Neil Young's new release ""World Record" w/ Crazy Horse is now available for pre-order. Order here (Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking this link
or YOUR COUNTRY's FLAG. Thank you!!!) ADVERTISEMENT
An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
Our soft launch continues as we bring you episode #8 of Thrasher's Wheat Radio 2.0 Vodcast/Podcast, hosted by our good friend Tony @ WBKM.org in Burlington, Vermont.
Thrasher's Wheat Radio 2.0 Vodcast/Podcast - Episode #8
Consider
these first episodes to be a soft launch of pilot tests as we shake down various
technical issues. As we get the kinks worked out, we'll be bringing in
additional features and special guests.
Eric Clapton said he will refuse to perform at
venues where proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is required, after
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the introduction of
vaccine passports from September for certain events and venues.
“Following the PM’s announcement on Monday the 19th of July 2021, I feel honour bound to make an announcement of my own: I wish to say that I will not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present. Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show,” the musician said in a statement shared on architect and film producer Robin Monotti Graziadei’s Telegram account.
Clapton previously said he had a “disastrous” experience with
the AstraZeneca vaccine, and blamed “propaganda” for pushing the
two-dose experimental vaccine on him.
“I took
the first jab of AZ [AstraZeneca] and straight away had severe
reactions which lasted ten days, I recovered eventually and was told it
would be twelve weeks before the second one,” Clapton wrote in a
statement in May.
“About six weeks later I was offered and took
the second AZ shot, but with a little more knowledge of the dangers.
Needless to say the reactions were disastrous, my hands and feet were
either frozen, numb, or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I
feared I would never play again, (I suffer with peripheral neuropathy
and should never have gone near the needle). But the propaganda said the
vaccine was safe for everyone.”
According to Rolling Stone magazine,
Clapton does not have any shows scheduled in the United Kingdom until
May 2022. The musician has upcoming shows in North America this
September.
(NOTE: Normally on a perfect summer evening, venue would be sold out)
Amos Lee
Seat: Orchestra A22
An Evening w/ Amos Lee
(NOTE: We walked up to Box Office at show time and upgraded to front row center seats)
So we're just glad, fortunate and blessed to be able to go a few miles down the road to a splendid National Park (your tax $'s @ work) and enjoy live music outdoors on a glorious summer evening.
Thank you Amos and Wolf Trap @ 50!
So let the music continue to flow unrestricted and freely to all across the lands in the summer of 2021!!!
In a followup posting, Neil Young described the recording sessions with Crazy Horse as " nine new songs" recorded in a new barn studio in the Colorado Rockies as "RISING WITH THE MOON" plus references to "The Ghost of Elliot Roberts".
"Crazy Horse recording is under way. The Horse is back in the barn now, shaking off the rust," to quote Neil Young from his archive page.
Directed by Jim Jarmusch, "The Recording Of Dead Man" documents the scoring of the 1995 film "Dead Man" by Neil Young (more below).
This is also a good time to look a little closer at the creative relationship between filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and Neil Young.
Jim Jarmusch & Neil Young
Jim Jarmusch discussed his masterpiece DEAD MAN starring Johnny Depp in a Q&A during Film Society of Lincoln Center's complete retrospective "Permanent Vacation: The Films of Jim Jarmusch" in 2014. (Thanks Hounds That Howell!)
Director Jim Jarmusch's film Dead Man -- with a Neil Young soundtrack -- was considered by critic Greil Marcus in Salon Magazine to be "the best movie of the end of the 20th century." Among reasons that Marcus cites are: "For a film set more than a century ago, an electric guitar, playing a modal melody, surrounded by nothing, sounds older than anything you see on the screen."
In an interview, Jim Jarmusch said of Neil's efforts:
"What he brought to the film lifts it to another level, intertwining the soul of the story with Neil's musically emotional reaction to it - the guy reached down to some deep place inside himself to create such strong music for our film."
