotees have slavishly produced multiple collaborative videos of their own.

Mr. Young views video recording as a scourge of the concert experience. "We find this sort of practice to be incredibly rude toward both the audience and the artist," says Elliot Roberts, the singer's longtime manager. Mr. Adams says he's sensitive to how disruptive hoisted phones and glowing screens can be, and that he's careful not to annoy other fans with his camerawork.

The main reason Mr. Adams sought out other people's footage was that there were holes in his own. During Mr. Young's delicate cover of the Phil Ochs song "Changes," he recalls, "I got a little too adventurous with the camera and one of the ushers came over and told me to put it away." After that, he positioned the camera more discretely on the floor, aimed through railing slats.

At home, he found fan-made videos of songs he was missing or wanted to supplement, then sent the users messages through YouTube asking their permission to borrow them. Then he wove the various clips into his own with editing software, making do with some glitches. During an anecdote by Mr. Young about a guitar with a bullet hole in it, the image is blurry and an on-screen message reads, "Stay tuned...video will return shortly."

Mr. Adams, 44 years old, says sharing the video with fans who couldn't attend the sold-out concerts (which some critics predicted will go down as a landmark in Mr. Young's career), takes him back to his pre-Internet days of trading cassette tapes of the singer's concerts by mail with like-minded fans.

To avoid raising the ire of Mr. Young's camp or coming across as "a creep doing this for financial gain," Mr. Adams prefaced the video with a note encouraging viewers to purchase the singer's official releases. He said he has already declined several email offers from people seeking to buy the video for bootleg concert DVDs.

Write to John Jurgensen at john.jurgensen@wsj.com

So. The moral of the story?

We asked TW followers on ThrashersWheatNeverSleeps | Facebook and here's a sample:

Michael Ma: There are thousands of fans that didn't get tickets to the Carnegie show but would have paid decent money to be able to watch a HD stream of the show. I don't think that it would reduce ticket sales either. I couldn't afford to buy a ticket and then fly to NYC but I would have paid $20-30 dollars to watch one of them. Embrace the technology, don't fight it.

Kevin J: it's a double edged sword. if you're holding up a camera in front of me at the concert, fuck you. if i'm at home watching the concert on youtube, thank you.

Paul K: Spent an entire day on the phone and computer trying to get a ticket. No luck! Thought I might have a ticket through a friend and then that fell through. then tried to get a ticket for the balcony throught the secondary market for the final night show. $1,000 for a balcony seat? uh, no thanks! Thanks to Tom for posting this incredible show.

Scooter V: In his book he goes on quite a bit about youtube. I wouldn't film him based on that and I sure wouldn't release an entire concert. Part of this is about the cost of going to see him, he's priced some fans out of attendance. My attitude is it would be cheaper to buy every recording he's ever made than to go see him. It's expensive for him to tour but that's his business. It's interesting but I won't watch it.

So what's a blogger to do?

Ignore the reality and not post?

Or embrace the social media and share?



So while we ponder the dilemma, we'll just make a little donation to Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations legal defence fund.



Afterall, it's all about "The Kids", right?

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A Letter Home: New Neil Young Album Title

Neil Young
Jack White's Third Man Record Booth
Last year, we reported on Neil Young's visit to Third Man Records, which is Jack White's Nashville recording studio.

Since then, there have been a lot of rumors speculating on what occurred back in July 2013 and what we might eventually hear once released.

The title of Neil Young's new album is called A Letter Home to be released in March, per a quote from Neil in Rolling Stone.

Over on NY Times (Neil Young's official webpage), this item has been posted

A LETTER HOME
January 22, 2014
Third Man Records unearths Neil Young's "A Letter Home."
An unheard collection of rediscovered songs from the past recorded on ancient electro mechanical technology captures and unleashes the essence of something that could have been gone forever...... Homer Grosvenor

Ahh, yes, the elusive Homer Grosvenor. Hmmm.

Rustie Ralf Böllhoff posts: "Homer Grosvenor" could be an allusion to Neil Young's home in Winnipeg. He lived there at 1123 Grosvenor Avenue. So maybe the songs of "A Letter Home" are referring to Neil Young's home in Canada in the 1960s. Neil's own songs on that album might be rediscovered and not yet recorded songs written far back in Winnipeg like his legandary first song "No" or pre-Squires songs or something like that."

