"The greatest manager of all time": Neil Young’s Statement on Elliot Roberts

Neil Young’s Statement on Elliot Roberts | NYA

Neil Young has issued a statement on his late manager Elliot Roberts, who passed away yesterday.

In Neil Young’s Statement on Elliot Roberts | NYA he writes that he was "the greatest manager of all time".

All the words in the world could not express my sense of love and thanks to Elliot Rabinowitz and his beautiful family, who adored him. He was there for all of us.

When it came to our business, Elliot guided me through every move. We talked every day. Often I would call him multiple times in a day, arguing, discussing, planning and sharing. He was there for me and protected my music with a fierceness. He loved music and managed over the years many greats, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, David Blue, Tracey Chapman, Tegan and Sara, Crosby Stills and Nash, Tom Petty, The Eagles, among others.

Full statement at Neil Young’s Statement on Elliot Roberts | NYA.

Elliot Roberts
'Paradox' - Film Directed by Daryl Hannah w/ Neil Young + Promise Of The Real

Full TW obituary on Elliot Roberts: 1943 - 2019.

New audio for RBP subscribers: Barney Hoskyns looks back with the late Elliot Roberts on Laurel Canyon, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, David Geffen and more (1993)...https://t.co/RU0W2xuOaR pic.twitter.com/jqzjmMlJ5i

— Rock's Backpages (@rocksbackpages) June 28, 2019

The Farm Aid family lost an important member and friend last week with the death of Elliot Roberts. Each year, backstage at the Farm Aid festival, he’d greet Farm Aid staff with a warm, “Happy Farm Aid!” We will miss him dearly.https://t.co/0AXuMtLVov pic.twitter.com/ix7Dw5uROA

— Farm Aid (@FarmAid) June 26, 2019

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Elliot Roberts: 1943 - 2019

UPDATE: Neil Young News: "The greatest manager of all time": Neil Young’s Statement on Elliot Roberts

Neil Young and Elliot Roberts, Manager
American Way Inflight Magazine, August 2016

Elliot Roberts, Neil Young's -- and many other artists -- manager has passed away.

Today (Friday June 21), Harvey Goldsmith announced on Facebook that Elliot Roberts, the music manager and label exec who played a key role in the careers of artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, has died.

Elliot Roberts May your memory be a blessing. You were always in the wings now you will always be in our hearts. @ThrashersWheat @NeilYoungNYA @rustradio @warnermusic @rockhall @rockhallceo @SPIN @consequence @vulture @aquarianweekly @brooklynvegan pic.twitter.com/49Gv2C3xnG

— Induct Crazy Horse into Rock N Roll Hall of Fame (@CrazyHorse4HOF) June 21, 2019

Roberts formed Lookout Management with David Geffen and founded Geffen’s Asylum Records in 1970.

David Geffen, Elliot Roberts, & Neil Young
Frame from 'Inventing David Geffen': American Masters
(Click photo to enlarge)

Elliot Roberts, Manager for Neil Young, Joni Mitchell & More, Dies at 76 | Billboard https://t.co/RrATfcg6g3

— Level Best Mgmt. (@LvlBest) June 22, 2019

Here is a very rare interview with Elliot Roberts from 2018.

Elliot Roberts has been Neil Young's Manager for over 40 years now, as well as many, many other artists such as Joni Mitchell.

From New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Sync Up interview by Warren Zanes on Feb. 28, 2018, a quite revealing discussion on music and "The Business". Note, that there are audio issue with Elliot's microphone, unfortunately.

Elliot Roberts, Neil Young's manager, was characterized in the biography "Shakey" by Jimmy McDonough this way:

"There have been other infamous artist/manager teams in rock and roll – Dylan and Albert Grossman. Ray Charles and Joe Adams, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Landau – and, of course, Elvis and Colonel Tom Parker. Elliot Roberts definitely resides in that hall of infamy – and is the only human capable of guiding Neil Young's career." 

