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.Complete transcript of Neil Young Delivers Epic Grammy Speech to the Producers Engineers Wing | Music News | Rolling Stone.
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.
Sooner or later it all gets NEIL
ReplyDeleteRock on.....
I love it when Neil explains himself. He's not the most eloquent speaker, but man he does get his points across. Good for the Grammy regime. They recognized what Neil has brought to the technical aspects of recording, his passions, his commitments and his output. He says it himself, it's the magic, not the polish he's going for and trying to capture, and his commitment to try to get it replicated so we can experience what he's experiencing when it's getting laid out. More barn, baby.
Don't want my MP3......
I don't want my MP3 either ~
ReplyDeleteEncore!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/neil-youngs-low-tech-new-album-a-letter-home-due-in-march-20140122
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget about this news. New Neil in MARCH!!
A letter home! Directed to Stephen Harper?
ReplyDeleteLook at this :
http://www.stereogum.com/1639222/new-neil-young-album-a-letter-home-and-pono-music-player-coming-in-march/news/
Only Neil would put out a record that sounds like it was recorded in 1947 on his high end Pono device. Hello?! Hopefully it'll be as good as David Crosby's new album Croz but I kinda doubt it. Croz deserves to be heard in all of its glory. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteNeg mon
Almost forgot, nice to see Neil recognized by the Grammys. Would love to hear the audio of that speech. It was fascinating to read! Old fart Neil is still a kid at heart! Gotta love it.
ReplyDeleteNeg Mon
Hi Neg Man, I thought the point of the Pono was to provide that "live" listening experience we all remember from playing stereo-phonic and vinyl. The song might be from 1947, but they're not "recreating" that crackle pop we heard in old recordings. Or, are they?
ReplyDeleteMaybe what they mean by "old electro-mechanical technology" is a recording from a 2 track stereo magnetic tape.
@anonyman 9:40 pm. I thought the "Letter Home" referred to the songs they picked as having the biggest influence on their style or body of work.
Third Man Records unearths NEIL YOUNG’s A LETTER HOME
ReplyDeleteAn 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
http://thirdmanrecords.com/novelties/record-booth/
ReplyDeleteThis is what Neil means by low-tech
@Anonyman 10:10
ReplyDeleteThanks for that update on David's new album...
@Dan Tuck, thank you. Brittany Benson is a lucky girl.
Pono is supposed to sound like you were right there in the room while the track was being recorded. Jack White's record booth makes everything sound like an old Robert Johnson record. An MP3 would be more than adequate to capture that "special" sound. To try to sell Pono with it would be plain silly.
ReplyDeletePut Croz on that sucker and sell it with that. It's streaming now if you want to check it out. It blew me away on first listen. Simply beautiful! Way to go David Crosby!!
I would rather see Toast come out than this record booth covers album but what can you do?
I still think Pono is dead. Even if it ever sees the light of day, it'll be still born.
Neg Mon
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.
ReplyDeleteFrom NYFB
The EMPIRE STATE BIULDING had a VOICE-O-GRAPH on its observation deck for decades, from the 1940s at least into the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteA Letter Home
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia:
In the past (approximately from the 1940s through the 1970s), there were booths called Voice-O-Graphs, that let the user record their own voice onto a record when money was inserted. These were often found at arcades and tourist attractions alongside other vending and game machines. The Empire State Building's 86th floor observatory in New York City, Coney Island, NY and Conneaut Lake Park, PA are some of the locations which had such machines. Gem Razors also created thousands of free Voice-O-Graph records during wartime for the troops to send home to their families.
BSM
Will this be a VINYL only release?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Neg Man! Brand new material from the "General?" I'm game.
ReplyDeleteI've seen him (and Graham) every time they show up within 50 miles.
I just hope he is surrounded by all the love that he needs. I just love that guy. I really do.
You can watch the whole speech here...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttFgfd2rIMM
- vertigone
I love the idea of pristine quality low-fi voice-o-graph recordings. ONLY NEIL would do such a contradictory thing. It's art, man. I LOVE IT! GO NEIL!
ReplyDelete