"THANKS BRUCE!": Neil Young Issues Statement of Support for Bruce Springsteen

"THANKS BRUCE!"Neil Young Archives| Times-Contrarian
 (Click photo to enlarge)

Neil Young has issued a statement of support for Bruce Springsteen, after a Springsteen concert on May 14  in Manchester, UK in which he spoke negatively about the current Trump Administration. (Thanks Road Dawg!)

Bruce Springsteen

Manchester, UK -  May 14, 2025

Bruce Springsteen said to 20,000 fans that a corrupt and treacherous government was in power in the US. He called Trump an "incompetent president" of a "rogue government."

Afterwards, President Trump then called Springsteen a "totally overrated" musician. "[Springsteen should] keep his mouth shut until he's back in the country. Then we'll all see how he fares," Trump posted. 

In response, Neil Young writes in a post on Neil Young Archives| Times-Contrarian:

"Thank you, Bruce.

As a dual Canadian-American citizen, I join the vast majority in thanking you for speaking so eloquently and truthfully on behalf of the American people,

We are with you, my old friend."

Neil Young has actively been protesting the Trump Administratio and "Fighting Oligarchy" in advance of his tour of Europe and North America this summer.

Neil Young and Daryl Hannah

 Hands Off Protest, Thousand Oaks, California - April 5, 2025

image via NYA(Click photo to enlarge)
More on  Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young: The Difference in Greatness.

 Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young: The Difference in Greatness 

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The Making of ‘Heart of Gold Volume 1’ – A Neil Young Tribute Album Supporting The Bridge School

‘Heart of Gold Volume 1A Neil Young Tribute Album Supporting The Bridge School

 ‘Heart Of Gold Volume 1’, a compilation of Neil Young covers performed by artists including Fiona Apple, Brandi Carlile, The Doobie Brothers, Eddie Vedder, Mumford & Sons, and more, will raise funds for The Bridge School .  The Bridge School helps children with severe speech and physical impairments through assistive technology.

Cinema Music Group (CMG) a Los Angeles-based production house founded by longtime friends and collaborators Dave Resnik and Niko Bolas, produced the benefit album. Each artist on the album personally chose the song they covered, and nearly every track was recorded in just one or two takes, giving the record an intimate, live feel. The tribute benefit album has already raised $100,000 for The Bridge School, with Volume 1 out now, and Volumes 2 and 3 on the way. 

From HARLTON EMPIRE:

Kat Harlton: How did the idea for ‘Heart of Gold Volume 1’ come about, and what inspired you to make it a benefit project for The Bridge School?

CMG: We were recording an album with Chris Pierce in 2022. He’s such an incredible songwriter. We knew we wanted to record more with him and we started looking at cover ideas. Niko’s worked with Neil for a long time and their friendship goes back 30+ years! So, we ended up speaking with Neil and got his blessing to record a few covers but the idea only ended up growing from there and after a few more conversations we booked a studio session in 2023 and invited Chris Pierce, Sharon Van Etten and Draco Rosa along. We reached out to Brandi Carlile too and she said yes but her schedule was really busy. We tracked 3 songs in one day! The session was great success and we just kept going. Brandi recorded “Philadelphia” about 15 months later! The Bridge School is such a huge part of Neil’s legacy. The old benefit concerts were so memorable, it was such an exciting thing to be part of. It only felt natural for us to turn the Heart Of Gold project into a benefit record to benefit The Bridge School.

Kat: Neil Young is such a revered and complex artist—what was it like securing his blessing for this project, and how did that influence how you approached the covers?

CMG: It meant everything, we definitely couldn’t have done it without him. His songwriting is so good, His songs are some of the best ever written. We wanted to approach recording the record with as much care and respect for the original songs as possible and we believed the best way to do that was by letting the artists pick the songs they wanted to cover. By doing that it meant that they were able to pick and play the songs that they really connected with. We wanted to make a heartfelt record and this approach made it easier to record and capture all the emotive performances.

Kat: With artists like Fiona Apple, Brandi Carlile, Eddie Vedder, and The Doobie Brothers involved, how did you go about curating such a diverse and legendary lineup?

