INTERVIEW: Neil Young - New Zealand, 1985

Neil Young - New Zealand, 1985 

 

 

A rare February 1985 interview with Neil Young in New Zealand while on tour with Crazy Horse. (Thanks Denis!)

 

 

Interview by Karyn Hay, who does a nice job of drawing Neil out on a few of the typical topics like playing with Crazy Horse and changing musical styles. 

Here's a great Neil quote on "the critics (aka 'the doubters')":

"They're critics. They aren't enjoyers, they can't enjoy. They have to criticize." 

More on Australia/New Zealand 1985 tour of Neil Young & Crazy Horse ("even Bruce Springsteen dropped in...")

 

"Even Bruce dropped in..."
Bruce Springsteen & Neil Young - Sydney, Australia
March 22, 1985
Photo from Thrasher's Wheat Archives

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It Really Is "All One Song"

"All One Song"

 

"It's all one song," Neil says into the microphone before Crazy Horse launches into Year of the Horse's opening track, "When You Dance You Can Really Love."

Here is a reader of Thrasher's Wheat, Trip Niven of Monroe, North Carolina, license plate, from back in January 2007.

Thanks Trip!  Still got the plate?

More on the story behind "all one song" and the Year of The Horse Tour and film.

 

 

NYCH License Plate

 

Also, from Steve in Melbourne, Australia:

G'day,

My Neil Young Crazy Horse number plate that I've proudly had for 15 years, gifted to me by my wife and 2 daughters on my birthday. Best present ever!

Steve

Melbourne, Australia

Thanks Steve. Yeah, we'd agree -- great gift from the family. nice (check your SPAM folder for our reply back to you, pls)

And some more Neil Young related license plates and other signs of all things Neil.

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RARE PHOTO: Neil Young - Boston, 1976 - UPDATED

 

Neil Young

Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA - November 22, 1976  June 26, 1976, Boston GardenPhoto by PJ (Click photo to enlarge)

UPDATED

Back in 2014, we published a post "A Treasure Trove of Unpublished Rock and Roll Photograph".

In the post, we discussed a recently discovered photo of Neil Young from sometime in the mid 1970's. and asked if anyone had anymore specifics, to drop a comment.

In short order, the power of rust tracked the date and venue as Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA on November 22, 1976. So thanks much madravingstark ! 

But wait.

After the positive identification back in 2014, now comes a new update in comments below from zuma11 that the photo is from June 26, 1976 at Boston Garden.  So the post title remains correct:  Boston, 1976.  (Thanks zuma11 !)

The photo has an interesting backstory. From I Discovered a Treasure Trove of Unpublished Rock and Roll Photographs by Douglas Canning: (thanks Pete!)

About 6 months ago, I put an ad on Craigslist trying to sell a 2×12 guitar cabinet. The next day I got a response from a nice guy named PJ who was interested and the transaction was soon under way.

While at my house to pick up the equipment, PJ noticed my Canon 7D and various other camera gear sitting on my desk. He then proceeded to tell me that he too was a photographer and that he used to take a lot of photos of bands on the East Coast in the mid 70s early 80s.

Being a musician myself and a big fan of rock and roll photography, I inquired as to what kind of bands he shot. For the next 10 minutes PJ rattled off a long list of some of the biggest rock bands of the era… The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Santana, Jeff Beck, Queen, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, and too many more to list here!

My next questions were, “Where are these photos? And what are you doing with them?” As it turned out, all of the slides and negatives were in tucked away and stored in boxes. PJ has over 3,000 slides and negatives that have been lying dormant for over 30 years.

See more photos at I Discovered a Treasure Trove of Unpublished Rock and Roll Photographs.

And thanks again madravingstark, zuma11, and everyone crowdsourcing the truth here @ TW!

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Yet Another Attempt To Explain The “Difficult” Neil Young Records | Vinyl Me, Please

Where The Buffalo Roam
Soundtrack w/ Neil Young

Have you ever been in that situation where you're trying to explain Neil Young's catalog and it becomes increasingly clear that the other person just doesn't "get Neil"?

If so (and we know we have all been there before) then here's just the trick -- the handy guide: An Attempt To Explain The “Difficult” Neil Young Records from Vinyl Me, Please by JR Moores.

From 2018, here's the chapter on soundtracks by Neil Young, including the Where The Buffalo Roam gonzo film on Hunter S. Thompson:

Ever one for confounding his audience’s expectations, Young followed his 1972 smash hit Harvest with the movie Journey Through The Past. It’s an experimental documentary that patches together backstage footage, live performances, television appearances, news footage and other strange clips into an abstract retrospective of Young’s career. Featuring performances by Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and notable solo cuts including a rambling 16-minute rendition of Harvest’s “Words”, it also includes weird non-Young cuts such as The Tony & Susan Alamo Christian Foundation & Chorus performing part of Handel’s Messiah and a random Beach Boys instrumental, neither of which were excluded from the vinyl soundtrack release. Rolling Stone called the record “a depressing combination of sloppy music and verbal filler” and declared it “the nadir of Neil Young’s recording activity.” It was never released on CD.

