Graham Nash on Neil Young + Groupies, Feuds, Divorce and Ego | The Guardian

 Graham Nash 

Photo by Gareth Cattermole

A rather provocative and semi-controversial interview with  Graham Nash on groupies, feuds, divorce and ego from The Guardian | ‘There was an enormous amount of drugs being taken’ by Simon Hattenstone. (thanks Thos!)

But the real story isn't the published headline but what was the original draft headline which you can find by hovering over the URL.

We will not attempt to unpack Nash's semi-controversial comments here.  But  we'll just highlight this section on Neil Young for now:

Often Stills and Young competed over guitar solos, I say. 

Nash corrects me. “Actually, it wasn’t quite that way. I’ve stood in the middle of Stephen and Neil countless times, with these two stags talking to each other through guitar riffs.” If Stills and Young were stags, what were he and Crosby? “We were the grass that kept the two stags alive.”

He then pays Young the ultimate backhanded compliment.

“I’ve got utmost respect for him. You can put a European tour together with a crew of 25 people and then a week before he says: ‘Nah, I don’t feel like it’, so all those people are now out of a job. Things like that with Neil I don’t agree with, but I understand his strength and I applaud him for it.” (To be fair to Young, he cancelled tours in 1997 after he sliced the top off his finger while making a sandwich, and in 2013 after Crazy Horse guitarist Frank Sampedro broke his hand.) 

Does Young know he’s selfish? “Neil knows what is best for Neil.” As for Stills, he has nothing but warmth for him now. “I love Stephen. Stephen Stills has got a big heart in that chest of his.” He says he prefers CSN to CSNY and regards Stills as the greatest of the four writers.

Full interview at The Guardian | ‘There was an enormous amount of drugs being taken’ by Simon Hattenstone.

More on Graham Nash, Neil Young and CSNY.

Graham Nash & Neil Young
2013 Bridge School Benefit Concert

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Historical Background: Neil Young's Song "Long May You Run"

Bert in Blind River, Canada

We've all heard the song "Long May You Run" by Neil Young countless times by now, as well as,  the back story behind the song.

Briefly, "Mort" -- the 1948 Buick Hearse in which  Neil transported the bands equipment --  broke down near Blind River, Ontario.

 

"Mort" - 1948 Buick Roadmaster hearse
Ken Koblun, Neil Young, Bob Clark.
Fort William, Ontario, April 1965
Photo courtesy of Ken Koblun
via Author Sharry Wilson's Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years

 

 

From YouTube by Eric:

I was having breakfast in Blind River Ontario and decided to do a quick bit of research into Neil Young's reference to the town. 

 

Apparently, Neil's hearse ("Mort") broke down outside of town with transmission troubles. He and his band spent 4 or 5 days there and drove out of town, in Mort, once the repairs were finished. Germaine, Bert's wife, confirms that it was 1962, not 1963 - she was pregnant with her son at the time and is, therefore, certain of the date. 

 

Per book Shakey, it was actually Iron Bridge (Neil apparently got it wrong) and they definitely weren't heading to Wawa but were going the other way down to Toronto. Neil drove "Mort" from Toronto to Los Angeles, where he met Stephen Stills and formed Buffalo Springfield. Neil was in Canada driving to Sudbury when 'Mort' broke down in Blind River, June 1965. (Which is contradictory to the lyrics; "well it was back in Blind River, in 1962, when I last saw you alive")."

Dear Mummy, ... "Mort is dead" ... love, Neil
via Neil Young Archives

(See Postcards from The Edge of The Neil Young Archives)

More on Neil Young's early years explored by Canadian author Sharry Wilson and Neil Young`s Canadian Years by John Einarson.

 Also, see Visiting Neil Young's Hometown Omemee, Canada: A Fan's Journey.

Visiting Omemee, Canada
Neil Young's Hometown

(See Visiting Neil Young's Hometown Omemee, Canada: A Fan's Journey) 

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