CMG: Similar to how the concerts were put together… The concerts had this family feel to them where everyone knew everyone. We wanted to keep that family feel so we reached out to people who we knew. Sometimes we were able to reach out directly to the artist and sometimes we reached out to the producer, or a manager or even the guitar tech! The whole project happened via word or mouth. We ran with the whole six degrees of separation… “who do we know who knows ___?”. We were really surprised by how many people wanted to be involved. It was amazing to have so many artists wanting to use their talents and music to do something good. 

Kat: You chose to record most songs live in just one or two takes—why was it important to you to keep the process raw and immediate, and how did that affect the final sound?

CMG: We used Neil’s “1 take” approach to tracking. It’s really difficult to capture the emotion in a session if it’s all been recorded in parts and sections. It’s best to do full takes, that’s when the magic happens! You feel the energy between the musicians. The drummer is playing with the bassist and they’re feeding off of that… the guitar digs in a little harder and the vocalist is feeling it too because they’re all in the same room together! You can’t get that with a computer. It’s not squeaky clean but the magic is found in all those subtle mistakes and nuances. If you listen to any of Neil’s records you can hear him use that process too. It has such a vibe to it. It feels much more intimate. 

Full interview @   Exclusive Interview: Cinema Music Group On Curating ‘Heart of Gold Volume 1’ – A Star-Studded Neil Young Tribute Album Supporting The Bridge School | HARLTON EMPIRE.

Courtney Barnett - Lotta Love


Chris Pierce - Southern Man


More on supporting The Bridge School.

The Bridge School

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Farm Aid 40: Minneapolis, Sept 20

Farm Aid 40: Minneapolis. Sept 20
 

The 40th anniversary of Farm Aid concert will be held at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota  on September 20.

Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Margo Price, Billy Strings, and Waxahatchee among others will perform.  In addition,  Nathaniel Rateliff And The Night Sweats, Trampled By Turtles, Jesse Welles, Madeleine Edwards, and Black Pumas’ Eric Burton. 

Willie Nelson said in a statement: 

“Family farmers are the heart of this country, and we depend on each other for good food and strong communities.

For 40 years, Farm Aid and our partners have stood with farmers, supporting them to stay on their land even when corporate power, bad policies and broken promises make it harder to keep going. This year, we’re proud to bring Farm Aid to Minnesota to celebrate the farmers who sustain us and to fight for a food system that works for all of us. Family farmers aren’t backing down, and neither are we.”

A limited number of presale tickets at all ticket levels will be available beginning at 10am CDT on Wednesday, May 14 and ending at 6pm on Thursday, May 15 (or until presale tickets are sold out).

Tickets for Farm Aid 40 go on sale on Friday, May 16 at 10am CDT. Ticket prices range from $101 to $390 (including fees, sales tax will be added) and will be available for purchase at farmaid40.org.

Here is the Farm Aid seating chart. Presale orders will come with a $40 fee with a maximum of 4 tickets per request. 

 More details @ https://www.farmaid.org/festival/

Also, see Our Farm Aid 2024 Report!

Our Farm Aid 2024 Report!

Also, see Farm Aid 2024 Press Event: Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews & Margo Price.

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Through The Lens: Henry Diltz (featuring Neil Young) | Gibson

Through The Lens: Henry Diltz (featuring Neil Young) | Gibson

From YouTube: (thanks Mike "Road Dawg"!

Henry Diltz, one of the most iconic rock and roll photographers, shares his stories of photographing Neil Young and the music legends of Laurel Canyon, Buffalo Springfield, and beyond.

Henry Diltz was just finding success with his band, the Modern Folk Quartet, when he picked up a camera by chance in a secondhand store. From that moment, his place in history was set in motion. Living in the heart of the music movement in Laurel Canyon, Henry was perfectly positioned to capture some of the most pivotal music moments, including Woodstock, the Monterey Pop Festival, The Doors' Morrison Hotel album cover, and his friend Neil Young.

