Time Capsule: Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps | Paste

Rust Never Sleep! (sic)Unreleased Rust-oleum Commercial w/ Neil Young(Click photo to enlarge)

 

By now, we all know that one of the most fundamental universal laws of physics -- in the immortal lyrics of Neil Young -- is that Rust Never Sleeps. 

With that, we bring you Time Capsule: Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps  | Paste by Matt Mitchell.  Every Saturday, Paste  revisits albums that came out before the magazine was founded in July 2002 and assessing its current cultural relevance. This week, they’re zeroing in on Neil Young’s theatrical, enigmatic career resurrection that became an epitaph for a decade of grief.

While the immediate cornerstones of Rust Never Sleeps are obvious anti-pastorals of the dense nuances of America’s widened and, sometimes, consequential utopia— “Powderfinger,” “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue),” “Ride My Llama”—it is on “Thrasher” where Young uses the frontier to make the most sense of his own morality with allusions to farmland, passerine birds, full moons and hightailing across the country before dawn. 

“Thrasher” is, in no short terms, a song about Danny Whitten. 

And it’s a particularly damning and heartbreaking one at that—a text that conjures allusions to heroin use and the $50 plane ticket Young gave to Whitten when he kicked him out of the Stray Gators ahead of the Harvest tour. The entire second verse, in particular, remains a crucial tableaux of Young’s grief: “I searched out my companions, who were lost in crystal canyons when the aimless blade of science slashed the pearly gates,” he sings; “Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand with a one-way ticket to the land of truth and my suitcase in my hand. How I lost my friends, I still don’t understand,” he continues. 

Full article @ Time Capsule: Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps  | Paste by Matt Mitchell.

DOUBLE FEATURE REVIEW: 

Neil Young's (Bernard Shakey’s) ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979) Vs. ‘Human Highway’ (1983) | Split Picks

 

Also, answers to the quintessential question: "Why does Rust Never Sleep?" ... or "Out of the BLUE and into the BLACK" .

 

Rust Never Sleeps - Rust Repair Shop Sign
Photo by Mimi R.

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RARE: Rust Never Sleeps Chalk Talk

Rust Never Sleeps Chalk Talk McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado1978-10-19 Photo by Joel Bernstein via NYA (Click photo to enlarge) 

Here is a rare photo from Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse's Rust Never Sleeps tour at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado on 1978-10-19. (Thanks QueenCityJamz !)

If you look really closely, the "Chalk Talk" image has the immortal phrases "Better to RUST than to be David Briggs"! and "Better to burn out than be Larry Johnson!!"

So might that be L.A. on right in old man costume with David Briggs on left???

More on  David Briggs and Larry "L.A." Johnson.

Also, answers to the quintessential question: "Why does Rust Never Sleep?"

Rust Never Sleep! (sic)

Unreleased Rust-oleum Commercial w/ Neil Young

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REVIEW: Neil Young's (Bernard Shakey’s) ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979) Vs. ‘Human Highway’ (1983) | Split Picks

Neil Young's (Bernard Shakey’s) ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979) Vs. ‘Human Highway’ (1983) | Split Picks

 

From Neil Young's (Bernard Shakey’s) ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979) Vs. ‘Human Highway’ (1983) | Split Picks:

Split Picks wrestles with an all-time great concert film from Neil Young and a comedy with a complicated history

When he’s not behind the camera, director Bernard Shakey spends his time as a Canadian-born rock ‘n’ roll star who goes by the name Neil Young. Split Picks returns to look at two films directed by Shakey, with Breanna McCann joining for the first time, and Bennett Glace returning for yet another episode. They discuss all things Neil Young, Crazy Horse, and the passion projects Young directed as his alter-ego.

Rust Never Sleeps (1979) stands tall among the finest concert films ever made. With a stage full of comically oversized props set by Roadeyes, Young begins solo and runs through the highs of his career before Crazy Horse joins him to debut some now classic songs. Each shot of the film is near-iconic and its setlist will fulfill any Young fan’s requests.

