TONIGHT: Neil Young on The Big Interview with Dan Rather

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Neil Young on The Big Interview with Dan Rather tonight, September 13th on AXS TV. 8/7c.

UPDATE:

From WROR

7 Big Takeaways From Neil Young’s “Big Interview”


by Erica Banas
Dan Rather’s AXS TV program The Big Interview returns tonight (September 13th) at 8 PM EST for the fall cycle of its fourth season and finds Rather in an intimate sit-down with one of rock’s biggest icons: Neil Young.

Rather and Young cover a myriad of topics in the hour-long interview, from Young battling Polio as a child to his illustrious music career and everything in between. While the episode yielded many fascinating answers from Young, here’s the seven biggest takeaways, along with a sneak peek of the episode below.

His feelings about the power of corporations in America
Young doesn’t mince words when it comes to the power of corporations in America and goes as far as saying they’ve helped “destroyed democracy in America.” When questioned by Rather on his perceived left wing ways, Young fires back saying , “Before the media get a hold of these things, were there red states and blue states? Did they [the media] not separate the country into two pieces?…Where did this all start? These are all Americans…and at the soul of it are people, not corporations.”

Why he launched Pono
Young is super passionate about his Pono music service and player, which offers the highest quality resolution of digital music on the market, and the big reason why he launched the project is so he could listen back to his work in the studio and to help preserve music for the future. Young says to Rather, “There’s a lot of people your age and my age that think they’re going deaf, because they can’t hear music like they used to…I’m not deaf; it’s [quality] just not there. It’s gone!”

How his childhood battle with Polio shaped his life
Young opens up about his struggle with Polio as a child and says it still affects the left side of his body (which is why most of his guitar playing is done with his right hand) and his ability to walk in a straight line. He doesn’t, however, make any excuses and says, “It certainly didn’t slow me down.”

Whether it really is better to burn out than to fade away
Is there a more appropriate question for Young than this? While we won’t spill the beans on this one, but Young’s answer is fascinating, and he also has some very interesting thoughts about the passing of Prince and his cause of death.

On CSNY Getting Back Together
It’s highly unlikely (according to recent reports) that we’ll see Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young back together anytime soon, but Young says the chances are “As good as they’ve ever been.” Whether he’s just taking the high road, it’s uncertain. We’re sure those who will tune in to watch the interview will have differing opinions.

On drugs
Young admits to “smoking grass” every now and again while listening to music to “open things up,” but says he decided to quit doing cocaine when he was 40.

On his son, Ben
Young’s son, Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy, is one of Young’s biggest inspirations, and because of his struggles and triumphs, he said, “I will never give up on things because of him.”