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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.
Last month, Neil Young held a playback of the upcoming album with Crazy Horse titled COLORADO and the first track titled “Rainbow Of Colors” will be released in September. The album COLORADO will have"10 new songs ranging from around 3 minutes to over 13 minutes."
Also, Neil announces ‘Mountaintop Sessions’, a documentary film about the making of COLORADO, which will be released in over 100 theaters world-wide the week the album COLORADO debuts, in October. And in other announcements, ‘Tonight’s the Night’ will be the album of the week. There will also be a 12-minute ‘Tonight’s the Night’ video.
Woodstock @ 50: Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young + Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock
August 18, 1969
It's been 50 years since Jimi Hendrix caught up with Neil Young at Woodstock in the summer of `69.
On that helicopter day, a half-million stories were made. And here's one of our favorites -- Jimi & Neil trying to make it to the Woodstock concert along with the hordes of flower children at the dawning of the age of Aquarius.
We had long believed it to be an urban legend that Jimi and Neil stole a truck in order to make it to Woodstock. It turns out that is not too far off the mark.
Woodstock: 3 Days of Music, Peace & Love
From a radio interview program "On The Record" by Mary Turner in 1979, Neil was asked about what he remembered of Woodstock:
Young: "One of things I remember about Woodstock was trying to get there to play.
As it turns out, the charter plane I was on with Jimi Hendrix flew into the wrong airport. We were supposed to be picked by a helicopter. The roads were jammed and there was nobody at the airport, so we had no way to get to the concert.
So we're standing at the airport with Melvin Belli [an attorney] trying to figure out what to do. And Melvin Belli steals this pickup truck parked at the airport.
So it's the three of us in this stolen pickup truck trying to get to the Woodstock concert to play -- Jimi, Melvin & me.
That's what I really remember about Woodstock.
Another variation of the story appears in David Zimmer's CROSBY, STILLS & NASH: The Biography with Neil hot-wiring the truck and Elliot Roberts, Young's manager, is driving the pickup truck with Jimi Hendrix on the hood.
Elliot says: 'Jimi Hendrix was a hood ornament! It was insane.'"
As they say, if you remember Woodstock, you weren't there...
So how about the aftermath of Woodstock?
Woodstock: A "Hippie Dream"?
One of them solves the lingering mystery of the absence of Neil Young in Woodstock, the 1970 Michael Wadleigh-directed documentary. And it would seem that's Neil Young's feelings towards that "helicopter day" only seemed to harden over the years. A quote from biographer Jimmy McDonough's Shakey has been bouncing around the blogs driven by a look at the flip-side of Woodstock in The Globe and Mail:
“Woodstock was a bullshit gig. A piece of shit. We played fuckin’ awful.
No one was into the music. I think Stephen [Stills] was way overboard into the huge crowd. Everybody was on this Hollywood trip with the fuckin’ cameras. They weren’t playin’ to the audience as much as to the cameras…I could see everybody changing their performances for the fucking camera and I thought that was bullshit. All these assholes filming, everybody’s carried away with how cool they are…I wasn’t moved.”
“I didn’t like the fucking cameras, they didn’t have to be on stage. They’re cameras, ‘Hello! Use your zoom, dickhead!”
“Who cares? It doesn’t matter, I was there, I saw it. Who gives a shit? I couldn’t care less.”
From The Dick Cavett TV program that was filmed the day after Woodstock with Joni Mitchell and The Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kantner and Grace Slick.
And out walks David Crosby and Stephen Stills -- basically straight from Woodstock. Stills shows everyone the mud that is still caked to his jeans which everyone seems to find pretty groovy. Stephen then plays "4+20".
There are other clips from the summer and fall of 1969 including scenes from their home studio in Laurel Canyon, California. Song clips include Crosby's "Song With No Words", Stills' "Black Queen", "Find The Cost of Freedom", and Crosby's "Laughing".
So it turns out that Neil Young was actually at Woodstock afterall even though he does not appear in the film.
There are a lot of stories about why Neil isn't in the film. Most commonly, it's because he didn't want to be filmed and the lights were cut during CSNY's performance.
Neil's had a lot of contradictory reflections to Woodstock over the years. He used the Woodstock stage announcements extensively during the 1978 Rust Never Sleeps tour. (Hey, if we think really hard, be the rain.)
Conversely, look closely at the desert scene in the film Journey Through the Past where there is a shot revealing The Graduate wearing a Woodstock shirt just before shooting up.
