The Story Behind The Photographer: Paul & Linda McCartney with Neil Young by Gijsbert Hanekroot.

Neil Young, Linda & Paul McCartney Backstage Rotterdam 1976Cropped* photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot  (Click photo to enlarge)

Earlier this week, we posted a "rare" photo of Paul & Linda McCartney with Neil Young backstage in Rotterdam in 1976.

The photo is from 1976-03-24 at Sportpaleis Ahoy', Rotterdam, The Netherlands with Crazy Horse, (per Sugar Mountain ) by  Dutch photographer Gijsbert Hanekroot. (See full uncropped photo with Crazy Horse and Manager Elliot Roberts here. Also, the following is really more about the story behind the photographer.  If you would like more on the photo itself, see original posting @ RARE PHOTO: Paul & Linda McCartney w/ Neil Young)

We have featured the work of  Gijsbert Hanekroot many times over the years here at Thrasher's Wheat.  Probably the most well known photo by Hanekroot is of the cover photo for the Tonight's The Night album. (NOTE: spelling on NYA credits incorrect: "Photography by Gissbert Hanekroot: pages 12, 13, & front cover").

 

Tonight's the Night by Neil Young

Cover photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot

 

Another notable photo of Neil Young by the Dutch photographer Gijsbert Hanekroot is known here as "Reflections" from the CSNY 1974 Tour.

 

ReflectionsNeil Young on CSNY 1974 Tour Oakland, CA - 7/13 or 14/74
Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot  Apparently, Dutch photographer Gijsbert Hanekroot  caught numerous Neil Young concerts from the Europe 1973 Tonight's The Night tour, CSNY 1974 Tour and
Europe 1976 tour.

 Neil Young
Copenhagen, 1976
Photographer Gijsbert Hanekroot
(Click photo to enlarge) 

Neil was on tour in Amsterdam 1976 and appears to be hanging out in a hotel.

 

Gijsbert Hanekroot Constant Meijers (see comments below) was also the author of what is known as "Welcome on Miami Beach, Ladies and Gentleman"  "Tonight's The Night liner notes insert inside original "Tonight's The Night" vinyl album.  (The Dutch translation to English here.)

 

 

"Welcome on Miami Beach, Ladies and Gentleman"
(see the Dutch translation of "Tonight's The Night liner notes on the "Tonight's The Night" album) 

  

 

"Tonight's the Night" Album Liner Notes w/ "Florida" Story
w/ "On The Beach" Overlay + Roy Orbison Photo(see The Mystery of Neil Young's "Florida" Finally Solved) 

1st Edition of Tonight's the Night 

Photo from Bill White Collection

 

Also, see the Dutch translation of the other liner notes on the "Tonight's The Night" album. 

 

"Welcome to Miami Beach:

 EVERYTHING IS CHEAPER THAN IT LOOKS"

 NYA Timeline Mockup of Roxy Live Album Cover

(see UPDATED - Neil Young's Online Archives: What Have We Found Thus Far?)

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RARE PHOTO: Paul & Linda McCartney w/ Neil Young - Rotterdam 1976

Neil Young, Linda & Paul McCartney Backstage Rotterdam 1976photo by  Gijsbert Hanekroot  (Click photo to enlarge)
 

Here is a rare photo of Paul & Linda McCartney with Neil Young backstage in Rotterdam in 1976.

This would be on 1976-03-24 at Sportpaleis Ahoy', Rotterdam, The Netherlands
with Crazy Horse, per Sugar Mountain.

 

 

Advertisement via Sugar Mountain.

 
Paul McCartney and Neil Young have had quite a few interesting musical encounters over the years.

Paul McCartney and Neil Young
"Only Love Can Break Your Heart"
Bridge School Benefit Concert - October 23, 2004
Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA
Photo by Kim Komenich of San Francisco Chronicle

 

As with so many things, it's hard to say when and where Paul McCartney and Neil Young became acquainted and developed a musical friendship. It turns out that even many Beatles fans are often surprised by the depth and endurance of the relationship.

We consider Linda Eastman to be the key link between Paul McCartney and Neil Young.

 

Photo of Neil Young by Linda McCartney - 1968

 

Linda Eastman -- who went on to become Ms. Paul McCartney -- photographed Neil Young in 1967. A photo from the session was used for the cover of Young's Sugar Mountain, a live recording from the Canterbury House, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 9th & 10th November 1968.