Watch the latest episode of Gibson TV’s “Through the Lens” as Henry shares stories of photographing Neil Young, capturing the spirit of the music scene in the 60s and 70s, and chronicling the era that shaped rock and folk music forever. From the intimate moments of Neil Young’s early days to legendary festivals like Woodstock and Monterey Pop, Henry’s work offers a rare glimpse into music history as it was being made.

See never-before-seen images of Neil Young and get a firsthand look at the moments behind the lens—hear how Henry captured some of the most intimate photographs of Neil Young and how Henry managed to capture iconic moments in Neil Young’s career, his experiences with Laurel Canyon’s tight-knit musical community including Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the trust that allowed him to capture rock’s biggest legends in their most unguarded moments.

This episode is a must-watch for fans of Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the golden era of folk rock. Henry Diltz didn’t just document history—he lived it. 

▶ For fine art prints & more information on Henry Diltz, visit https://henrydiltz.com

Henry Diltz ... in younger days ...

More on Henry Diltz and Neil Young.

Photographer Henry Diltz, with his iconic photograph of Crosby, Stills and Nash 1969 debut album cover is featured prominently in the exhibit at the Grammy Museum exhibit "California Dreamin': The Sounds of Laurel Canyon, 1965 - 1977"

(See Laurel Canyon Exhibit at Grammy Museum: California Dreamin' Explores Music Scene in the ’60s, ’70s)

 

"Unpainted Faces"
by Henry Diltz
(see "Unpainted Faces" by Henry Diltz)

A cherished wish of "Peace & Happiness!" from Henry

John Kwit & Henry Diltz

(see A CSNY Family Weekend Featuring The Our House Band)

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REACTION: Neil Young's New Song & Video "Lets Roll Again"

"Tesla is just good; they've created something good."Neil Young -  June 24, 2016(Click photo to enlarge)

The polarizing reaction to Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts new song and video "Lets Roll Again" has ranged from robust cheers and applause to condemnation and accusations.

 "Lets Roll Again"  Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts (Video Frame via Official Video) (Click photo to enlarge)

Not since 2006's album Living With War has a Neil Young album had so much controversy before its actual release.

The primary controversy around "Lets Roll Again" -- set to the tune of  Woody Guthrie’s iconic “This Land Is Your Land” --   swirls around the lyrics:

‘If you’re a fascist, then get a Tesla/

If it’s electric/

It doesn’t matter/

If you’re a Democrat, then taste your freedom/

Get whatever you want, and taste your freedom.’ 

The video accompanies the verse with a ‘Heil Tesla’ image depicting Tesla's Elon Musk’s mistaken "Nazi-style salute", which, btw, was really just him touching his heart and waving to crowd in a gesture of love.

Elon Musk

(Video Frame via Official Video)

"Heil Tesla"

(Video Frame via Official Video)

Neil Young's Tesla/Musk outrage has not always been the case.   Neil Young famously converted a  Ford Lincoln Continental into "LincVolt", an electric car.  The project began in approximately 2008.

Linc-Volt Press Conference with Neil Young

 SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Back in 2016, Neil Young was critical of German car manufacturers in an interview with Associated Press.  (thanks Rusted Moon!)

Neil Young: "There's nothing revolutionary about building an electric car with all the air pollution on our planet. 

But car manufacturers keep building the same cars over and over again—and they even advertise how advanced they are. The same old story over and over again. It's disappointing to see so little innovation. And then Tesla comes along and leaves everyone behind. Especially the German car manufacturers. They acted like it was a joke, like Tesla was a joke. But suddenly Tesla has overtaken them on the road.

And they're not even advertising. Tesla is just good; they've created something good.

I didn't make it ["LincVolt"] to sell it to anyone. I just wanted to say, 'Look, this thing exists, it's great.' I've put 55,000 miles on it now. 

I drive it all the time; I love it."

So. Times change, feelings change.

More on Neil Young's  LincVolt: Re-powering the American Dream.

                

                                    Neil Young & Marc Benioff

                   Keynote @ 2010 Dreamforce (SalesForce) Conference

More on Neil Young's latest album "Talkin To The Trees" with the band The Chrome Hearts.

 "big change is coming" 

by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts

(Video Frame via Official Video)

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