While that fact is not in dispute, it seems Jack White's contributions are unclear despite what is being reported.

Over on Neil Young's official Facebook page , the following statement was posted:

False Rumours: Neil Young and Jack White are not doing a record of duets as has been erroneously posted on various outlets. We are certain those rumours have no basis in truth.

From Rolling Stone By Jon Blistein:

It seems likely that Young recorded the album on a 1947 Voice-o-Graph machine located at Third Man's Nashville headquarters.

Originally made in 1947, the Voice-o-Graph is the only public vinyl record recording booth of its kind left in the world. After refurbishing it, Third Man opened the booth on Record Store Day 2013 and now anyone can come in and record up to two minutes of audio that's cut onto a six-inch phonograph disc. Young stopped by Third Man last year where he recorded a cover of Bert Jansch's "The Needle of Death" on the Voice-o-Graph last year for a special tribute to the acoustic guitar master.

After Neil Young's Farm Aid 2013 setlist of covers, the thinking was that many of these songs had been recorded in Nashville earlier, including:

• Early Morning Rain (Gordon Lightfoot song)
• Since I Met You Baby (Ivory Joe Hunter song)
• Reason to Believe (Tim Hardin song)
• Changes (Phil Ochs song)

Phil Ochs' song "Changes" was featured prominently in the recent concerts at Carnegie Hall and Honor the Treaties. Also, Bert Jansch's "Needle Of Death" would also be a possibility for the new album, as well.

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VIDEO: Neil Young's Acceptance Speech at Grammy Producers Engineers Wing Award Honors

Here's Neil Young's acceptance speech from earlier in the week when he was Honored by Grammy Producers Engineers Wing.

Lots of priceless moments including the recording of "Hurricane", digital and analog music and making goosebumps.

Also, check the news at very end - an equity stake in PONO is being donated to Musicares. A very classy guy once again.

Neil Young

The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing GRAMMY Event

Village Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California - January 21st, 2014

News summary

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Neil Young Honored by Grammy Producers Engineers Wing

Dave Matthews, Neil Young and Pegi Young
The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing GRAMMY Event
Village Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California - January 21st, 2014
Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Image
(Click photo to enlarge)
Last night, Neil Young accepted the President's Merit Award from the Producers & Engineers Wing of The Recording Academy/GRAMMYs.

In Young's acceptance speech, he covered a lot of ground discussing the recording process relative to producers and artists.

Dave Matthews performed a three-song acoustic set: "Rye Whiskey," "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)," and "The Needle and the Damage Done." Matthews said: "I hope that I am half the inspiration to people that you have been to me."

From Neil Young Delivers Epic Grammy Speech to the Producers Engineers Wing | Music News | Rolling Stone a transcript of Neil comments:

So all I'm trying to say is I'm one of you. You honor me, you're honoring yourself. It's not me: it's you.

It's what we do. Thank you so much. Digital. Digital is not bad. But Xerox is not good. I always like to say Picasso was really happy to see original Picassos everywhere, but when he went into some places and saw Xeroxes of Picassos, it didn't make him as happy, because he thought people thought that we was making those things. The thing we do is, we make great stuff in the studio and then we kiss its ass goodbye, because nobody's ever going to hear it. That's unfortunate, and it didn't use to be that way. That's something that happened to us – that's an injury we sustained, and it deeply hurt us.

So the time has come for us to recover and to bring music back to the people in a way that they can recognize it in their souls – through the window of their souls, their ears. So they can feel and vibrate and so that they can get goosebumps. We cherish those fucking goosebumps. We really need those.

Complete transcript of Neil Young Delivers Epic Grammy Speech to the Producers Engineers Wing | Music News | Rolling Stone.

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Concert Review of the Moment: Neil Young Concert Reviews: Calgary - January 19, 2014

Neil Young
Jack Singer Concert Hall - Calgary, Alta., Sunday January 19, 2014
Photo Gallery by Mike Drew/Calgary Sun/QMI Agency | Calgary Sun
(Click photo to enlarge)
The Concert Review of the Moment is from Neil Young at Calgary on January 19, 2014 by Derek Aldridge:

I saw Neil Young in Calgary tonight and it was as good as I expected.