So it would seem that some of the ethos of the period didn't sit too well with Neil judging by the lyrics of 1986's "Hippie Dream" from Landing On Water
'Cause the tie-dye sails
Are the screamin' sheets
And the dusty trail
Leads to blood in the streets
And the wooden ships
Are a hippie dream
Capsized in excess
And it would seem that's Neil's feelings towards that day only seemed to harden over the years. A quote from biographer Jimmy McDonough's Shakey has been bouncing around the blogs driven by a look at the flip-side of Woodstock in The Globe and Mail:
“Woodstock was a bullshit gig. A piece of shit. We played fuckin’ awful. No one was into the music. I think Stephen [Stills] was way overboard into the huge crowd. Everybody was on this Hollywood trip with the fuckin’ cameras. They weren’t playin’ to the audience as much as to the cameras…I could see everybody changing their performances for the fucking camera and I thought that was bullshit. All these assholes filming, everybody’s carried away with how cool they are…I wasn’t moved.”
Nevertheless, a duet with Stills on "Mr. Soul" from Woodstock was used on The Archives. So maybe the hippie dream wasn't so bad afterall?
But -- for many -- Neil seemed to really drive a stake into the '60's hippie vibe of "peace, love and music" culture with his "music can't change the world" comments last year. And based on the overwhelming reaction, not everyone agreed that the spirit of the 1960's was dead.
August 16th, 1969: Neil Young appears with Crosby, Stills & Nash for the first time the Auditorium Theater in Chicago. They mention from the stage “they were going to someplace called Woodstock the next day, but that they had no idea where that was.” pic.twitter.com/ZlV3mDnjrD
Over on NYA, there's a regular feature called Bentley's Bandstand which covers various rock and roll musings by the Warner Music PR veteran Bill Bentley.
Bentley's pieces are always insightful and enjoyable for their insiders perspective. Incidentally, Bill Bentley handled the "Neil Young Account" at Warner Music. From Red Headed Wonder: Willie Nelson by Bill Bentley:
Wherever he performed it was like a private party for hundreds of people. There was something about Nelson's hard-won wisdom in his music that literally appealed to everyone. While beer sales went through the ceiling at the Armadillo, there were never any fights or even harsh words when Nelson appeared. He was like a musical prince of peace for all of us, pointing to that wide-open space where everyone could celebrate the commonality of being alive and grateful in a place of warm-blooded joy. Dozens and dozens of shows went by, and the wave started growing by the month.
In 1974 he held his first Fourth of July picnic, and it became official: Texas had a new cosmic leader and it was man who not only sang the truth, he lived it.
Bruce Springsteen Releases Live Album of 1986 Bridge School Performance
“Hungry Heart” - Bruce Springsteen w/ Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Bruce Springsteen is releasing an album of his 1986 Bridge School concert.
Bridge School, is a 10-track live album recorded at Neil Young’s 1st Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert, at the Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, California. The album has the first-ever performance of his acoustic version of “Born in the U.S.A.” Springsteen brought out Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young on “Hungry Heart.”
Neil & Bruce
Bridge School Benefit Concert - October 13, 1986
Two dollars from each purchase go to The Bridge School to help continue their work helping educate children with speech and physical impairments.
Thanks HtH!
Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young
"You know, the difference between the greatness of Bruce Springsteen and that of Neil Young as someone once explained to me back in college: Bruce makes you think you, too, can be as great as he is; Neil makes you think he is really no better than you are to begin with. Remember that." Dr. Eric Alterman - Altercation
Our regular readers know we're always up for a spirited debate on the relative merits of our respective musical heroes. And of course -- as we always predispose -- it's not a competition and there are no winners and losers. Only players.
@ThrashersWheat has now issued a statement on Monsanto's spying: "They should have just called us directly. We remember all the the wheat we have separated from the chaff.”
Great coverage on @democracynow on explosive new documents that reveal #Monsanto ran a “fusion center” to surveil + discredit journalists + activists who criticized or wrote damning reports about Monsanto, as well as legendary singer-songwriter @Neilyoung.https://t.co/OMQpaEfPN7
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 9, 2019
In 2015, Neil Young made an album that was critical of agribusiness giant Monsanto. A new report shows that Monsanto considered “legal action” that same year https://t.co/61irDMbq96
Big brother is watching! The corporations that our governments too often represent more than life itself can surveil our open Rebellion as much as they like but they will never discredit it. It is unstoppable.https://t.co/ss02kRsOoshttps://t.co/cCu2u8ojLX
Here at the @ThrashersWheat Fusion Center -- and right on schedule as predicted -- we have been visited by some of Monsanto's hired shills. While many argue these gratuitous comments should be deleted, we argue that they serve an educational purpose. As we have documented extensively in our Comments Policy, the techniques and strategies of forum disruption is directly from the Monsanto Fusion Center playbook to "smear and harass opponents."
