Jim Jarmusch: "I thought Neil (Young) might burn psychic rays through my skull..."
(Click photo to enlarge)
Here's an interview with Jim Jarmusch on making the film "Dead Man" with Neil Young.
We were trying to transcribe but never finished, so here it is.
We found this quote particularly striking by Jarmusch: "I thought Neil (Young) might burn psychic rays through my skull. He's an intense character."
So we've heard.
Question put to Jim Jarmusch in this months UNCUT , Can you tell me the story about Neil Young working on the Dead Man soundtrack when you were outside the soundbooth and there was "production concerns" Jim Replies , I,m going to get in trouble here .We were recording the soundtrack in a warehouse in San Francisco with a remote outside.We mic,d up the room in various places for Neil to use an electric guitar but he could also use an acoustic or the organ he had .There were screens set up around in a circle so that Neil could record to the picture while the film was playing .It was a rough cut.Neil wanted the dialogue of the film audible to himself.I was worried it was going to bleed into the music so we couldn,t move the music later .When Neil left the room I said to Jay Rabinowitz , the editor "man this isn,t going to work .It,s going to bleed and we,ll never be able to move it , I,ve got to tell him , what do I do ?" Then Neil walks back in , walks right up to me and looks right through my skull saying "I heard what you said , I was out in the truck, you know the whole room is mic,d man? Just loosen up , don,t worry about it .If the score is good you won,t want to move it .Don,t worry about the technical shit , let me do my thing .In the end he was right , because we did not move it .The music landed where Neil played it .But there were very scary moment where I thought Neil might burn psychic rays through my skull, he,s an intense character "(Thanks David F.!)
Also, see more on Jim Jarmusch's film "Dead Man" with Neil Young soundtrack.
Labels: jim jarmusch, neil young
by thrasher@PermaLink: 2/04/2014 06:08:00 AM
14 comments
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This reminds me of a couple things. The first one is a quote I read years ago, but have never been able to find again. It was from an extended article about Neil's career in MOJO, quoting a CSNY drummer who had just joined the group. He said that from the front of the stage just before he was about to solo, Neil turned and gave him the thousand yard stare, to the effect of "I'm about to leap off this cliff, are you going with me or not? He said the experience stood out in his mind as a moment when he had a sudden reality check, that here he was new to this super-group experience, in front of a massive stadium crowd, and now Neil is staring me down. I think I need to step up to the moment. The other quote is from Shakey I think, when an engineer or producer who had never worked with Neil before, walked out in front of the band warming up, and Neil turned on him saying something like "Don't you ever walk in front of my speaker/monitor(?) again!" I don't know, something tells me I would not want to be on the receiving end of the Neil stare.
A Friend Of Yours
Thanks A Friend Of Yours, good Neil stories.
This is what makes it all so fun and fascinating.
Did you see that Niko Bolas interview from Grammys last week? We posted the other day.
Did you catch his reference to Neil's genius: "He's connected to something, he's not a normal human."
Gotta love the Kindle Search Feature:
"Hanlon proved to be one of those rare individuals the Horse could warm to. Establishing a rapport with Shakey was a bit trickier. The first day Hanlon walked over to check out the amps. “Don’t you ever walk in front of my amps while we’re playin’!” Young snarled. Hanlon was crushed. “Great intro. I wondered if I still had the gig.”
Mcdonough, Jimmy (2003-05-13). Shakey: Neil Young's Biography (p. 643). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
"He's connected to something, he's not a normal human." This reminds me of another story from Shakey, where Neil and Tim Drummond(?) checked into a hotel somewhere in Europe, where the electrical sockets produce a different amperage than sockets stateside. Neil said that he could tell the amps within a very close number and Drummond(?), who happened to have a meter, tested it and it matched Neil's number. But I think Niko was probably referring to a connection of another sort, heart and muse.
A Friend Of Yours
after sun green showing up in broken flowers, there is a neil young photo at the wall in adams house in jarmuschs new movie "only lovers left alive".
dont you dare miss it, guys
phil
Young has a personal relationship with electricity. In Europe, where the electrical current is sixty cycles, not fifty, he can pinpoint the fluctuation—by degrees. It dumbfounded Cragg. “He’ll say, ‘Larry, there’s a hundred and seventeen volts coming out of the wall, isn’t there?’ I’ll go measure it, and yeah, sure—he can hear the difference.”
Mcdonough, Jimmy (2003-05-13). Shakey: Neil Young's Biography (p. 8). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Neil burned some psychic rays thru my skull the last show I saw him!
I think Neil's an idiot savant. And I stress the idiot part. He just did a tour in support of indigenous treaty rights and now he's going to play Israel, where they don't just break treaties, they KILL the indigenous people. Can he seriously be that ignorant? Indigenous blood in his fat bank account. His greed and ego know no bounds. 6226395 Crazy Horse is rolling in his grave.
Is it me or is the troll getting angrier and angier ... I guess if my purpose in life was to try to put Neil down I'd be pretty angry too given that Neil keeps cranking out good in so many ways ...
@ Tony - great quote.
@A Friend Of Yours - agree, he's connected to the muse.
@Dan - Neil must be doing something right.
”First they ignore you.
Then they ridicule you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win“
~~Gandhi’s adage
He's definitely reached stage #3.
Hey Dan 1 and Thrasher- just came across this quote which I think might be the best medicine for all of us long suffering followers of this blog vis a vis the trolls:
"Never get down in the mud to wrestle with a pig. You'll only get dirty, and the pig will enjoy it."
Not sure of the origin of the quote, and unfortunately I know you can't always opt out Thrasher, but this seems like good enough advice to me. Best we just move on to the next comment, and when the troll realizes that no one is responding, all the fun will be sucked out of the experience for them. They'll have to move on to another site to try their stuff there. If they persist despite no one responding, I suspect you'll know what to do, Thrasher. FWIW.
A Friend Of Yours
Thanks A Friend Of Yours !
Always good advice.
FWIW, here's our approach in a nutshell:
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Just saw Dead Man for the 4th or 5th time...I really love that movie! Anyway, I love the way Neil did that soundtrack! Didn't mess with the dialogue a bit that I noticed. But what I really like is the way Neil seemed to reserve all playing for the main character's, William Blake's spiritual journey. And he gives that journey such depth and awesome beauty. He even provided a few chords under Nobody's, Gary Farmer's little prayer song. Anyway, if you've never seen the movie, it's truly great and, to me, incredibly authentic.Add to that early Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Neil Young and even a little bit of Iggy Pop and Billy Bob Thorton. The actors were impressive, but Thank You Mr Young for providing the music that allowed the story to truly be told.
I just saw Dead Man last night. As a composer I have to say the score was among the worst I have ever heard. Totally lazy and sloppy. You can't score a film with one chord Neil. It was truly an insult to a mediocre movie. We turned off the sound towards the end of the movie.
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