While very little is known of the photo session in 1967, it was understood that Linda had a great appreciation for Young's music until her death in 1998. 

Paul McCartney and Neil Young
Capitol Records - Los Angeles, California - 09.02.12
(Click photo to enlarge)
In March 1999, Neil Young inducted former Beatle Paul McCartney into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. During Neil's induction speech he said:

"The first song I learned to play was a Beatles song -- "Give Me Money, That's What I Want". Paul McCartney is one of the greatest songwriters ever. He'll be remembered hundreds of years from now."

Paul McCartney & Neil Young at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

After Neil handed Paul the Hall of Fame statue, Paul commented: "Thank you all. I love Neil!"

At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, Neil Young's display contains a telegram that he received from Paul and Linda McCartney in 1979. It read:

Neil,
Linda and I have been listening to Live Rust over and over, side four kicks ass.
Lotta Love,
Paul

(Thanks Larry B.!)


On October 16, 2004, Neil and Paul joined forces to benefit Adopt-A-Minefield which raises awareness of land mines. Held in Los Angeles at the Century Plaza Hotel, Neil Young played an acoustic set of "Pocahontas," "Harvest Moon," "Heart of Gold," "On The Way Home," "Human Highway," "Old King," and "Four Strong Winds". Pegi joined on vocals.

Later, Paul McCartney brought Neil onstage for "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and the show closing "Hey Jude."

McCartney said:

"We have a bit of fun but, as you can see, we do a lot of good along the way. That's one of the magic things ... When you've worked hard and you've had a lot of luck, you get to a position, where Neil and I are at, you can do a little bit more. It's a magic thing."

A week later, Paul returned the favor by performing at Neil's annual Bridge School Benefit Concert, which educates children with severe speech and physical impairments.

The 2 day benefit concerts in October 2004, with Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Neil Young and many other artists, was received enthusiastically by both fans and critics.

From Contra Costa Times review by Tony Hicks:

"Though his voice was a bit rusty, McCartney was his old self, throwing arms in the air after nearly every song and hamming it up whenever possible. He brought out Young for "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," which was a bit bumpy as McCartney tried keeping up with a tune with which he wasn't completely familiar. He went back to his strengths, through "Yesterday," "Get Back," "Let it Be," "Lady Madonna" and show-closer "Hey Jude."

Unlike recent years, nearly all the musicians hung around for the obligatory ending. You could see the excitement, even on the faces of veterans, in sharing the stage with McCartney, making it one of the rare all-star jams worth the wait."

 

Paul McCartney and Neil Young encore for "A Day in the Life"

On June 27, 2009, Neil Young performed the final show of a three year tour in Hyde Park, London, England for the Hard Rock Calling 2009 Festival.

During the last year of the tour, Young would conclude each concert with an absolutely over the top cover of the Beatles "A Day in the Life" which left his guitar in shreds in a wall of feedback at the song's conclusion.

About half way through "A Day in the Life", out walked Paul McCartney onstage to the astonishment of the 50,000 in the crowd. Those who attended, remarked that when McCartney's image first appeared on the giant video screens, a jolt of electricity went thru the crowd in anticipation of witnessing history.



Photos by crris b on Photobucket 
What's interesting to note in the photos above and video below, is who is in awe of who. It would seem that McCartney's bows to Young in a "we are not worthy" pose indicate who is in the presence of the master.

From concert review in Uncut.co.uk | Uncut Editor's Diary - Post details: Neil Young – Hard Rock Calling, London Hyde Park, Saturday June 27, 2009 by Allan Jones:

"What follows is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen Neil Young play, a full-on sonic rupture, two hours of unforgiving and unforgettable guitar distortion, seismic upheaval, deafening detonations, feedback rapture, wave after wave after crashing wave of noise, uplifting and triumphant, the kind of thing that tears vents in the atmosphere, disarranging the senses, wholly transcendent, an often savage aural maelstrom out of which emerges finally a charred beauty, that old ragged glory that is oft-mentioned in talk of Neil, his music and the way he plays it.

Tonight it reaches climax after teasing climax, ecstatic and deranged and after a while just exhilaratingly hilarious, Neil grinning madly as he comes back for one more chorus, and then another and another after that, no one by now wanting the thing to be put to bed, the delirium palpable.