"Neil likes quirky people around him," said Elliot Roberts, Young's manager since the late sixties. "I think having quirky people around him lessens-in his mind-his own quirkiness. 'Yes, I am standing on my head, but look at these two other guys nude standing on their head.' " His mane of gray hair flying, Roberts was on his ninety-sixth phone call of the day, either chewing out some record-company underling or closing a million-dollar deal. Not far away, a bearded, sunglassed David Briggs- Young's producer-prowled the stage, palming a cigarette J.D.-style and looking like the devil himself. 

 Briggs and Roberts were the twin engines that powered the Neil Young hot rod. Feared, at times hated, both men possessed killer instincts and had been with Neil almost from the beginning. Roberts was a genius at pushing Young's career, Briggs at pushing his art. It's an understatement to say the two didn't always see eye to eye. Roberts and Briggs were two of the quirkiest characters around- difficult, complicated men-but then so was just about everybody and everything in Young's world. 

"Let's look at Neil's whole trip-the ranch, the people he plays with," said computer wizard Bryan Bell, who worked extensively with Young in the late eighties. " 'Easy' isn't in the vocabulary."

Also, see interview with Elliot Roberts and Larry Johnson & Elliot Roberts Interview on Greendale.

Marc Benioff, MC Hammer, Neil Young and Elliot Roberts
Dreamforce 2011
Also, see Elliot Roberts - Neil Young's Manager:

Elliot Roberts, Neil Young's manager, was characterized in the biography "Shakey" by Jimmy McDonough this way:

"There have been other infamous artist/manager teams in rock and roll – Dylan and Albert Grossman. Ray Charles and Joe Adams, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Landau – and, of course, Elvis and Colonel Tom Parker. Elliot Roberts definitely resides in that hall of infamy – and is the only human capable of guiding Neil Young's career."

Joni Mitchell w/ Elliot Roberts
Carnegie Hall, 1969 - Photo by Joel Bernstein

An interview with Elliott Roberts by Paul Makos from the Neil Young Appreciation Society publication 'Broken Arrow', May 25, 1982.

Neil Young, Jonathan Demme & Elliot Roberts
Neil Young Journeys Film Premiere - Toronto Film Festival
too late, too soon, he sleeps with angels...

Neil Young & Joni Mitchell w/ Elliot Roberts- ~1985
Recording Session for "Tears Are Not Enough"

rust in peace Mr. Elliot.

Goodbye, Elliot Roberts, trail-blazing artist manager, most famously for Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and CSNY. Nash: "Of all of the people around us in those early days, Elliot was the one who kept us together." Photo of Roberts with CSN, circa 1970, by Henry Diltz. pic.twitter.com/Vy5mKGVzsJ

— David Zimmer (@DaveZimmer1969) June 22, 2019

Elliot Roberts with Stephen Stills
CSNY - Music Scene TV - 1969
Photo by Jeff Allen

Elliot Roberts, Neil Young’s Manager for 52 Years, Dies at 76 https://t.co/bcDh2ca9wI @UltClassicRock

— Bernadette Barter (@barterb) June 22, 2019

Big news for CSNY fans: Neil Young’s combative manager, Eliot Roberts, has died. https://t.co/KCb4SSo5bM

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) June 22, 2019

Neil Young's longtime manager Elliot Roberts, a pivotal figure in the Laurel Canyon music scene, has died at the age of 76 https://t.co/mnyqFOg0IF pic.twitter.com/AOnGurZtVC

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) June 22, 2019

My thoughts and prayers go to Neil Young for the loss of his friend and manager of 50 years, Elliott Roberts. They were an amazing combination and created an impressive legacy of music that rocked the world. pic.twitter.com/fwh2iP9gu4

— Randy Bachman (@RandysVinylTap) June 22, 2019

Friend James Mazzeo:

"Elliot Roberts lived at Ground Zero in the Land of Rock & Roll.....his expert guidance got all of us Artist through the myriad of mine fields that could end a successful career.
In his presence we were the needy, and he was our crutch that we leaned on any time of night or day to keep us moving towards our enthusiastic goals the times demanded. He was our Oracle and we went to him for answers that we could trust and fortify ourselves with.
Elliot always fought and protected those Artist who were lucky enough to have a place in his Heart and his
Loyalties.
Rest in Eternal Peace dear Friend."