Young’s next foray into the world of the soundtrack was an even scrappier affair. He provided the incidental music to Where The Buffalo Roam, the 1980 flick in which Bill Murray played the gun-totin’, drug-poppin’ gonzo author Hunter S. Thompson. Its soundtrack features classic tracks by Hendrix, Dylan and others but, in true gonzo spirit, Young’s seven contributions add up to less than 10 minutes of music and mainly consist of him playing creaky variations of “Home On The Range.”

Young’s film-score masterpiece would come fifteen years later with his collection of music from “and inspired by” Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man. The album includes snippets of the film’s dialogue and its star, Johnny Depp, reading extracts of William Blake’s poetry. But Young is the true star of this disc, having improvised the music alone, using mainly his electric guitar, with occasional passages performed on acoustic guitar, pump organ or detuned piano. While unquestionably among Young’s weirdest ever moments, Dead Man is also one of his finest idiosyncratic achievements, on which he crafted a distinctly eerie atmosphere that invites parallels to ambient music, post-rock and the melancholic drone metal of groups such as Earth, yet all the while remaining definitively, unmistakably Neil.

Or as others have noted previously, maybe Neil just runs about 30 years ahead of us and it takes awhile for his audience to catch up?

The article concludes with this speculation where anything is possible with Neil and his muse:

So what manner of weirdness might Young embark on next? 

Personally, I’m holding out for a semi-live, multi-disc concept album recorded in the back of a green-fuel animal rescue truck with the Sun-Ra Arkestra who’ve been instructed to perform “cyber-skiffle” without any rehearsal, produced by the guy from The War On Drugs. Stranger things have happened. Wherever Young does go next, here’s hoping there’s plenty more life in the weird dog yet. 

“cyber-skiffle” ??!!  Whatever that is sounds cool.

More albums explained on An Attempt To Explain The “Difficult” Neil Young Records from Vinyl Me, Please.

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Comment of the Moment: Buffalo Springfield Reunion - 2010

Neil Young, Rick "The Bass Player" Rosas, Richie Furay2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts  
Photo by Joe "The Drummer" Vitale 

The TW Comment of the Moment is from RARE VIDEO: Buffalo Springfield 1986 Rehearsals by Richie C.:

That Saturday Bridge show in 2010 was one of the greatest live music experiences of my life. What a night in the rain.

Dancin along to Billy Idol right after the Giants got into the World Series was an absolute blast, even though Billy really had no idea why the crowd was going THAT crazy! Pearl Jam gave us a great set, including their tribute song to my home, Santa Cruz. Seeing Kris Kristofferson was a treat, though Merle Haggard's absence was the only bummer of the night.

All of it led up to Buffalo Springfield. You could feel a real nervousness in the air, as no one really knew what to expect, but as soon as we heard Richie's voice on "On The Way Home", everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Richie sounded perfect, Stephen looked and played better than I had seen in a long time, the backup guys were the perfect choice, and of course, Neil was Neil. Their performance was far far better than anyone could have hoped. From my seat, I had a great view of Emmylou Harris backstage swaying along to the music, she stayed in that spot for the entire time they played. When they broke out "Burned", I figured I was having an out of body experience. At the climax of "Bluebird", Stephen and Neil looked at each other with total "WOW" looks, total magic.

I've seen a lot of shows in my time, and that's one that really stands out as one of the truly best. 

Thanks so much for the memories there of Bridge weekend 2010 Richie! Quite a weekend of musical history being made.

 

The Buffalo Springfield, v. 2010
Joe Vitale, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Neil Young and Rick Rosas
Photo by Eleanor Stills(See The Buffalo Springfield Portrait by Eleanor Stills)

More on RARE VIDEO: Buffalo Springfield 1986 Rehearsals.

Also, see complete reports on 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concert (24th Annual) with reviews, photos, YouTube videos and commentary.

Also, see The Triumphant Reunion of The Buffalo Springfield, Pearl Jam and Neil Young @ 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts.

More on 2010 Bridge School Concert Highlights: Pro Shot Video on YouTube.

Also, see Buffalo Springfield, Pearl Jam & Others: "Rockin' in the Free World" @ Bridge Concert.

And  Revisiting The Significance of The Buffalo Springfield.

Finally, here's the bottom line ... The Significance of The Buffalo Springfield Reunion: The Lefsetz Letter 

 

Buffalo Springfield Reunited - 10/23/10 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts 
Photo by Thrashette (Click photo to enlarge)

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Oh Brother Dan, Where Art Thou?

 

"Peace and Love" - Neil Young w/ Pearl Jam

Frame via Official Music Video  

 

Oh Brother Dan, where art thou?

Maybe feeling Neil Young's sadness, as well?

The recent SPOTIFY debacle , ongoing environmental degradation, lack of Neil touring, the loss of guitar tech Kurt,  or the ominous war drums that are beating or a combination of all, brings us down too.

While they just may be only castles burning, it does hurt and we too feel Neil's pain -- viscerally in our hearts and souls.

Your positive and optimistic take on all things Neil is greatly missed here at Thrasher's Wheat. Folks have noticed your absence and inquired.  We do not know whether this might be a unrelated sabbatical or something that was said or not said on this blog.

Be well our friend who we've never seen.

"Yes, that was me with the doves, setting them free near the factory 

Where you built your computer, love. 

We hope you get the connection, 'cause we can't take the rejection 

We won't deceive you."

 

Feel free to drop us a line if we can clarify anything @ thrasher ATSIGN thrasherswheat.org  

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