And he’s not done yet and tops even this with what’s become a formidable version of “A Day In The Life”, a song long-regarded by many as something no one in their right mind would think of playing live, including you might think Paul McCartney, who’s been standing at the side of the stage, but is within minutes at the microphone with Neil, arm around Neil’s shoulder, clearly euphoric, the crowd a-roaring. McCartney, now that things have moved on to a guitar-shredding instrumental section seems at a bit of a loss, not sure quite what to do, a problem he solves by waving his arms in the air, grinning wildly, dancing like someone who’s just been introduced to his feet and having a grand old time and then clawing at the strings of Neil’s guitar.

It’s an amazing moment, and an amazing end to an amazing show.

Photo by crris b on Photobucket

More on Paul McCartney encore w/ Neil Young on "A Day in the Life" at Hyde Park, London, England Hard Rock Calling 2009 Festival: 6/27/09.

Paul McCartney and Neil Young
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Desert Trip

And as we presciently speculated in 2016, yes, we did indeed get the Paul McCartney and Neil Young mashup we all hoped for at Desert Trip. Maybe not exactly as expected (we thought Paul would walk onto Neil's set for "A Day In The Life"), but even beyond our wildest speculations.

After Neil joined Paul for "A Day In The Life" they went straight into John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance" followed by a rare "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?". Are we lucky and blessed or what?! 

 

 "The God's set list... Neil, you make me miss my mum" x Stella

@StellaMcCartney - Oct 16, 2016

 

 

And the McCartney love for Neil Young continues onto the next generation with Stella McCartney tweeting here reverence after attending Neil Young + Promise of the Real at Desert Trip Festival on October 15, 2016 (Weekend #2).

 

Also see more on Neil Young inspirations, influences and collaborations.

Paul McCartney and Neil Young (w/ Ben Keith & Rick Rosas)
Hyde Park, London, UK - June 27, 2009
Photo by Lzbth Corinthians (via Bernie B. Shakey)
(Click photo to enlarge) 

Paul McCartney and Neil Young - 2004
Photo by Barry Brecheisen

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A Tribute to Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn: 1945 - 2023

Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn: 1945 - 20233rd from left w/ Neil Young and Band (Click photo to enlarge)

 

Here is a tribute to Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn: 1946 - 2023 by Ron:

More sad news. 

I was just listening to Windward Passage by the Ducks last week for the first time in ages. If it doesn't get your feet tapping there's something wrong with you. I first heard it when I listened to one of the Ducks' shows that was playing on Rust Radio quite some years ago. I was doing something else at the same time and don't have strong recollections of the other material but Windward Passage stood out for me and grabbed my attention.

I was then fortunate to find a collection of rare Neil Young tracks somewhere on the internet which I downloaded and this included Windward Passage which subsequently received quite a few plays from me. I am therefore looking forward to the release of the long promised Ducks Official Bootleg and the chance to listen to it and the other Ducks tracks in full NYA sound quality. Shame Jeff didn't live to see this release.

A lot of the tracks in the collection of rarities were new to me at the time, but I think they have almost all been made available on NYA now, apart from Sad Movies. This is another favourite of mine so hope to see it on NYA too at some point.

Moby Grape are a name I was familiar with in my teenage years but I don't think I ever heard any of their albums. I'm going to see what I can find available for streaming (not S*****y) and have a good listen tonight. 

RIP Jeff Blackburn

 

Thanks so much for sharing here Ron. 

Yes, it's a real shame that Jeff didn't live to hear this release. Maybe when it does get released, some sort of note can be appended? or maybe that window will get missed also.

DangerDuck flies alone ...
And he rides the wind back to his home
Although his wings have turned to stone

Gone ... but not forgotten... this is the story of The Ducks.  quack, quack Jeff. 

More on  The Ducks, Neil Young and Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn: 1945 - 2023.

Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn: 1945 - 2023  w/ Neil Young(Click photo to enlarge)

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Neil Young Talks to Conan O’Brien About His Best, Worst TV Appearances

Conan O’Brien and Neil Young  (Click photo to enlarge)

 

The long running mutual respect between Conan O’Brien and Neil Young continues.