UPDATE: Neil Young News: "The greatest manager of all time": Neil Young’s Statement on Elliot Roberts

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Canadian Producer Mark Howard: On Working with Neil Young, Bob Dylan, others

Listen Up!: Recording Music with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2, R.E.M., The Tragically Hip, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Waits by Mark Howard

A new book is out now titled Listen Up!: Recording Music with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2, R.E.M., The Tragically Hip, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Waits by Grammy Award-winning Canadian music producer Mark Howard.

From an interview on From Neil Young to Bob Dylan, Canadian producer Mark Howard shares stories from the studio | CBC, Mark Howard shares a few tales from the studio, including working with Neil Young and Daniel Lanois on recording the album Le Noise.

Mark Howard with Neil Young and Daniel Lanois recording album Le Noise

From Producer Mark Howard on making music and meeting demands for Neil Young, Bob Dylan and more | Globe & Mail by Brad Wheeler:

Making noise with Neil Young: Neil only records in the three days before the full moon. It takes six months to make a record. Le Noise, with Daniel Lanois, was supposed to be an acoustic record. But it turned into an electric collage of certain sounds. Neil had a mahogany Guild guitar from the 1960s. I put a subsonic harmonizer on it. When you hit the low note of the guitar, it was like having a synth-bass playing along with you. As soon as Neil heard it, he just lit up. He’d never heard an acoustic guitar sound like that. Neil is the master of sound. So to develop a sound for him was groundbreaking for me.

More at Listen Up!: Recording Music with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2, R.E.M., The Tragically Hip, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Waits .

https://t.co/OOfNl8wT9D Producer Mark Howard on making music and meeting demands for Neil Young, Bob Dylan and more - The Globe and Mail

— Guitar's Alchemy (@GuitarsAlchemy) June 21, 2019

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Jacqueline Jones: 1968 - 2019

Jacqueline Jones: 1968 - 2019

Sad news of another beloved rustie soul Jacqueline Jones who passed away in May.

From her husband Barney:

Friends, it is with a heavy heart and with tears streaming down our cheeks that we are letting you know that after a cruelly short illness, our wonderful, unique Jacqueline Jones left us this morning, just as dawn was breaking over the Ile de France.

The end came very peacefully. Jac was surrounded by her family. We held her hand and kissed her cheek and, as she had always wanted, played The Low Anthem song "Charlie Darwin". Her breathing eased and she slipped away.

Her family is devastated. I have lost my love, the person who kicked me around and got me to do all manner of things that I might never have done - move to Greece for 5 years, move to France, buy a house, go to festivals, you name it, Jac drove it.

For Syd and Nat, well they have lost a mother who, I suspect, was unlike most other mothers they came across. She was stroppy and rebellious and took them to gigs and had batty friends but she was also tender and loving and washed their socks and cooked their meals and made them laugh. A lot.

For all of us, she was also inspiring. Jacqueline left school at 16 and went to drama school. She had no O Levels but that didn't stop her from recently starting an Open University Psychology course. She was on track to complete her second module with flying colours when the illness struck.

She loved city life - especially London, Athens and Paris - and would drag us to gigs and exhibitons and bars. If either of the kids heads into music it will partly be down to the push she gave them.

But in recent years Jonesy found a true love of the wilds. She had started paddle-boarding on the Seine, running with Doggo and was getting more enthusiastic about mountain walking.

She grew up in Pembrokeshire in Wales and was in the process of rediscovering the beauty of her roots. Two years ago, she made us all go camping in Snowdonia - it poured with rain and we nearly got blown into the Irish Sea but it was glorious - and she loved climbing Cader Idris with her brother Owen.

Just eight weeks ago Jac was walking in the Preseli Mountains with her dad in Pembrokeshire.

A week later she went into hospital where they discovered a tumour on her brain.

It was the same thing that struck down her mother Valerie just under a year ago.

She went through the biopsy and was due to start radiotherapy this afternoon. Sadly, the tumour was too strong and just seven short weeks after taking her to hospital with a severe headache we have lost her.

