Comment of the Moment: CSNY's "Ohio" 50 Years Later + Reflections | #MayThe4thBeWithYou

"Ohio" 45 Atlantic Records Single (w/ Bill of Rights picture sleeve)
by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - May 1970

Yesterday was 50th anniversary of the "Kent State Massacre" and while there was much coverage here and elsewhere, it paled in comparison the the enthusiasm around "Star Wars Day" and hashtag #MayTheFourthBeWithYou.

We tried to do our part here @ TW with our alternative "Kent State Massacre" hashtag #MayThe4thBeWithYou.



The Four Dead in Ohio




May The FOUR Be With You
#MayThe4thBeWithYou
We try.

Which brings us to our Comment of the Moment on 50 Years Later: "Ohio", Kent State & Tin Soldiers Still Marching by Dan S.:

Neil is a master at empathy. All three songs featured today on NYA illustrate his passion.

As I have mentioned before, just hearing the opening chords of Ohio induces a physical reaction for me. I get goosebumps instantly and feel a rush of emotions every time. There are few songs that have such a profound impact on me as this one. It’s not just the event that is documented, but the commitment and intention in its creation that carries such weight. This song moves me in a tangible way, and the intensity never wavers with the passing of time.

The acoustic solo version of Who’s Gonna Stand Up? is far more powerful than the version with all the production behind it. This version drives home the point of the song, and reveals the empathetic nature of the lyrics. This is a wonderful example of “less is more” working its magic.

I’m Glad I Found You is yet another example of Neil’s empathy rising to the occasion. Here he uses his ability to combine the grandeur of a orchestra with a delicate and vulnerable vocal. Lyrically this song feels like a validation of his new found love, and a response to some of the external judgment that his new relationship garnered from the public. No anger here, just empathy and understanding. What a unique gift Neil has, and what a blessing that he is willing to share it with the world.

Peace 🙏

Thanks Dan, as always! #MayThe4thBeWithYou

And we do know what you meant about having this event permanently impact you. We were only 9 YO at the time, so even more impressionable.

We actually did write about that awhile back in Glen Boyd's Neil Young FAQ book. Here's the chapter scan (and we'll try and locate the text file sometime. Maybe for 51st anniversary?)

Neil Young FAQ:
Everything Left to Know About the Iconic and Mercurial Rocker
by Glen Boyd

Introduction p#1 by thrasher
Neil Young FAQ

Introduction p#2
Neil Young FAQ

Introduction p#3
Neil Young FAQ

The short story is that our teacher had the newspaper the next day on May 5 w/ the huge soon to be famous photo. everyone was really shocked and upset. But what stuck with us the most was how our teacher was most upset about how the newspaper could publish such a picture.

"What about the children?" the teacher said as she said waving around the image in our faces. Obviously, it all left a bit of an impression still quite vivid 50 years later. And so began our long running tendency to "think for ourselves and question authority" ...

Also, check out Wisconsin Public Radio journalist Robin Washington program yesterday on the 50th anniversary of "Ohio" @ Simply Superior, May 1, 2020 | WPR.org. (thanks John Q.!) Program notes:

This week - Simply Superior presents a documentary special: "Hear the Drumming: The music of the Kent State and Jackson State tragedies"

Premiering on KUWS 91.3 and Wisconsin Public Radio Northern stations, Friday, May 1, 2020 Offered by PRX to public radio stations nationwide for air May 2, 2020 and beyond.

Fifty years ago on May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Vietnam War protesters at Kent State University, killing four. The tragedy shocked the nation and inspired Neil Young to write "Ohio," released in barely a month by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and immediately climbing the charts.

The song cemented the group's almost reluctant transformation from a harmonic love-song trio to a politically charged quartet, but it was not the only music spawned by that event, as well as another: the lower-profile killings of two antiwar protesters at the historically black Jackson State College in Mississippi just days later, on May 15.

In a year-long project focusing on the music inspired by those events, "Simply Superior" host Robin Washington presents songs by artists ranging from the Beach Boys to the Isley Brothers to actress Ruth Warrick, whose credits include "Citizen Kane" and the soap opera "All My Children," as well as far more obscure performers. Washington also discusses "Ohio" with Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuel, CSNY's Antigua-born bass player, who today is ironically a resident of Dayton, Ohio, and who revisits the song with a 50th anniversary recording.

"Hear The Drumming" is produced by Robin Washington as a co-production between Wisconsin Public Radio and Trains, Planes and Automobiles LLC. Executive Producers are Washington and Paul Damberg. The program continues the theme of Washington's music documentaries, including the nationally acclaimed "My Favorite Things at 50," commemorating the 50th anniversary in 2010 of John Coltrane's transformation of the Broadway tune into an enduring jazz standard.

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Today marks 50 years since the Kent State shootings that inspired “Ohio”. This original lyrics manuscript is from May 20th, 1970. #NeilYoung #NeilYoungArchives #Ohio

A post shared by Neil Young Archives (@neilyoungarchives) on May 4, 2020 at 12:33pm PDT

Neil Young and his wife Daryl Hannah created a video in 2018 for the CSN&Y song “Ohio”.

More at NEW Neil Young Official Live Video: "Ohio", 2018.

School shootings. 50 years. How many more?

How can you .... ???

"Ohio" 45 Atlantic Records Single (w/ "Find The Cost of Freedom")
by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - May 1970

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