Taking cues from Japanese horror films, The Wizard of Oz, and Jerry Lewis, Human Highway (1983) follows a small group of workers at an auto shop and diner who all have dreams of getting out, or at least winning the local talent show at the nuclear power plant. It just so happens to be the last day on Earth. Human Highway flopped when it came out, but a vastly improved director’s cut has given it new life.

Listen to the episode to see which film reigns supreme, and why, after all this, Bennett’s biggest question is why didn’t Neil Young star in more comedies?

Split Tooth · Split Picks: Bernard Shakey's 'Rust Never Sleeps' Vs. 'Human Highway'

 

More on The Ultimate Cult Classic Double Feature: Neil Young's Human Highway & Rust Never Sleeps.

The Ultimate Cult Classic Double Feature: Neil Young's Human Highway & Rust Never Sleeps

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"Out of the BLUE and into the BLACK" or "Better to burn out than it is to Truss"

Front and Back Covers of ‘Out of the Blue: The inside story of Liz Truss and her astonishing rise to power’ (Click photo to enlarge)

 

Our Twitter feed was blowing up this morning as everyone was having a field day at the expense of former British PM  Liz Truss.

Naturally, we had no idea what the kerfuffle was all about??

But many are finding it very interesting how the front and back covers of her book tie in directly to Neil Young's lyrics. Obviously, someone at the publisher is a big Neil fan. 

 

"Out of the blue and into the black 

You pay for this, but they give you that 

And once you're gone, 

you can't come back 

When you're out of the blue and into the black."

 

So hey, hey, my, my, Liz has got to go.

 

(thanks Woody W.!)
 

As some have already noted, Truss's short lived administration didn’t even have time to rust.

 

As an almost lifetime "rustie", we all know that one of the most fundamental universal laws -- in the immortal lyrics of Neil Young -- is that Rust Never Sleeps. 

 

But why?

And if you must know the answer, then to know is to ask: Why Does Rust Never Sleep?

Why Does Rust Never Sleep? Rust Never Sleeps - Rust Repair Shop Sign 
 Rust Repair - $35/hr
Photos by Mimi & Jim R.(see more @ Rust Never Sleeps Repairs) 

Rust: The Longest War by Jonathan Waldman (see BOOK REVIEW - RUST: The Longest War by Jonathan Waldman ) 
International Rust Festival 2010
Design by Rick "Chrome It If You Own It" Ahlgren 
rust radio     

Rust Never Sleep! (sic)Unreleased Rust-oleum Commercial(see DEVO and Neil Young ) 





Rusties On Facebook


#RustiesNeverSleep
(Make Rust Great Again! #MRGA) ALREADY GREAT 

  "Rust Never Sleeps" Tattoo

Berlin, Germany - Neil Young & Crazy Horse Concert - June 2, 2013 

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So Why Exactly Does Rust Never Sleep?

Rust Never Sleeps - Rust Repair Shop Sign
Photo by Mimi R.(Click photo to enlarge)

Somewhere along the North Atlantic coast around Rockland, Maine there's a shop sign "Rust Never Sleeps".

The shop does rust repair. Just in case anyone needs.

So why exactly does rust never sleep?



As an almost lifetime "rustie", we all know that one of the most fundamental universal laws -- in the immortal lyrics of Neil Young -- is that Rust Never Sleeps. But why?

 Rust Never Sleeps: A Concert Fantasy

 

Stay rustie!

 Rust Repair - $35/hr
Photo by Jim R.

(Click photo to enlarge) 

Thanks R. Family!

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So Why Does Rust Never Sleep? | Corrosion-Pedia

A Rusty Truck In A Field

Let's put this in the category of "things we did not know".


As an almost lifetime "rustie", we all know that one of the most fundamental universal laws -- in the immortal lyrics of Neil Young -- is that Rust Never Sleep. But why?


From Rust Never Sleeps | Thermo Fisher Scientific by Jordan Seefeldt:

The album has been described by one critic as a “sneak attack on entropy,” with rust as the metaphor for corrosion, and a warning to embrace change else one fades away. In chemistry, iron tends to fade away when exposed to the elements, becoming iron oxide Fe2O3.