I was glad that we could give Jac some music to ease her passage this morning. Music was her passion. She loved Leonard Cohen - in fact early in our courtship she confided that if Leonard ever came on to her then I would be history! - and Neil Young especially but her taste was eclectic and she was always finding new artists. Over the years she dragged us to so many gigs and festivals.

She could also sing. Boy could she sing. Like the best of the Welsh. It was her oxygen. When she was stressed she would tuck herself away and sing. I always knew when she had been singing because she would emerge from the cellar where she had privacy absolutely beaming.

As one of our friends said: "Les anges vont être jaloux de sa voix - the angels will be jealous of her voice."

Jac had recently started writing songs again and was plannning to make an album. That won't happen now but I will try to dig out her songs. Perhaps she knows enough musicians who can take her words and set them down - perhaps then she will have her album.

For those of you who knew her, you were very lucky. Please hold on to a small part of her memory and carry it with you, even if it is just one of her caustic, funny one-liners.

For my part, I was the luckiest. To spend so much time with her over the years, to bring up children, travel and live in different countries, argue and fight and love and cherish has been a privilege.

Jacqueline Jones will remain with me until it is my turn to take the long walk.

Until we meet again, my love.

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Heartfelt words Barney and deepest sympathies to you and your family.

Our memories of Jackie are as follows from Paris in 2013. Jackie was an unforgettable human that we're truly blessed to have crossed paths with on a very hot June night in Paris...


A Rustie Trifecta
Ralph Molina's drumstick & Neil Young's towel & guitar pic
2013 Paris concert of Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Photo by Tour Manager Hounds That Howell
For those who attended the 2013 Paris concert of Neil Young & Crazy Horse, you know it was one their hottest gigs ever -- literally and figuratively.

Stage temperatures were approaching over 90 degrees Fahrenheit and Crazy Horse was on fire.

So hot that Neil played the end of the concert with an iced towel around his neck during an incendiary, deliriously furious "Rockin in the Free World" encore before tossing it into the audience in an attempt to cool things down.

To begin to describe the exhilaration in the moments after the lights came up as all the rusties raced to the center rail to share stories, we collided with all of our new and old rustie friends. For us -- with a Ralph Molina's drumstick in one hand and a guitar pic played by Neil Young on Ol Black in our pocket -- our vibrational energy was off the charts into stratospheric levels of euphoria.

But then something truly magically happened.

Up comes our newest Neil rusty friend Jacqueline clutching the cherished iced towel that Neil had tossed into the crowd. Still cool and wet, rusties gathered to touch, feel and cool down collectively. And then we all hugged.

Never before has our body and soul ever experienced so much vibrational love energy. It flowed. It exploded. it raced thru our veins with a shot to the heart.

It was as if the energy of Ralph's drumming, Billy's pounding bass, Poncho's chunky chords, Neil's love and Jackie's rustie passion hit us all at once like a lightening bolt from the heaven's above. A magic jolt ... if you will.

It was truly a love and only love moment.

Tomorrow is a long long time if you're a memory
Trying to find peace of mind
Spirit come back to me,
Give me strength and set me free
Let me hear the magic in my heart.

Past, Present & Future
The Alchemy Boys in all of their ragged glory splendor
(Jackie on rail in front of Neil)
too late, too soon, she sleeps with angels...

(Thanks for assistance HtH!)

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Neil Young's New Album 'Tuscaloosa': "Duality of the Southern Thing" or Does A Southern Alabama Man Need Neil Young Around, Anyhow?

"Make friends down in Alabama.
I'm from a new land
I come to you and see all this ruin
What are you doing Alabama?"

The timing of Neil Young's release of the album Tuscaloosa recorded on Feb. 5, 1973 with the band Stray Gators at Memorial Coliseum, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa appears to be somewhat auspicious.

The state of Alabama has been in the news of late -- but not necessarily for advancement of progressive causes -- bringing yet another round of ridicule and scorn.

From 1973 to 2019, such is the duality of the Southern thing -- as we often note here on this blog. So, is "Sweet Home Alabama" really so sweet? Depending on your perspective of the "duality of the Southern thing", aside from "The Three Great Alabama Icons", well, yes, maybe A Southern Man Does Need Neil Young Around, Anyhow.