This is about the eighth or ninth time I have seen him over the last 23 years and the first time solo acoustic. (I’ve been a big NY fan for about 25 years.) I had followed the reviews from the recent shows back to Carnegie Hall and knew what to expect. The notable set list surprises (to me) were Four Strong Winds (Ian Tyson is from Alberta, so there is that connection), Blowin’ in the Wind, and Mother Earth. I had thought Mother Earth was a natural for the Treaties tour and was surprised that he had not been playing it. It’s one of the few pipe organ songs I really like, so it was a very pleasant surprise for me. I did not record an exact set list, but the one on Sugar Mountain looks right to me.

I’ve never heard Neil talk so much before. He probably spoke for ten times longer tonight than in all the previous shows I’ve seen combined. He seemed to be enjoying himself. The venue was where the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra performs, so the sound quality was excellent. Unfortunately the great acoustics seemed to encourage certain people in the audience to shout their special messages and words of encouragement to Neil in-between songs. Thankfully they mostly kept quiet during his songs. I expect this must have been annoying to Neil, but he didn’t say so. In fact he did respond to a couple of the comments, which probably encouraged some of the shouters a little.

There was no film about the oilsands or even any discussion about it (from the stage at least), which surprised me a little. I thought there might be someone giving a small speech at the beginning, and I thought I had read that there would be a short film but there wasn’t. Near the end of the show, Neil thanked people for their support and noted that they had raised about $500,000. He also said, "Even if you don’t agree with me, we can still be friends" (I think I got that right), which I thought were wise words given some of the nasty comments that people have made towards him recently (in the mainstream media).

Neil seemed very strong vocally, to my untrained ear. While he presumably does not have the same vocal range that he had when he was younger, he still sounded great to me. In some cases changed the tone of his singing somewhat, becoming more expressive in some ways than the original recording. It’s hard for me to describe in words, but I was liked it. An example of this was his version of Mr. Soul, which was unlike any of the versions I had heard before (original, Unplugged, with Crazy Horse, etc). He did Mr. Soul on the pipe organ and it was really interesting vocally (his expressiveness). Unfortunately, I was not that keen on the pipe organ. Had he done it at the piano or on guitar, it would have been the highlight of the night for me.

Anyway, the show was great. I never really expected to have a chance to seen Neil solo acoustic in a great venue, so I’m really glad he jumped on this cause and came to Calgary. Despite being a fairly large city (1,000,000+), he has bypassed us on several tours. And thanks to Thrasher for this great blog – I’ve been reading it (intermittently) for years, but don’t think I’ve commented before.

Thanks Derek! Great report. Stop back by this way again next time.

Sounds like Calgary ended on a high note, especially with the encore songs.

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OPEN LETTER: Prominent Canadians Support Neil Young's Anti Tar Sands Campaign

Neil Young
Jack Singer Concert Hall - Calgary, Alta., Sunday January 19, 2014
Photo Gallery by Mike Drew/Calgary Sun/QMI Agency | Calgary Sun
(Click photo to enlarge)
Finally, we see some prominent Canadians step forward to support Neil Young's "Honor The Treaties" tour.

From CBC News:

More than 20 notable Canadians have penned a letter to support musician Neil Young following his concert tour to raise money for a First Nation fighting oilsands expansion in northern Alberta.

The group includes creative and performing artists, authors, scientists, a lawyer, and Order of Canada recipients.

Actor Neve Campbell, Booker-prize-winning author and Officer of the Order of Canada Michael Ondaatje and musician Gord Downie of the rock group The Tragically Hip are among those who have signed the letter.

It says that Young's tour raised more than $500,000 to help the Athabasca Chipewyan band pay for legal fees to protect its traditional land north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

The letter also says that Canada must decide if it wants to support First Nations rights and protect the environment.

"The time has come for Canada to decide if we want a future where First Nations rights and title are honoured, agreements with other countries to protect the climate are honoured, and our laws are not written by powerful oil companies. Or not."

"Instead of focusing on Neil Young's celebrity, Prime Minister Harper should inform Canadians how he plans to honour the treaties with First Nations," the letter said.

Campbell said in a written statement that while she has always been proud to call Canada her home, "now as a Canadian I feel deeply ashamed to see that our government has allowed the selfish profiteering of powerful oil companies, and blatantly ignored the health, well-being, and lives of our country's First Nations, as well as of the well-being of our world’s climate."