Recently, Neil Young spoke to Conan O’Brien about a variety of subjects, including Neil's best and weakest TV appearances. 

Conan asks Neil Young about his 60s TV appearances on “Mannix” and “The Hollywood Palace.”

Neil Young remembers feeling petrified before performing on “The Johnny Cash Show.”

Conan remembers watching Neil Young “melt” Studio 8H with his performance of “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

 

Also, see  Neil Young's Saturday Night Live Performance of  "Rockin' In The Free World"  and How Neil Young* Got DEVO on 'Saturday Night Live' in 1978.

Also, see VIDEO: Buffalo Springfield Scene on Mannix TV Episode - 1967. 

More on  Conan O’Brien and Neil Young.

 

Conan O’Brien Talks About Neil Young Agreeing to Be His Last "Tonight Show" Musical Performance | The Howard Stern Show

Conan O'Brien Unboxing Neil Young's "Return To Greendale

  

Neil Young & Conan O’Brien 

see PODCAST: Conan O’Brien Interviews Neil Young

 

Neil Young - "Long May You Run"
Final Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien - January 2010
Neil Young pays tribute to L.A. on final Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien with "Long May You Run"

Neil Young on Conan O'Brien Late Night show, 2005.
Neil Young was the musical artist in residence for the week November 1-4, 2005 on Conan O'Brien Late Night show.

Neil Young - "Far From Home"
November 1, 2005
Conan O'Brien's Late Show

Here's a recap of the week of Neil Young on Conan O'Brien:
- November 1 - "Far From Home",
- November 2 - "The Painter",
- November 3 - "This Old Guitar" and "The Needle and the Damage Done" and
- November 4 - "No Wonder" & "When God Made Me".

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Joe Rogan on the Spotify Drama: "I love Neil Young, but ... "

Joe Rogan & Dave Portnoy on JRE #1920 - January 5, 2023

Joe Rogan and Dave Portnoy, founder of the digital media company Barstool Sports, discuss the attempt at canceling JRE, and the Neil Young and Spotify tempest.

  

"I love Neil Young, but ..." - Joe Rogan @ 3:30

As background, in January 2022, Spotify removed Neil Young’s catalog from its service after the artist published —then took down — an open letter with an ultimatum: deal with the vaccine misinformation coming from Joe Rogan’s podcast, or lose his music.

 

The COVID Years: Neil Young Asks Spotify to Remove Music Over Vaccine Disinformation, Then Retracts Letter | TW

 

  "I watched the needle take another man": 

Neil Young Takes The Jab 

Thrasher's Wheat - March 23, 2021

 

The 2022 drama made headlines around the EARTH after Neil Young published a letter on his website  demanding that SPOTIFY remove all of his music due to Joe Rogan's "vaccine disinformation".  And shortly thereafter -- all hell broke loose here on this blog and elsewhere. (See here, here and here) The magnitude of all of this was so great that even Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited -- although only on paper -- in their opposition to SPOTIFY.  Neil Young then wrote to SPOTIFY employees:  "Get out of that place before it eats up your soul." 

 

VIEWPOINT: Neil Young Archives(Click photo to enlarge)

 

  Neil Young and Joe Rogan

 

• The COVID Years: Neil Young Asks Spotify to Remove Music Over Vaccine Disinformation, Then Retracts Letter  90+ Comments
  
• Joni Mitchell Joins Neil Young In Removing Her Music from Spotify 40+ Comments
• Comments of the Moment: Neil Young's "The COVID Years", Joe Rogan, Spotify and Vaccine Disinformation 40+ Comments
  
• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Reunite ... In Opposition to SPOTIFY  40+ Comments
  
• Neil Young to SPOTIFY Employees: "Get out of that place before it eats up your soul." 35+ Comments
  
• Neil Young Clears Up Some Things: "I was misinformed, too!" | NYA 30+ Comments
• VIEWPOINTS: The Neil Young, Spotify, & Joe Rogan Controversies 25+ Comments 
• Neil Young Will NOT Play Farm Aid 2022  50+ Comments 
• Eric Clapton Says He Won't Play At Shows Where COVID-19 Vaccination Proof Is Required   55+ Comments 
• Keep Calm, No Fear, [Don't] Shut It Down, and Keep on Rockin'! #BeTheRain   15+ Comments (... this is when it all began, March 2020 ...)
  