Which brings it all back to Neil Young's release of the album Tuscaloosa and the iconic song "Alabama" and its damning lyrics.


Neil Young's new album "Tuscaloosa" - Released Date June 7, 2019
From Neil Young to release live album from 1973 Tuscaloosa concert by Mark Hughes Cobb:

One of those who saw the ’73 Neil Young show was Steve Wombacher, then writing for a Tuscaloosa publication called The Boll Weevil, later The Current, now defunct. In following years, Wombacher would become a concert organizer himself, heading the University of Alabama’s University Program Council, booking Little Feat, Clapton, Waters, Ronstadt, Presley, the Commodores and others, along with non-musical acts who could fill Memorial, such as Steve Martin.
When Young and band launched into “Southern Man,” fans braced for reactionary boos and taunts. Instead, the 10,000-ish crowd cheered Young’s anti-racist, anti-violence sentiments.

“In the ’70s, Tuscaloosa was actually a pretty hip little town,” Wombacher said, “for Alabama.”

From the perspective of a fan, Wombacher’s surprised Young decided to release this particular set.

“He showed up lethargic,” Wombacher said. “Best as I remember, he had injured his back, or somehow hurt his back, he was on major painkillers, and could barely move his left hand. Even when he sat at the piano, it was clearly tough on him.

“I’m shocked they’re actually releasing it. Maybe it sounds a lot better on the recording.”

Writing his review, Wombacher remembers noting the opening act scored far better, playing tighter, more energetic: Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. Though they’d had an early hit with Michael Nesmith’s “Different Drum,” Ronstadt was just emerging as the hit-making solo artist she’d be four years later, when Wombacher booked her as a Memorial headliner. Among her touring band members were Glenn Frey and Don Henley, who decided, while backing her, to form the band that would become the Eagles.

“They were just smoking; they were on fire,” Wombacher said. “I thought, ‘You’re in trouble, Neil.’ ”

Tuscaloosan Bruce Hopper’s main impression of the night was that it was a welcoming crowd.

“By that time (Young) had pretty much established where he was politically,” said Hopper, a musician and former owner of the late and lamented bar the Chukker. No seats behind the stage were opened, so capacity would have been in the vicinity of 10,000. Hopper couldn’t remember if it was full, but it was close, he said, including probably every left-leaning person in the region.

“Everybody knew that he was the political one, but I don’t remember any hecklers or anything like that. Everybody there seemed to feel the words in ‘Southern Man’ were true and appropriate; they were cheering real loud.” Hopper was disappointed to discover that night’s “Southern Man” performance wouldn’t be included on “Tuscaloosa.”

On the Chukker’s Facebook group, fans recalled Young’s messed-up back, and the pro-“Southern Man” feel. David A. Smith, from Dothan, was working with the University Program Council that night, but with his tasks completed pre-show, he was free to roam.

“I recall a very good concert, with great musical choices,” he said. “When Young launched into his little digs before ‘Southern Man,’ we just cheered him on. We were all in fine spirits, although he possibly thought we were all crazy.”

Young kept on rocking in the free world, albeit from a chair, said Bit Barrett.

“I remember him playing a lot of electric while sitting in a rocking chair and wondering if he could stand up. He did, but he was skyrocket high. Still it was a great show,” Barrett wrote.

Though he’d rather have seen Young teamed with Crosby, Stills and Nash, or earlier band Buffalo Springfield, still it was a “phenomenal” show for fan Daryl Brown.

“I seem to only remember his sitting on stage singing and playing his old Martin guitar,” Brown wrote. “Wow, 40-odd years later and Neil and I are still here. Who’d have ever figured?”

More memories of Neil Young's concert recording album Tuscaloosa on Feb. 5, 1973 with the band Stray Gators at Memorial Coliseum, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Neil Young to release live album from 1973 Tuscaloosa concert by Mark Hughes Cobb.


Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant wearing a Neil Young "Tonight's The Night" T-shirt
Oakland Coliseum Stadium, July 2, 1977
Photographer: Michael Zagaris on Wolfgang's Vault
Also, see Southern Man and Northern Man: Ronnie and Neil, The Un-Civil Wars & Rebels with Causes.