Downie of The Tragically Hip said, "I stand in support of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations and all Canadians who find themselves with no voice in our present version of democracy, who are trying to come up with the entry fee that gets them a seat at the table where their pollution future is being discussed."

Full text of the open letter:

On his Honour the Treaties tour, Neil Young is doing what poets do - forcing us to examine ourselves. This is hard enough on a personal level and it can be even more difficult when we are being asked to examine the direction in which our country is headed.

The time has come for Canada to decide if we want a future where First Nations rights and title are honoured, agreements with other countries to protect the climate are honoured, and our laws are not written by powerful oil companies. Or not.

Neil’s tour has triggered the Prime Minister’s Office and oil company executives. They have come out swinging because they know that this is a hard conversation and they might lose. But that should not stop the conversation from happening.

Instead of focusing on Neil Young's celebrity, Prime Minister Harper should inform Canadians how he plans to honour the treaties with First Nations. This means ensuring the water, land, air, and climate are protected so the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations and other First Nations communities be able to hunt, fish, gather plants and live off the land. Canada signed at reaty with them 114 years ago, and this must be honoured.

The world is watching as we decide who we will become. Will we disregard the treaties we have with First Nations? Will we continue to allow oil companies to persuade our government to gut laws, silence scientists, and disassemble civil society in order to allow reckless expansion of the oil sands?

We are proud to stand with Neil Young as he challenges us all to think about these larger, more profound and humane questions.

Now is the time for leadership and to honour promises that we have made, not personal attacks.

Michael Ondaatje, author, Officer of the Order of Canada
Margi Gillis, dancer,
Member of the Order of Canada
Clayton Ruby, lawyer, Member of the Order of Canada
Dr. David Suzuki, scientist,
Companion of the Order of Canada
Dr. David Schindler, scientist, Officer of the Order of Canada
Stephen Lewis, Companion of the Order of Canada
Joseph Boyden, author
Gord Downie, musician
Sarah Harmer, musician
Naomi Klein, author
Dr. John Stone, scientist
Tzeporah Berman, author
Amanda Boyden, author
Neve Campbell, actor
Wade Davis, author
Dr. Danny Harvey, climate scientist
J.B. MacKinnon, author
Dan Managan, musician
Sid Marty, author
Andrew Nikiforuk, author
Rick Smith, author
John Valliant, author
Ronald Wright, author

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Neil Young Concert Reviews: Calgary - January 19, 2014

Neil Young's four city concert run to benefit "Honor The Treaties" continues tonight, Sunday, Jan 19 at Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Got a report? Drop us a comment below.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates and Chronological Grid, Recording Summary, Statistics and Extras.

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INTERVIEW: Neil Young's "Honor The Treaties" Tour | Q with Jian Ghomeshi | CBC Radio

As we've been reporting over the past week, huge amounts of controversy over Neil Young's "Honor The Treaties" tour and related press conferences.

Regardless of your position on the Alberta Tar Sands environmental impacts and First nations peoples, all across Canada there's consensus that Neil Young's comments have finally started a long delayed national dialogue.

In an interview with Jian Ghomeshi, Neil comments on his impressions of the Alberta Tar Sands operations and his comparison of Fort McMurray to Hiroshima. "I always felt that Canada was a different place, where the values were different and where we cherish the natural surroundings that we're in. But my visit to Alberta changed a lot of that for me," Young says while defending his right to speak freely take political stands.

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TUNE IN NOW: Thrasher's Wheat Radio

Thrasher's Wheat Radio
Tune in on WBKM.org, Saturdays @ 9P EST
Tonight, Saturday, Jan 18 at 9:00 PM EST, (~15 minutes from now) the Thrashers Wheat Radio Hour from WBKM.org will be streaming.

Tonight's edition will feature the latest Neil Young music and news from the "Honor The Treaties" Tour.

Tune in details and podcast info @ Thrashers Wheat Radio Hour.

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Neil Young Concert Reviews: Regina - January 17, 2014

Neil Young's four city concert run to benefit "Honor The Treaties" continues tonight, Friday, Jan 17 at Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Got a report? Drop us a comment below.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates and Chronological Grid, Recording Summary, Statistics and Extras.