Monsanto Spied on Neil Young | Revealed: How Monsanto's 'intelligence center' targeted journalists and activists
"They should have just called me directly. I remember all the shaky things I have done.” Statement on NYA
Monsanto's Roundup & Neil Young
UPDATE: Neil Young has issued a statement on Monsanto spying on him on NYA: "They should have just called me directly. I remember all the shaky things I have done.” Unsurprisingly -- but sadly -- an investigation reveals that Monsanto spied on Neil Young.
Monsanto operated a “fusion center” to monitor and discredit journalists and activists, and targeted a reporter who wrote a critical book on the company, documents reveal. The agrochemical corporation also investigated the singer Neil Young and wrote an internal memo on his social media activity and music.
Monsanto “fusion center” officials wrote a lengthy report about singer Neil Young’s anti-Monsanto advocacy, monitoring his impact on social media, and at one point considering “legal action”. The fusion center also monitored US Right to Know (USRTK), a not-for-profit, producing weekly reports on the organization’s online activity.
The fusion center also produced detailed graphs on the Twitter activity of Neil Young, who released an album in 2015 called the Monsanto Years. The center “evaluated the lyrics on his album to develop a list of 20+ potential topics he may target” and created a plan to “proactively produce content and response preparedness”, a Monsanto official wrote in 2015, adding it was “closely monitoring discussions” about a concert featuring Young, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews.
“We have reached out to the legal team and are keeping them informed of Neil’s activities in case any legal action is appropriate,” the email said.
A LinkedIn page for someone who said he was a manager of “global intelligence and investigations” for Monsanto said he established an “internal Intelligence Fusion Center” and managed a “team responsible for the collection and analysis of criminal, activist / extremist, geo-political and terrorist activities affecting company operations across 160 countries”. He said he created Monsanto’s “insider threats program”, leading analysts who collaborated “in real time on physical, cyber and reputational risk”.
Monsanto fusion center's graph of Twitter activity related to Neil Young and Monsanto/GMOs Link to full internal document
Monsanto fusion center's graph of Twitter activity related to Neil Young and Monsanto/GMOs. (They were worried about Young's album "The Monsanto Years" and mini-documentary "Seeding Fear"). Link to full internal document
Monsanto operated a “fusion center” to monitor & discredit journalists & activists - and targeted a reporter who wrote a critical book on the company. It also investigated singer Neil Young for his social media activity & music: https://t.co/AeHg5iluPS@guardianeco
Explosive new documents reveal the U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto ran a “fusion center” to surveil and discredit journalists and activists who criticized or wrote damning reports about Monsanto, as well as legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young, who released an album in 2015 called “The Monsanto Years.” Monsanto monitored Young’s Twitter activity and even analyzed the lyrics of his album.
I would hate to get on the wrong side of Neil Young.
Though it takes a lot to make him angry, once Neil's passion is roused it seems to be very hard for him to put that fire out. Where most singer-songwriters would turn a problem into a single song and forget about it the minute the studio lights go out, Neil can and does spend whole albums exploring what's on his mind and on his heart. Neil chooses his targets with care too: in the past only Richard Nixon and George Bush have felt the full force of his wrath but here it is again, this time aimed squarely at a company most famous for producing genetically modified crops.As far as I know no musician has ever had a go at a single company before - except the odd record label perhaps - but suddenly it all makes sense as Neil uses Monsanto as both a specific case of corruption and scandal everyone can relate to and as a wider metaphor for what has gone wrong with the world in the past few years (Starbucks gets quite a kicking too). 'Too rich for jail' Neil sighs, before sarcastically cackling 'Corporations have 'feelings', they're just like people - just harder to control!'
Even more than 'Living With War, the anti-Iraq and Afghanistan war album from 2005, this sounds like the album it felt like Neil and his colleagues should be making in the wake of 'Ohio', standing up for those who don't have a voice and trying to add his own views to run alongside what gets reported in the media as the 'truth'. The biggest problem with this record is that its not the CSNY album it should be and that Neil's ability to get mad means that he's still mad at his old buddies who could have shaped this record from another promising-but-not-quite-there record into the comeback album of all time: this album seems built for burning Stills-Young guitar duels and angelic mocking harmonies and would have benefited greatly from having a couple of songs by each of CSN to compare and contrast with. As with so many Neil albums recently, 'Monsanto' would have made a bigger impact still if it hadn't quite so much the same all the way through.
This is a very detailed review of The Monsanto Years and we urge all to give it a full reading. (Thanks Alan!)
A couple of quick points just on this brief opening: 1) It is important to note how unique it is what Neil Young has done here in terms of nearly single handedly taking on one the biggest, baddest corporate actors out there, and 2) while it may have been even more compelling with CSNY or SY, it seems that the youthful vigor of POTR is the real deal.
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