Rust.

Electrochemical oxidation is a natural process that will convert a refined metal into a more chemically stable form such as oxide, hydroxide, or sulfide. This reaction is also the principal behind electrochemistry and energy storage. Corrosion degrades the useful properties of certain materials and structures, including strength, appearance, and permeability to liquids and gases.

According to the website corrosionpedia.com, rust encompasses a number of iron oxides occurring where there is unprotected steel or iron exposed to the water or air. “It can form in various colors like yellow, brown, orange and green, which is known as the green rust.”

“Green rust is produced in environments with low oxygen concentration like rebar in chlorine-rich environments, where there can be a release of iron hydroxides. In such a case, the steel’s depassivation leads to the formation of green rust when the ratio between hydroxide ions and chloride ions is higher than 1. Thus, rebar in materials such as concrete is protected from green rust if the concrete’s alkalinity is adequately high.”

Well, thanks to the good folks at Corrosion-Pedia, we're able to establish a more precise understanding of this inevitable and inexorable trend. So for all of your rust and corrosion questions, please don't hesitate to visit the essential Corrosion-Pedia.

You'll be glad you did. Tell them "Thrasher sent me!"

Corrosion-Pedia
"World's leading educational content on the subject of preserving the long-term integrity of the world's infrastructure and assets."

Keep on preserving the long-term integrity of the world's infrastructure and assets in the free world!

As Neil Young and Crazy House say in their 1979 live hit, “Rust Never Sleeps.” Read how our spectrometry instruments can help analyze a variety of materials, including rust: https://t.co/SdJCb7kLDM

— Microscopy & Spectroscopy (@thermosciEMSpec) November 26, 2019

Rust Never Sleeps - Rust Repair Shop Sign
Photo by Mimi R.

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"Thrasher": Now Playing on Movie Night | NYA

"Thrasher" is now playing on Movie Night in the Hearse Theater | NYA.

Directed by Bernard Shakey, the video of the song "Thrasher" is from the feature film "Rust Never Sleeps with Crazy Horse" and will be running until: 3:00pm, March 2nd, 2019.

Get your popcorn!

For more on our "Thrasher" first hand experiences, read all about it at The Philadelphia Stories from The Man in The High Tower (Theater): Neil Young Solo @ Upper Darby, PA - Sept. 30 & Oct 1,2018.

And remember -- always carry the essential “ 'Thrasher' Request Fold Up Sign".
Don't leave home without it.

The Essential “Thrasher” Request Fold Up Sign

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Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps: Burning Out, Not Fading Away | Music Videos Deconstructed

Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps & Human Highway

 

Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps captures a moment in history where rock’s old guard was bumping up against the aftermath of punk. 

Greil Marcus' wrote in his 1993 book "Ranters & Crowd Pleasers: Punk in Pop Music" on selecting "Rust Never Sleeps" as the most important album of 1979:

"Divided equally between graceful acoustic reveries and viciously hard rock, this was a sneak attack on entropy, its explicit subject. Up against the most reliable and unpredictable rock 'n' roller of the decade, entropy never had a chance --- at least while this album was playing."

From Music Videos Deconstructed :

And so it is that in 1978 we get a short-haired Neil Young singing about how “it’s better to burn out than to fade away/rust”, a line which alongside Pete Townsend’s “Hope I die before I get old” captures the rock n’ roll ethos (not to mention punks ‘anarchic’ nihilism) pretty perfectly. In two versions, one acoustic, the other bludgeoningly electric, of one song ‘Hey Hey, My My’ (Out Of The Blue/In To The Black) Young filters the current zeitgeist, preceding the line above with “The King is gone but he’s not forgotten, this is the story of a Johnny Rotten” referencing the death of Elvis, the arrival of the Sex Pistols and all that seemed to represent in one killer line.

