Neil Young opens up on life, love of cars in 'Super Deluxe' | Q with Jian Ghomeshi | CBC Radio
From Q Exclusive: Neil Young opens up on life, love of cars in 'Super Deluxe' | Q with Jian Ghomeshi | CBC Radio:
In a two-part Canadian broadcast exclusive, Neil Young joins Jian to discuss his second memoir Special Deluxe: A Memoir of Life and Cars. In it, Young uses his obsession with cars to lead the reader on a journey through his life as an artist, musician, father and husband. "[Classic cars] are beautiful pieces of sculpture, and the artists who created them were reflecting the spirit of the time," says the singer-songwriter, whose iconic career has spanned more than five decades.
Labels: neil young
by thrasher@PermaLink: 10/20/2014 11:21:00 AM
25 comments
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25 Comments:
Nice talk, very bad interviewer. Neil hints at major changes in his life several times: he's in a "Zen state", he "releases" his material posessions, including his cars and the place he lived for so long. What does that mean? Is he moving off the ranch, after 43 years, or even selling it? We don't know, because the interviewer does not put the question to him until the interview is almost over, and lets Neil get away with a vague, non-committing answer. "What have you learned about love?" Come on. Is it sacrilege to ask specific questions of a living levend? I don't think Neil would mind, he's just being human. Of course, whether he would answer them, is another matter...
Jian is one of the very best interviewers around. Sorry he didn't ask the specific questions you wanted.
Well, I don't want to be bitchy or put him down. He's friendly, gentle, nice to listen to - but those all too general questions (and the resulting non-informative answers) from interviewers who are too much in awe of Neil sometimes drive me crazy... That said, yes, I would prefer this guy to clown Howard Stern any day...
@dickie - actually, we found the interview to be much more enjoyable and revealing then the Howard Stern interview last week.
After all the hullabooloo over the Stern interview, you would have thought that Neil revealed the track list for NYA #2 or something significant. As far as we could tell, no new ground was plowed.
This Q guy Jian was really mellow, probing some very delicate subjects, such as the dichotomy of Neil's love of cars and enviro concerns. And the big "love" question. Now that's a subject in and of itself.
And what about the ranch stuff?!
Anyway, like we said, the interview had a nice vibe. The Stern interview was downright manic with followup questions from Howard & robin coming before Neil even responded.
Interestingly, it seemed that this Q interview was made directly after Howard interview.
Point well put, Thrasher, this was a much more human, mellow conversation than the Stern hysterics.. Sure. Still, just one tiny little miniature newish kind of small, specific question or revelation would n't have hurt. Yes, a track listing for the seminal NYA#2, why not? (Alas, going on this interview, Neil is much too mellow and looking forward himself to bother with anything Archives-like, it would seem.. Maybe another book first, one on Archives and peddleboarding maybe?)
Inaresting state of mind, Neil has hinted previously he may quit the ranch and head to the big island, ‘pono'….. he has already downsized the ranch.
A great interview.
To the people jabbering about what, who etc.. Give the man some privacy. He got a family that suffers from what's happening and we should respect that. The reporter does. What the consequences of whatever going on in his life are, we will find out at some point. Don't push it.
Take a listen to "When I Watch You Sleeping" from Storytone!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOPJJnhfcsE
What a beautiful tune!
Stern hysterics? You guys are nuts. Why don't you just appreciate that you got to listen to Neil for well over an hour with no commercials?! How often does that happen. Silly to let your dislike of Stern spoil something special. Yeah, Howard stepped on his answers a few times but was obviously honored and excited to have him. Respectful even. He waited 30 years and had a lot of questions! Bunch of posers and whiners around here. But we already knew that.
...ended up alone at the microphone.
Pretty tame here compared to the Howard interview. This guy at least had read the new book so the questions were somewhat geared to that. I'll say this for the Stern chat, he got Neil to respond with a lot more spirit and had Neil bantering pretty good compared to this CBC work.
Either way, it's good to hear Neil. He may be abandoning his material holdings, but he's not giving up too much in these interviews.
pretty obvious - releases material possessions = divorce
@SONY - yes, definitely some significant style differences in the interviewers. Just a personal taste thing. Yes, Howard got Neil to open up but it felt forced. Again, we found portions to be downright rude and disrespectful.
The stuff with Crosby was beyond the pale.
Transcript:
HOWARD: Who would you rather play with: Charles Manson or David Crosby?
NEIL: (silence)
HOWARD: Who would you rather play with: Manson or Crosby?
NEIL: (silence)
HOWARD: Manson or Crosby?
NEIL: (silence)
---
We think Neil's response really said how he felt about the whole ordeal. It wasn't funny or clever. It was pure tastelessness.
But to each, her own.
Geez, that was a maddening interview! Jian Ghomeshi seemed like he was steering him towards more revealing insights, but he settled for the somewhat predictable and cliched answers NY gave. Perhaps Eliot Roberts told him that he could only approach the current situation tangentially, or in the context of the book, that he could only open the door and see if NY would walk through...which he maddeningly came close to, but demurred with his vague and almost off hand responses. I think NY wanted to say more, but the interviewer balked when given the multiple opportunities that NY seemed to provide. Ghomeshi always reverted back to the past.
At least with the Stern interview NY seemed to get off and was energized by the direct banter and giddiness that Stern generated. The Ghomeshi interview was hindered by being remote, not face to face. Isolate Neil Young in a studio with headphones and no face to face interaction gives more of the almost rote and predictable responses. Stern, otoh, at least woke up NY and was somewhat challenging to him because NY had been up at 4:30 worrying about how that interview was going to go.