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Happy Father's Day! Neil Young, "Old Man" & The Story Behind The Song

Happy Father's Day!

Neil Young's "Old Man" seems an appropriate song for the day.

From BBC 1971.... back when Neil was a young man ...

look at how time flies past....

i'm a lot like you were...

From his 1972 album Harvest, "Old Man" is definitely one of Mr Young's most enduring songs of all time with brilliant banjo and steel guitar. James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt provide backing vocals.

The song was inspired by the caretaker of the Northern California Broken Arrow Ranch, which Young purchased for $350,000 in 1970 when he was just 25 years old.

The song has themes of loneliness and lost love: "Live alone in a paradise that makes me think of two" recalled with a certain pain "love lost/such a cost/give me things that don't get lost."

Yet Neil searches on for that oh-so elusive heart of gold:

"I need someone to love me the whole day through
Oh one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true."

In the film "Heart of Gold", Young introduces the song as follows:

About that time when I wrote (Heart of Gold), and I was touring, I had also -- just, you know, being a rich hippie for the first time -- I had purchased a ranch, and I still live there today.

And there was a couple living on it that were the caretakers, an old gentleman named Louis Avala and his wife Clara. And there was this old blue Jeep there, and Louis took me for a ride in this blue Jeep. He gets me up there on the top side of the place, and there's this lake up there that fed all the pastures, and he says, 'Well, tell me, how does a young man like yourself have enough money to buy a place like this?'

And I said, 'Well, just lucky, Louie, just real lucky.' And he said, 'Well, that's the darndest thing I ever heard.'

And I wrote this song for him.

Neil Young at Broken Arrow Ranch - 1971
Photo by Henry Diltz

As we noted earlier this year, photographer Henry Diltz has taken many iconic photos of Neil Young, as well as, many other legendary musicians over the decades.

From Henry Diltz' blog on Morrison Hotel Gallery, here is the story about spending a day at Broken Arrow Ranch with Neil Young and the "Old Man".

"Old man look at my life..."

"Neil Young bought a ranch in Northern California which he named "Broken Arrow Ranch". I went up there a few times with Gary Burden in 1971 and stayed a couple days taking pictures. Gary was my art director/ partner and still works with Neil. We used to walk around the ranch in the morning, smoking a fatty and checking things out around the property.

The Ranch came with a foreman named Louis Avila who had been there for years. This particular morning we stopped by the foreman's bungalow and he and Neil had a talk on the porch. This was in 1971, a year before his album Harvest came out and as the story goes, this is the "Old Man" that Neil sings about.

We later went on to look in a barn where Neil had some guitars. He pulled out a little old Martin guitar, sat on a hay bale, and played a tune. How great it was to be a fly on the wall and document everything that happened. Lots of those pictures got used in Neil Young Songbooks in the 70's."

--Henry Diltz

(See the photos Henry took the day of this story at Morrison Hotel Gallery.)

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Although some have serious reservations, the song is about a ranch hand and more likely to really be about Neil's own father, Scott Young being the real "old man" behind the song.

The "Old Man" Louis Avala & Neil Young
1970 Dutch documentary film by Wim Van der Linden

So happy father's Dad ... from a not so young man to our old man...

The "Old Man" Louis Avala
YouTube - Neil Young - Old Man - Live at Massey Hall

Also, watch & listen to why Neil Young will never sing "Old Man" with a band again.

And here are a few more appropriate Neil Young Father's Day songs...
(Thanks Ralf B.!)

- "Daddy Went Walking"
- "Far From Home" ("Daddy took an old guitar and sang ...")
- Sixty To Zero (talk to my daddy On the telephone ...")
- Don't Be Denied ("daddy's leavin' home today ...")
- Prairie Wind ("Tryin' to remember what my Daddy said ..."
‎- This Old House ("thinking 'bout daddy, And how he always made things work ...")

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A Father, A Son, and A Project (2012)

Anders and his Neil Pinewood Derby Entry
(Click photo to enlarge)
Over the past few days -- we and many, many others -- ponder how did we get to this sea of madness?

And where do we go from here?