And whilst the ambient resonance of punk is most obviously referenced in ‘Hey Hey, My My’ it is every bit as evident in the trashy blast of ‘Welfare Mothers’ and the pummeling drive of ‘Sedan Delivery’, the latter’s verses delivered at positively breakneck speed by Crazy Horse standards. The entire electric part of this performance is loose limbed and slightly ragged. The music ebbs and flows, with Young acting as the conductor taking his band up and down at will. Together they make what might be labelled in England as a glorious racket.

More on Music Videos Deconstructed . (website defunct. full article below)

 

Burning Out, Not Fading Away: Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps 

March 12, 2016 by Paul Brown 

We take a look at a classic concert movie which captures a moment in history where rock’s old guard was bumping up against the aftermath of punk…

The late 1970’s were a strange time for the generation of rock royalty that had emerged so brightly from the previous decade. No longer the vanguard, the likes of Dylan, the Stones, The Who et al found themselves increasingly out of step especially when the twin explosions of punk and disco shook the cultural landscape to its core.

Neil Young weathered that particular storm better than most. In part this was because Young had never really been in step with his own generation anyway. Although he may have began his career in the 60’s with Buffalo Springfield it was in the 70’s that Young really flowered, releasing a string of albums that have become his core works. To this end Young surfed that high wave over and through the shifting sands beneath.

The other factor was that with Crazy Horse he had for some years been playing music which had the same un-technical, shambolic air that many an untutored punk band was currently pedalling. Crazy Horse were absolutely not musos, and in another life would have been lucky to have gotten a job with anyone else of even half Neil Young’s stature. Indeed, Young had cause to defend his backing group’s abilities to his peers on more than one occasion. When he told CSNY colleague Stephen Still that he played with them because they had soul, Stills replied “My dog’s got soul Neil, I don’t want him in my band”.

Young was right though, what Crazy Horse lacked in chops they made up for with feeling, and it’s that which Young prizes above all else and was what most delighted him about punk, which he was quick to embrace and support. In an interview at the time he said “I like that music because the people making it are alive. And they don’t give a shit. They don’t care about being number one. They don’t care about a great sounding, polished product. What they want is guts, and a good beat”.

And so it is that in 1978 we get a short-haired Neil Young singing about how “it’s better to burn out than to fade away/rust”, a line which alongside Pete Townsend’s “Hope I die before I get old” captures the rock n’ roll ethos (not to mention punks ‘anarchic’ nihilism) pretty perfectly. In two versions, one acoustic, the other bludgeoningly electric, of one song ‘Hey Hey, My My’ (Out Of The Blue/In To The Black) Young filters the current zeitgeist, preceding the line above with “The King is gone but he’s not forgotten, this is the story of a Johnny Rotten” referencing the death of Elvis, the arrival of the Sex Pistols and all that seemed to represent in one killer line.

And whilst the ambient resonance of punk is most obviously referenced in ‘Hey Hey, My My’ it is every bit as evident in the trashy blast of ‘Welfare Mothers’ and the pummeling drive of ‘Sedan Delivery’, the latter’s verses delivered at positively breackneck speed by Crazy Horse standards. The entire electric part of this performance is loose limbed and slightly ragged. The music ebbs and flows, with Young acting as the conductor taking his band up and down at will. Together they make what might be labelled in England as a glorious racket.

It’s with an acoustic performance we begin though, and slowly too. The first minutes of the performance see the ‘roadeyes’ setting the stage to the slightly disjointed strains of Hendrix’s ‘Star Spangled Banner’ and the Beatles’ ‘A Day In The Life’ for Young to emerge childlike from a box to sing ‘Sugar Mountain’ followed by ‘I Am A Child’, songs as sweet as any he has ever written. As he carries on through this section there seems to be something almost incongruous about these songs in light of what you know is to come. This is the spoonful of sugar, sweetening things for the heavy medicine Crazy Horse are about to bring.