Dead Man film clip
Jarmusch's concert film of Neil Young and Crazy Horse from the the 1996 tour has been called: "A concert film-group portrait that captures as well as any other music movie the natural, untethered essence of live rock." (John Anderson, in the LOS ANGELES TIMES).
Yet, the album Year Of The Horse, contains none of the performances that are in the film. Go figure.
From Australia's The Age Newspaper interview with Jim Jarmusch by writer Stephanie Bunbury:
"For "Year of the Horse", his documentary about a Neil Young concert tour, Young himself suggested the project after he had written the music for Dead Man and they had made a video clip for his song Big Time. "Young said: 'Look, I'll pay for it. Just shoot some stuff and see if you like it, and we'll continue if you do, and if you don't, I'll just put it on a shelf somewhere.' How could I refuse that? And it was a really great experience, because there was no road map at all."
With the discussion of Neil having a new tone on the 2010 Le Noise tour and the followup on some of the technical details on his signature style made us consider one his most distinctive and evocative sonic creations for the 1995 film Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch.
From Now Magazine interview with Jim Jarmusch by INGRID RANDOJA (DECEMBER 18-24, 1997) on Year Of The Horse:
"Neil's incredible," recalls Jarmusch.
We showed him the Like A Hurricane number, which right in the middle of the song cuts from him now to him 20 years ago.
"Neil jumps out of his seat. I thought, 'He's going to say something about how different he looks.' Instead, he says, 'Look at Old Black!' which is the name of his guitar. 'She looks so new and shiny! She was so young back then.'
"We were laughing so hard, but he was deadly serious. He wasn't self-conscious about his own image changing, just 'Look at Old Black. I haven't taken good care of her.'"
But Jarmusch gets serious when he says, "If Neil were a native American he would be a 'contrary' -- a medicine man. He'd have to walk backwards, because everything Neil does is contrary to what is natural.
"Neil is a perfectionist who embraces imperfection. Everything he does is like that, and the more you get to know him, the more you see it in him.
"Jesus, he doesn't even dress like a rock star. He dresses like a garbage man. He doesn't care."
Jim Jarmusch interview on Dead Man soundtrack
An interview with Jim Jarmusch and Neil's Producer L.A. Johnson in Austin Chronicle | 11-10-97 by Marjorie Baumgarten:
Austin Chronicle: What did you see as your greatest challenge in making this movie?
Jim Jarmusch : No, ah, there wasn't a challenge. You know it was really fun and Larry (L.A. Johnson) was so amazingly organized. I wish my feature films could have the same kind of organization because Neil's people, his road people, man we should make a movie just about them. Cause his road crew are like pirates, or a biker gang, or something. Very organized. And they were great.
And then Larry, whatever we needed was suddenly there. Like Neil asked us to go on the road and in three days -- I was in New York, Larry lives in L.A. -- he had all the equipment together, all the film material, everything was on the way. It was amazing. I guess the challenge to it came after collecting the material and sitting down and being open enough so that the material told us -- me and Jay Rabinowitz, the editor -- what the film wanted to be. You know, to just not try to bludgeon it into any form at all, just sort of in a Zen-like way say, "Okay, what do you want us to do with you now?"
That was like the most challenging thing. It was a fun film to make.
"Young
is an environmentalist, meaning he supports causes that protect natural
resources. He stands publicly against GMOs, climate-change deniers,
deforestation, and so forth. But his music, too, and for just as long,
has been environmental."
& "The sound of it all, the tone
of it, seems to be bigger than him and bigger than me. It’s almost
physical; more precisely, it’s environmental. Young lets single notes
ring for a while. He lets the note get around you and lets you get
around it. Sometimes the note or the sound doesn’t necessarily have a
point, or if it does, the point may be you; you adapt in relation to it.
There is a basic sense of integrity and purpose built into Young’s
playing. And aside from that, I am certain that a few of the times I’ve
heard him—particularly playing solo or playing outdoors—have been some
of the best listening experiences I’ve ever had."