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Neil Young Concert Reviews: Winnipeg - January 16, 2014

Neil Young's four city concert run to benefit "Honor The Treaties" continues tonight, Thursday, Jan 16 at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Got a report? Drop us a comment below.

Check Sugar Mountain for setlist updates and Chronological Grid, Recording Summary, Statistics and Extras.

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NEW Neil Young & Crazy Horse Tour Date: Tel-Aviv, Israel - July 17

Another tour date for Neil Young & Crazy Horse in concert this summer has been announced for July 17 in Yarkon Park in Tel-Aviv,Israel.

Tickets have just gone onsale.

Courtesy of Sugar Mountain, here dates thus far:

2014-07-10, Live At The Marquee, Cork, Ireland
2014-07-12, Hyde Park, London, England
2014-07-17, Yarkon Park, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2014-07-20, Münsterplatz, Ulm, Germany
2014-07-21, Collisioni Festival, Barolo, Italy
2014-07-23, Wiener Stadthalle, Wien, Austria
2014-07-25, Warsteiner Hockeypark, Mönchengladbach, Germany
2014-07-26, Filmnächte am Elbufer, Dresden, Germany
2014-07-28, Zollhafen - Nordmole, Mainz, Germany
2014-08-01, Bergenhus Festning - Koengen, Bergen, Norway
2014-08-05, Lokerse Feesten, Lokeren, Belgium

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Concert Review of the Moment: Neil Young @ Massey Hall, Toronto - January 12, 2014

Neil Young - Massey Hall, Toronto - January 12, 2014
Photo via National Post
(Click photo to enlarge)
The Concert Review of the Moment is from Massey Hall, Toronto - January 12, 2014 by the ever so prolific Anonymous:

Yes, great show at Massey Hall last night. Neil was in really fine fettle both onstage and backstage afterwards – very open, warm and humorous.

The show, as others have noted, was a little shorter – Neil came on about an hour late. Everyone here has talked about how wonderful Neil was in vocally, and I concur. Every now and then he reached down deep and sang very, very strongly – Ohio and especially Southern Man being the best examples. So there seem to have been some very intentional dynamics to his singing.

Neil's comment, noted in a post above, about 'not being able to sleep' was in reference to his writing 'Mellow My Mind' in the middle of the night while enjoying a bout of insomnia. A rather funny story because all of a sudden out of nowhere he just started talking about insomnia in a manner that seemed completely unconnected to anything goin on. Let’s just say that I probably wasn’t the only one in Massey Hall who was wondering ‘Now where in the world do ya think he’s going with this one?’ And then he just picked up the banjo and in about half a sentence resolved it all with typically off-beat humour and shit-eating grin in reference to what he was about to play.

Also, regarding Pocahantus, he mentioned backstage that he’d written a really funny additional verse about Stephen Harper but unfortunately forgot it on stage.

First time I’ve seen Dianna Krall. She opened with a powerful version of Dylan’s ‘Every Grain Of Sand’, complete with soulful gospel piano, followed by another powerful version of ‘Don’t Fence Me In’ . . . and it just went from there. At one point she went off on a rather amusing short monologue about how she used to play his songs in Nanaimo, British Columbia as a young girl, and now here she was playing his piano. She then completed the thought by saying that she ‘just might have to steal Neil’s piano’. And her piano playing – much of it was literally like a virtuouso who’d just been let out of a lunatic asylum. Some of it rapturously beautiful, and other of it like a cascading collision of multiple key signatures and styles. Very, very expressive – particularly on one of Tom Waits’ delightfully mad tunes that she did. She also did tunes by Warren Zevon and Randy Newman. Overall she seems like a real character – a smokey-voiced chanteuse who was just as offbeat and quirky, if not moreso, than Neil and his musings. Not too hard on the eyes either.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is just how incredibly beautiful, incantational and hypnotic the traditional music by Chippewa drum/singing circle was – we got to listen to a little piece of the long ages with that. Much of the drumming/ singing was accompanied by a fairly shocking and heartbreaking large screen video about the Athabaska Tar Sands by Greenpeace. Also, twice the Chippewa ‘Mother’ – whose name I never caught – spoke very gracefully about their cause, and expressed deep gratitude to Neil and also ‘Mother’ Diana Krall for their support. One other thing, Neil’s brother Bob told me a little about the media blitz Neil was doing and would continue to do in order to to get under the skin and up the nose of Harper Inc. and the oil Titans. The plan is to repeatedly draw as much public attention to the issue as possible for each of the four shows.