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Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn: 1945 - 2023

Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn: 1945 - 2023  w/ Neil Young(Click photo to enlarge)

 

Via Rusted Moon:

He wrote the iconic lyric "It's better to burn out than to fade away" in Neil Young's song "My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)" - now he's dead.

Guitarist and songwriter Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn died January 5, aged 77. Blackburn started out in California in the early 1960s as part of folk duo Blackburn & Snow, who released a few singles, and later played in San Francisco-based psychedelic rock band Moby Grape", with whose bassist Bob Mosley he then founded the "Jeff Blackburn Band" in Santa Cruz.

In the summer of 1977, Neil Young, a friend of Blackburn's Buffalo Springfield days, joined his band, which also added Johnny Craviotto on drums. The formation changed their name to "The Ducks" and played almost two dozen gigs in local clubs around Santa Cruz from July to September. It was then that Neil Young's famous "Peace & Dove" guitar strap was used for the first time.

During that summer with the Ducks, Young wrote the song " My My, Hey Hey ,"  borrowing - for co-credits - Blackburn's lyric from one of his songs.  However, the "Ducks" never played the song live. Neil Young first recorded with the band Devo in May 1978 for his film Human Highway. He had previously played it live for the first time at the concerts at "The Boarding House" in San Francisco. In 1979 he appeared in an acoustic and electric version on the album "Rust Never Sleeps", named after his lyric line.

Jeff Blackburn didn't live to see the release of an album by The Ducks. Originally planned for 2020, but then postponed several times, it is expected to be released this spring as "High Flyin'" with live recordings of the club concerts from that time. 

BREAKING NEWS ... Jeffrey Blackburn, Neil Young Bandmate in The Ducks Dead 

  

Jeffrey Reid "Jeff" Blackburn:  Gone ... but not forgotten. This is the story of The Ducks.

The stories are legendary surrounding the brief existence of The Ducks: "In their prime though, rusties, the Ducks were a magical experience." (see "Duck Tales")

Here is a very detailed recollection of that remarkable summer of '77 -- 40 years ago -- in a small coastal Northern California town --  The Story of Neil Young’s Short-lived Santa Cruz Band The Ducks.

Neil Young - August 1977
Catalyst Club, Santa Cruz, CA
PHOTO: RICHARD MCCAFFREY/BAM
(Click photo to enlarge)

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The Flying Scotzman Soars with Neil Young Writings

"A close look at two of Neil Young’s most thrilling guitar effects"by  The Flying Scotzman on Patreon

For all of the Thrasher's Wheat  regulars  out there, you are very familiar with the writings and musings of The Flying Scotzman or Scotsman or simply Scots.

The Flying Scotzman's posts here on Thrasher's Wheat have consistently been made Comments of the Moment and have served as fundamental cornerstone to what we do here in terms of separating the wheat from the chaff.

So we bring you the news that  The Flying Scotzman has launched on Patreon and we encourage all TW readers to give him a visit and support him if you can.

The Flying Scotzman's  first article is titled "A close look at two of Neil Young’s most thrilling guitar effects."

Another article examines the recent NEIL YOUNG ARCHIVES TIMELINE CONCERT OF THE HOLIDAYS: w/ Crazy Horse @ Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA - 9/16/1996.

 

"All about the latest Neil Young & Crazy Horse timeline concert release, Cal Expo ‘96"  

 by The Flying Scotzman on Patreon

 

Neil Young and Crazy Horse

The legendary Alchemy Tour. The best band in the world — rocking, rolling, and stomping *like a giant* into London, England. 17th June 2013.

 

 

So check out The Flying Scotzman and his writings about the remarkable music of Neil Young.

 

In the meantime, here are a few featured CotM's by the "intrepid, inconsolable, & inflammable" Scotsman:

 

• Comment of the Moment: Neil Young's Unreleased 2001 Album "Toast" w/ Crazy Horse
   
  
• Comment of the Moment: BARN by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
  
  
• Comment of the Moment: Sound Mix of Albums "TOAST" & "Are You Passionate?" by Neil Young" 

• Comment of the Moment: TRANS: A Little Bit of Essential Neil Young 

 

Best of luck Scotsman and we look forward to your writing about the remarkable music of Neil Young!

 

Neil Young
2005 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony photo by Julie Jacobson

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