It’s only when he launches in to the acoustic ‘Hey Hey, My My’ that the atmosphere starts to bristle a little, and only when the band launch in to searing versions of ‘When You Dance You Can Really Love’ and ‘The Loner’ that we get down to business, the latter rocking much harder than the version on his eponymous debut, and all the better for it. Indeed, fuelled by punk’s noise Young was rocking harder than he ever had. Long time Young associate Joel Bernstein would later recall of the Rust Never Sleeps tour “It was incredibly loud, unbelievably loud” and adding how in one L.A. show the entire guest section including Ahmet Ertegun and David Geffen left during the second electric song, such was the pummeling effect of the volume.

Contrarily enough the highlights come when all concerned slow the pace a little and relax in to songs that have become staples of the NY&CH ouvre. ‘Powderfinger’ and ‘Cortez The Killer’ give them a chance to stretch out a bit, with Young’s incendiary solos taking center stage, but it’s ‘Like A Hurricane’ that really soars, howls in fact, and is also the point in the concert where Young sails closest to the kind of mega-stadium ROCK that punk was trying to get away from.

And it’s his inbuilt sense of the contrary which shines through strongest on Rust Never Sleeps; acoustic troubador and hard-nosed rocker, at once both sharply in tune with the times and yet always resolutely marching to his own beat. He would lose his way a bit in the 80’s but only by steadfastly refusing to compromise his artistic drive. It’s an ethos which colours his entire career, and is how he’s managed to remain wholly contemporary without ever being even slightly fashionable. And it’s how in 1978 he was able to flourish where others floundered as a new era dawned.

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CONTEST: "An Evening With Neil Young" Free Passes

"An Evening With Neil Young"
The Ultimate Cult Classic Double Feature:
Human Highway & Rust Never Sleeps

In the spirit of love and all that is good and real about Neil Young and his rustie fans, we're pleased to be able to offer free passes to "An Evening With Neil Young" to a few lucky Thrasher's Wheat readers thanks to our friends at Fathom Events. Details follow below.

Neil Young's cult classic film Human Highway will be a double feature with the film Rust Never Sleeps and a live Q&A with Neil Young and Human Highway cast members Charlotte Stewart, Russ Tamblyn and Devo's Gerald Casale conducted by Cameron Crowe. The live Q&A will separate the showings of Human Highway and Rust Never Sleeps.

"An Evening With Neil Young" will be on Monday, February 29 at select theatres. See full listing of theatres and details on FathomEvents.com .

With multiple GRAMMYs®, Juno Awards and many other notable accolades earned during his illustrious career, Neil Young is one of the most influential musicians of the generation. The New York Times described "Rust Never Sleeps" as offering "some of [Young's] strongest songs, both new and old, in performances as fine or finer than those on his recent, partly live record album of the same title," and said "the intensity of the singing and playing of Crazy Horse, Mr. Young's longtime partners for electric-rock projects, is as moving as rock can offer."

More details on the films Human Highway, Rust Never Sleeps and "An Evening With Neil Young" .

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HOW TO WIN PASSES FOR "An Evening With Neil Young"

5 lucky Thrasher's Wheat supporters will be eligible to win a pair of tickets to "An Evening With Neil Young". We truly appreciate being able to do what we do here at TW, and we love being able to give something back in return.

To enter the contest, follow these steps:

#1) Subscribe (or be already subscribed) to one of our blogfeed channels either via Facebook Page (LIKE us), Twitter (FOLLOW us), YouTube Channel (SUBSCRIBE), Google + (PLUS us) and/or subscribe to our email list.

2) Then just email us (thrasher@thrasherswheat.org) with your full name (First and Last). Include your theatre location preference (1st and 2nd choice. Theatres listing on FathomEvents.com ). Also, include which blogfeed channel you signed up for (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or email list options noted above in Step #1). *Be sure to include your complete Facebook ID or Twitter handle or YouTube ID or email address.*

Entries must be emailed to thrasher@thrasherswheat.org with SUBJECT line: "An Evening With Neil Young" Free Passes

Deadline: Wednesday, February 24, 5PM EST

We'll then randomly select Thrasher's Wheat readers as winners.

Don't Be Denied!

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