Well, we certainly don't have any better answers than others or all the "talking head experts" who are so consistently so wrong, about so much, so often.

Which brings us to this touching note (via The Guitar Refinishing and Restoration Forum :: This year's Pinewood Derby Car...), we received awhile back and felt like sharing.

From a father who proudly helped his son, a Boy Scout, complete a Neil-themed pinewood derby car. Anders ( age 11) is with a Cub Scout in Minnesota and is a big Neil Young fan and guitar player. He's also a big fan of Neil's Old Black guitar since he was 5 when he played harmonica for his dad's band on a cover version of "Flags of Freedom" at a benefit gig in Minnesota.

Anders' Pinewood Derby car was pretty slow in competition but he won a trophy in the best Not-a-Car category. As the Father said, "My son continues to Keep Rocking in the Free World."

To which we say, love and only love.

Thanks Ray "Old Black"!

Best of luck.

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Every now and then we get a note that touches our souls and that we feel obligated to share with the rusted Neil Young community... what we call "Neil Stories".

So pull up a chair, sit down, clear your mind, and ponder this letter from Buck. Buck tells us that he has "always loved Neil because he does not care what others think about his music, and he naturally enjoys changing and growing as a person, too. He reflects that quality that most people have hard time grasping-living a life in which you don't change, or experience new things, is not really living at all."

(reprinted from 2012 on A Young Man and An Old Man - A Neil Young Story.)

Hey Thrasher,

Great job on providing current Neil news and stories. I have been a big fan of your site for a number of years, but a recent story touched me in a very special way. I can relate with the gentleman's story that was highlighted in "The Emotional Resonance That Is Neil Young" of August 1, 2012.

Just a few weeks ago, I lost my father in a fatal car accident. Growing up, Neil always had a special place in both of our hearts. At an early age, my father made a mix tape of several tracks from Neil's early years (mainly After The Gold Rush and Harvest), and I would often find myself falling asleep to those NY records. Fast forward to my high school years, I rediscovered Neil and have not stopped listening since.

Growing up, music was a big part of both our lives. I loved the same music from my mother and father's younger days, and would often go to several concerts with them. In fact, I treated both of my parents to two Neil shows on his Twisted Road tour from a few years back. At the show in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Neil treated many of his fans with both "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man" and encores. My dad always loved "Old Man," and the more I think about the song and its realism in illustrating that people from different generations are not that different, I began to think of my dad.

At 25, one does not realize how big an impact a parent has played in one's life until they are gone. When I got that news that my dad was killed in a car accident, I began to think not of material goods, but of those little idiosyncratic moments that make life grand. I thought of my dad's love of music, and how he and I shared a love for Neil's music. When it was time to plan my dad's funeral, my mother and I selected "Old Man" to be played at his service, and in true "Tonight's The Night" fashion my dad was buried in a concert T-shirt from the last show he and I attended, which was not a Neil show but Roger Waters performing The Wall.

Still, there was something very moving, very powerful about the way "Old Man" sounded at my dad's service. There was certain comfort my mother and I felt during that song that we had not felt all week in the wake of my dad's passing. When I heard the lines, "Live alone in a paradise that makes me think of two," I could not help but think of where my dad might be at the time of that song playing.

Not to sound too "otherworldly," but perhaps, as Neil sings, "There's more to the picture, than meets the eye."

Buck

So sorry for your loss Buck. Thanks for sharing your story. It sounds like you had some memories with your Dad... "Live alone in a paradise that makes me think of two."

Take care.

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Here's a video of a guitarist from Britain named Fil (aka "Wings of Pegasus") with some analysis of Neil Young's writing at the tender age of 26. The song "Old Man" from BBC 1971 broadcast is analyzed from 7 angles to Sunday.

"There is nothing lost between what Neil Young feels, what he plays, and what the audience experiences."

SPOILER ALERT: the video concludes that Neil Young's song writing is "PROFOUND".

More analysis of Neil Young's "profound" song writing.

The Young Man Before Becoming An Old Man
Neil Young - 1967 (Age 22)
Photo by Linda Eastman McCartney

ps - yes, we've hugged the ones we love today.

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