I think that's a
great take from a film critic who must be a pretty big Neil fan. It's a
great film, and is enhanced by Neil's music.
Also, I could
swear Neil said the "I just want to tell you, you sure mean a lot to me"
line from Falling Off the Face of the Earth from Prairie Wind was based
upon a voicemail he received from Jarmusch. I tried to find the
interview (maybe during the stretch on Conan?), but I've come up empty.
Last
night we got together with a bunch of old buddies to catch Steve Earle w/ The Dukes in concert at The Birchmere in Alexandria,
Virginia.
A rather raucous affair summed up by Steve saying "It's great to see anybody in person instead of on a f'n screen" which was applauded heartily as The Dukes ripped into their lengthy set of standards, new tunes, and covers.
Steve Earle Autographed Setlist
photo by Cheryl
Most touchingly were Steve's comments regarding the tragic passing of his son Justin Townes, before covering several of JT's songs.
The Mastersons
The opening set by The Mastersons was also most excellent as well. Eleanor's singing and fiddle are not to be missed.
Let the music flow across all the lands in the summer of 2021!!
This year's Farm Aid festival will be in Hartford, CT, on Saturday, Sept. 25.
The festival lineup will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson & Family, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, and Margo Price, as well as Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Bettye LaVette, Jamey Johnson, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Allison Russell, Particle Kid and Ian Mellencamp.
A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available
beginning at 10am EDT tomorrow (July 21). After that the public sale
will begin on July 23 at 10am EDT. Ticket prices range from $65 to $305
and will be available for purchase at LiveNation.com.
Video of the Moment: CSNY w/ Tom Jones - "Long Time Gone" (1969)
"Long Time Gone"
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young w/ Tom Jones (1969)
Well, we've posted quite a variety of strange things over the years but this is one of the odder ones for sure.
We recall having a audio cassette tape of this but completely forgot
about it. We seemed to recall that Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were
on the This Is Tom Jones TV program but didn't realize that Tom Jones actually performed with CSNY on the song "Long Time Gone".
A YT comment: "Stills never sang better, Crosby never looked happier, and Young never looked so serious.That Tom Jones magic"
From our friends up on Sugar Mountain
come the details of the recording on 1969-09-06 at ABC Studios in Los
Angeles, California. CSNY also performed "You Don't Have To Cry".
Recorded just weeks after their 2nd public performance at the
Woodstock Festival in 1969, CSNY were a very hot act. And Tom Jones appears to
have wanted to get in on the deal.
I would put money on it that Tom Jones's pot was probably much better than what
David was smoking at the time, square or not.
The only difference i
could tell at the different concerts was that the ladies threw their
undies at TJ while he was performing; the ladies weren't wearing
anything underneath at CSN&Y.
This clip is a great example of that 'synergy' that can
sometimes (not always) occur when disparate musical backgrounds 'jam'.
Especially during the 'first exposure' between two different types each
musician is 'pushed' or 'pulled' into a musical groove they've never
exactly been in before. Something new results from the fusion - and the
musicians know it on the spot. Rare, fleeting, exceptionally interesting
to watch/hear.
I've seen, and know the music of all these folks - never
conceived of them being together - expands ones horizons.
>> Pre-Order on Amazon.com << 
Human Highway
Concert Review of the Moment
This Land is My Land
FREEDOM In A New Year
*Thanks Neil!*
![[EFC Blue Ribbon - Free Speech Online]](http://www.thrasherswheat.org/gifs/free-speech.gif)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Neil Young
Pardon My Heart
"We're The Ones 
Thanks for Supporting Thrasher's Wheat!
This blog 
(... he didn't kill himself either...)
#AaronDidntKillHimself
Neil Young's Moon Songs
Civic Duty Is Not Terrorism
Orwell (and Grandpa) Was Right
What's So Funny About 