It will be interesting to see what kind of reception the ‘Honor The Treaties’ roadshow gets in the fair city of Calgary (BTW – small nit, but Bob also noted how the person who did all the ‘Honor The Treaties’ collateral – including a huge fabric poster as the stage backdrop – unfortunately used the U.S. English spelling of “Honor” – it’s “Honour” up in these parts)

The concert as a whole, within the context of that entire experience – NOT TO MENTION NEIL PLAYING ONE GEM AFTER ANOTHER SOLO IN THAT UNBELIEVABLY RIVETING WAY THAT SO DEEPLY AND DISARMINGLY AFFECTS THE EMOTIONS AND UNLOCKS ALL KINDS OF COMPLEX MEMORIES AND FEELINGS – was one of the best I’ve been to. The overall vibe of everyone in Massey Hall was wonderful.

. . . which reminds of two other things: First, at one point Neil talked about Massey Hall – in a way reminiscent of what he said in the Heart Of Gold DVD about the Ryman Theatre – and about how he hopes the old Hall survives (hidden stained glass windows and all it) in the face of yet more of encroaching . . . er . . . so-called ‘development’. And second, Gordon Lightfoot – no stranger to Massey Hall – was backstage and he’s looking very healthy these days.

That’s it in the proverbial nutshell . . .

Thanks Anonymous! Nice review. Good to see you've tempered your emotions of late. ;) Maybe adopt a handle next time?

Also, see more on Neil Young @ Massey Hall, Toronto - January 12, 2014.

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Neil Young's "Honor The Treaties" Press Conference

Neil Young
"Honor The Treaties" Press Conference
Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada - Jan 12, 2014
(Click photo to enlarge)
Neil Young's "Honor The Treaties" press conference at Massey Hall in Toronto appears to have have finally caught the attention of Canadians, including the Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Young's comments were particularly harsh for Prime Minister Harper calling his administration "hypocritical" and ignoring science for corporate profits.

Neil Young blasts oilsands expansion, launches fundraising tour - Toronto - CBC News:

"Canada is trading integrity for money," said the environmentally engaged 68-year-old rocker. "That's what's happening under the current leadership in Canada, which is a very poor imitation of the George Bush administration in the United States and is lagging behind on the world stage. It's an embarrassment to any Canadians."

"I want my grandchildren to grow up and look up and see a blue sky and have dreams that their grandchildren are going to do great things," he added later. "And I don't see that today in Canada. I see a government just completely out of control.

"Money is number one. Integrity isn't even on the map."

Young spoke before Sunday's Massey Hall concert which will benefit the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Legal Fund.

Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation & Neil Young  (CHRIS YOUNG FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL)  Young was joined by Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and went on to say about the Alberta Tar Sands devastation which he has compared to Hiroshima, Japan:

"The name Canada's based on a First Nations word. The word Ottawa's based on a First Nations word, Ontario's based on a First Nations word, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec — these are all First Nations words. This is where Canada came from.

We made a deal with these people. We are breaking our promise. We are killing these people. The blood of these people will be on modern Canada's hands. I drove around the tarsands in my electric car viewing and experiencing this unbelievable smell and toxicity in my throat — my eyes were burning," he recalled. "That started 25 miles away from the tarsands. When I was in Fort Mac, it got more intense.

My son, who has cerebral palsy, has lung damage, (so) he was wearing a mask to keep the toxic things in the air out of his lungs and make it easy for him to have lungs after he left. It looked very big and very impressive. Extremely well-organized. A lot of people were working — hard-working people, who I respect. That was one of 50 sites. The one we saw was the cleanest one. It's the best-looking one. It's the poster child.

And it's one of the ugliest things I've ever seen.

It's the greediest, most destructive and disrespectful demonstration of just something run amok that you could ever see. There's no way to describe it, so I described it as Hiroshima, which was basically pretty mellow compared to what's going on out there. I still stand by what I said about Fort Mac and the way it looks. Not because the houses in Fort Mac look like Hiroshima, but because Fort Mac stands for 50 sites, the name Fort Mac stands for diseases that these First Nations people are getting, pollution, everything that's happening there.