Ghomeshi at the end was warned, "Gotta watch what you ask me then..." Ghiomeshi was polite and gracious and believed the implicit threat. He should have pushed it over the edge, but settled for nice. Maybe too Canadian, eh?
I would have asked, "There's no denying that there is tremendous upheaval in your personal life right now, and I respect your privacy in that regard. However, as someone who respects and values your life of artistic expression, I'm curious as to how you think your art may be affected by all this. After all, your entire life of expression through music has been built on your tremendous sensitivity to your emotional relationships. And, if you don't think I should ask this honest and heart felt question, why not?
@ The Zuma Band - point taken.
And an excellent question to ask, agree.
Neil's response might have been: "Have you listened to the lyrics to my new song "Plastic Flowers"?
RE: Stern
I was lucky enough to meet Neil just hours after he did the show, at the book signing for Special Deluxe. The person in front of me asked him about the interview and he said he enjoyed it and that Howard treated him well.
I'm not the biggest Stern fan out there, but I will agree that his energy, and his own stature, brings something unique to the interview.
Neil is used to reverence, and even probably some fear, from his interviewers so I think he probably found the change of pace refreshing.
- vertigone
Oh, one unfortunate revelation I got from our brief interaction. I asked him if he was planning to tour for Storytone, expecting him to confirm and say the spring or the summer or whatever.
Well, he surprised me by saying he wasn't sure and that he was actually thinking of taking a year off from playing shows. It didn't sound 100% certain but it would be a real bummer if true. In reality, we've been spoiled by the frequency of his live shows through the years.
- vertigone
I suppose if this Q clown had enough brains or balls, it being a given Howard or most of this group in here doesn't, he could have come up with this:
If everyone on your beloved "Earth" had the income and consumed at the level of yourself the warfare pollution and general misery would be off the charts worse so how do you square that with your musical sentiments?
Neil was the one who made Crosby the running punch line by making it a point to not even say his name. Howard just played off of that. Neil's recollections of Manson led to those oh so tasteless questions about who would you rather spend your time with. Neil was laughing at this Thrash! He was LAUGHING.
Was it tastelessness that led Howard to not even mention the word DIVORCE? Neil even thanked Stern twice no less for not asking any questions that "could have upset my family and my kids."
They crammed a lot into an hour and 15 minutes. It might have been manic, but it was over way too fast!
And I think we all know new ground is being plowed! Indeed. We just don't talk about it. Howard even had enough sense not to go there. Damn, give the guy some credit. Where else you gonna get an uncensored, uninterrupted hour plus interview with Neil Young?! I enjoyed it a lot! How could you not?! But that's what makes the world go round. To each his own.
Molasses
@vertigone - hmmm. we could see how NY might say he's taking a year off on touring with all of the side projects he has going. If he were, that would certainly raise expectations for NYA#2.
@Old Neg - funny. certainly you must recall all of the bashing you've done here to live up to your handle's attitude.
So a criticism of your hero Howard now has you righteous? well, we've always heard that god has a funny sense of humor, now doesn't she?
@Thrasher - Yes, and if we want to further that theory a bit, he dedicates a couple pages to the unreleased Homegrown album in his new book, saying it's one of the best albums he's done. With the launch of Pono on the horizon, I can see how these factors could be related. I hope so, at least.
- vertigone
Neil is my hero Thrasher! Get it right. Righteous? Really?! You'd been better off just ignoring me like you usually do. Thanks though for not deleting my post for a change!
God Bless Neil Young, just don't piss on my rug!
Pono Neg (removal kit included)
The stunning end of CSN&Y has still got me speechless.
Getting back to Neil, Record Store Day is going to be an awesome one this year!! Remastered vinyl reissues of On the Beach, Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night and Zuma all coming out on Record Day!!!
The question about the ranch seems relevant to his art. Isn't that basically his office where the staff is working on the Archives release? Moving an operation of that size would push things back even further wouldn't it?
No way NY's divorce lawyers would let him discuss the divorce settlement terms at this point. They have got to divide the assets,and the ranch is the big kahuna. Bye, bye broken arrow.
I think both interviewers respected Neil's wish to not have his personal life excessively probed ... kudos to both of them for that ... the theme that comes across for me from both interviews is the aspect of Neil as a real person talking about his past present and future ... yes he's famous but while the fact he's a celebrity is always hanging in the air, he's expressing his authentic self and that's unique and really cool .. for me some new tidbits come out here and there and they're enjoyable and all the content is pleasurable ... Howard has a provocative style but Neil handled it well and Howard for the most part was deferential ... I think Howard and Neil together were having fun with the Crosby feud, it was more humorous than mean spirited, even the Manson comment which arguably is offensive in any context was simply Howard's way of probing how pissed off Neil is with Crosby (although I'm not here to defend Howard, I'm ambivalent about him) ... In terms of Neil's personal life, which many are so curious about, I think he's saying it in his new tunes ... amazed that 'When I Watch You Sleeping" video from Boston on YouTube has only 8,000 views (I think I must be at 20+) ... its clear Neil is taking a turn in his personal life and it, if anything, has increased his creative output ... its another fork in the road, but not I for one think he and Pegi and family deserve privacy to sort out their personal matters ... on a related subject ... I was slow to listen to A Letter Home but now that I have I really love it, the songs, the concept, the voice messages to his mom ... and also seems to be a statement about the direction of his personal life ... btw .. have learned that never say never with Neil, not sure CSNY will never play again ... although would always rather see Neil without them than with them, ditto to Springfield reunion ... maybe a Peal Jam reunion?
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