This oil is all going to China. It's not for Canada, it's not for the United States, it's not ours. It belongs to the oil companies. And Canada's government is making this happen. It's truly a disaster to anyone with an environmental conscience.

Empty chairs with name tags for Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver, and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Bernard Valcourt, who were invited to attend Jason MacDonald, a spokesman from the Prime Minister's Office said:

"Even the lifestyle of a rock star relies, to some degree, on the resources developed by thousands of hard-working Canadians every day," Jason MacDonald said in a statement. Our government recognizes the importance of developing resources responsibly and sustainably and we will continue to ensure that Canada's environmental laws and regulations are rigorous."

All of this said, Canadians were overwhelming supportive of Neil Young's stand Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Legal Fund. From CBC readers, listeners rally behind Neil Young on oilsands - Your Community:

"Bravo, Neil, for fighting for a safe future for us all," said gohonestly.

Alexander Lavallary: Nice to see a famous non-aboriginal say the treaties need to be honored a day ago

"Good for you, Neil. It's a total disgrace what is happening in the Alberta oilsands. It's time to fight back. Our government of the day cares little about our environment. It's all about the almighty dollar. Time for a change," said Cookie1.

David Ogilvie: It is about time a high profile Canadian entertainer stood up for what is right. There have been a few over the years, but now we need everybody standing up for the First Nations, and the environment.

Kevin Aubie: Canadians have never had any say in TarSands development.We've been marginalized as citizens.ThankU Neil Young 4 giving us a voice

Other CBC.ca readers in the comments dismissed such arguments as ad hominem attacks and "Attacking the person - and not the issue - is a very old tactic. Everyone knows that Neil Young despises the spotlight, and gives rare interviews. Instead of sitting back, which he could easily do, he's speaking up. I feel so proud of Neil's passionate defence of the natural environment," said CdnWmn.

"Why do all the weak thinkers believe Mr. Young is a hypocrite just because he, like 99% of us, uses oil and gas in some form? He is just being critical of the perceived flagrant abuse of the environment and Native Lands by the oil consortium," said Rickieroo.

"The truth never gets old. The truth never goes out of fashion. The truth is always cool. Neil Young is a highly acclaimed artist bestowed with the Order of Canada who has been telling us the truth for over 50 years in very satisfying ways, earning our trust, respect and admiration," said Gutcheck.

"The focus here is not that we use oil, it is how the oil is produced, who is getting the profits and who are sustaining the losses. I like what Neil said, Canada has exchanged integrity for money," said Sophie Joe.

And the last word on Neil Young on being political in this clip from interview with Jian Ghomeshi, Neil talks about where one should draw the line between being an artist and being an activist, or whether there should be a line at all. Extended Neil Young criticizes Alberta oil sands development, Harper government

Alberta Tar Sands

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UPDATE: From POLL: What do you think of Neil Young’s anti-oilsands campaign? | Globalnews.ca:

“Our issue is not whether the natural resource sector is a fundamental part of the country,” Young said Monday in a statement. “Our issue is with the government breaking treaties with the First Nation and plundering the natural resources the First Nation has rights to under the treaties.” The government also said it “recognizes the importance of developing resources responsibly and sustainably and we will continue to ensure that Canada’s environmental laws and regulations are rigorous.” Young shot back: “When people say one thing and do another, it is hypocrisy. Our Canadian environmental laws don’t matter if they are broken.” The Toronto-born singer also took note of the PMO’s comment that “even the lifestyle of a rock star relies, to some degree, on the resources developed by thousands of hard-working Canadians every day.” Young countered: “If rock stars need oil is an official response, how does that affect the treaties Mr. Harper’s government of Canada is breaking? Of course, rock stars don’t need oil. I drove my electric car from California to the Tar sands and on to Washington DC without using any oil at all and I’m a rock star. My car’s generator runs on biomass, one of several future fuels Canada should be developing for the Post Fossil Fuel Age. This age of renewable fuels could save our grandchildren from the ravages of Climate related disasters spawned by the Fossil Fuel Age; but we have to get started.”

(Thanks bh & BNB for all the links!)

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