IN THE STUDIO: Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts Recording New Album

Neil Young and The Chrome HeartsShangri-La Studio, Malibu, CAvia John Hanlon | Instagram 
 (Click photo to enlarge)

Neil Young is recording another album in the studio, this time with his latest new band The Chrome Hearts. 

Per producer and sound engineer John Hanlon's Instagram  (via Rusted Moon Rusted Moon), Neil Young is at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La Studio in Malibu. From photo caption, the recording is analog 16 track direct to vinyl.

Shangri-La Studio is where Neil Young recorded his last studio album "World Record" with Crazy Horse in 2022. The last full moon was on November 15th, so presumably the recording was around that time.  Rick Ruben does not seem to appear in the photo so presumably Neil and Hanlon produced the album.

Rick Rubin, Neil Young & Zane Lowe - 2022

 Shangri La Studios in Malibu, California

Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts will tour Europe in 2025, per recent news on NYA.

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts  

Farm Aid 2024: Saratoga Springs, New York

photo by thrasher

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Timeline Concert of the Moment: Neil Young @ Glastonbury Festival Concert - 2009

Neil Young Glastonbury Festival 2009(Click photo to enlarge)

A new  Timeline Concert of the Moment is now streaming on NYA.

The latest Timeline Concert is Neil Young @ Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2009.

Glastonbury 2009

Timeline Concert of the Moment | NYA

From TW coverage in 2009, Review: Neil Young rocks Glastonbury - Glastonbury - QTheMusic.com:

"No review’s going to do this justice, so let’s just get this out the way. Neil Young was just phenomenal.

Michael Eavis has tried and failed four times previously to get Neil Young to play at his little party down on Worthy Farm dating right back to the days when local stores would put ‘No Hippies Allowed’ on their windows.

Why Old Farmer Eavis has been so determined to book him is apparent from the moment Neil Young hits the stage. There’s no farting about, his trusty scarred Gibson Les Paul, Old Black, comes straight out and he clangs straight into My My Hey Hey. Seldom has the lyric “better to burn out than fade away” been more pertinent than the day after the death of a King. But also because at this festival of legends there are some here who have faded beyond repair. What this set proved more than anything is that Neil Young isn’t among their number."

Photo by Gary Wolstenholme// Drowned In Sound

Also, BBC Responds to Coverage Criticism of Neil Young's Glastonbury Concert

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Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts: Europe Summer 2025 Concert Tour Planning Underway

Message From Neil
Neil Young Archives - Nov. 15, 2024 (Click photo to enlarge)

 

It appears that a Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts Europe Summer 2025 concert tour is in the works.

Per a "Message From Neil" posted on Neil Young Archives - Nov. 15, 2024,  a tour plan that has already been submitted will be revised again. Instead of touring indoor halls and theaters, Neil Young only wants to perform in open-air arenas. (Thanks RoadDawg Mike!)

"Indoor concerts could be too risky for health reasons and we don't want to have to cancel any concerts next summer for health reasons." 

Neil Young first performed with the "Chrome Hearts" at Farm Aid in September and played two indoor concerts in the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York.

Additional Chrome Hearts concerts never were scheduled despite a tour announcement.

Neil Young only played two concerts with the "Chrome Hearts" in Port Chester,  marking the "beginning of a new era". The band consists of Micah Nelson (guitar), Corey McCormick (bass), Anthony Logerfreo (drums) and Spooner Oldham (keyboards).

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts  

Farm Aid 2024: Saratoga Springs, NY, Sat., Sept. 21  

photo by thrasher

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The Last 20 Seconds of Neil Young's “Cinnamon Girl” | Recliner Notes

Rare Neil Young "Cinnamon Girl" 45 RPM Picture Sleeve
Recorded Live at The Fillmore East, New York City, March 7, 1970
  (Click photo to enlarge)
 "I wanna live with a cinnamon girl
I could be happy the rest of my life
With a cinnamon girl"

Everyone  wants to live with a cinnamon girl so that they can be happy the rest of their life, right?  Who wouldn't?

From The Last 20 Seconds of  Neil Young's “Cinnamon Girl” | Recliner Notes: 

There is one aspect of “Cinnamon Girl” that remains overlooked: the last 20 seconds.

“Cinnamon Girl” is powered by a riff that launched a thousand ships as countless bands and Young himself have adopted the same crunchy, guitar-based template. A heckler once yelled at Young that all of his songs sounded the same and Young famously responded: “It’s all one song.” There’s a strong argument that “Cinnamon Girl” is in fact that one song, serving as an urtext for grunge and indie rock for generations to come.

Young plays the song in a drop-D tuning, meaning that he starts with a guitar’s standard tuning and lowers the low and high E strings to D notes. Young had employed the tuning before on Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul,” but it is in “Cinnamon Girl” that he grasps the true power of this technique, providing Young with a low drone, whether heard or implied, that permeates the song with a deep intensity and weight.

The drone is heard plainly at the 2:37 mark of “Cinnamon Girl” as Young and Crazy Horse finish playing the central riff of the song one last time. Young holds the low D after the other guitar and bass fade out. The last 20 seconds of the recorded time of “Cinnamon Girl” acts as the coda of the song. In music theory, a coda is a concluding statement within a song or larger movement. It’s a wrap-up and usually serves as an addition or extension of the principle motif or arrangement of the piece. In this coda, Young plays a flurry of notes by hammering the strings on the fretboard of the guitar to produce the sound rather than using a pick. Over the course of these 20 seconds, he plays 11 different flurries, each a variation on a theme. It’s not the central riff of “Cinnamon Girl” anymore, but this new theme feels connected and even an enhancement on the song’s main riff. This outbreak of notes played by Young in the coda is tumultuous and frenzied and then suddenly finishes as Young lets the sustained drone of the low D ring out. As the drone continues towards its vanishing point, Young hits natural harmonics on the guitar twice just before the song ends, providing a twisted high complement to the drone. 

With that, the music fades out, ending the coda and “Cinnamon Girl.”

Full post @ The Last 20 Seconds of  Neil Young's “Cinnamon Girl” | Recliner Notes.

 

More on Is This The Story of "Cinnamon Girl"?  The Story Behind Neil Young's Iconic Song Revisited

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Neil Young's 79th Birthday Today, November 12 - Happy Birthday Neil!!!

Neil Young on his 74th - November 12, 2019
via Instagram

 
UPDATE: Neil says "THANKS!" for the wishes.

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First off, Neil Young is 79 years young today, November 12. So Happy Birthday Neil!!! 

image via Rusted Moon

 

As noted on Neil Young's 75th birthday, his outstanding moral character can be demonstrated with his efforts for The Bridge School (USA) and Farm Aid (USA), as just two examples.

Neil Young & Bridge Kids
@ Bridge School Benefit Concert 2011
Photo Gallery by By Jay Blakesberg Photography
Farm Aid: The Music Industry’s Longest-Running Philanthropic Concert
Farm Aid executive director CAROLYN MUGAR (center), w/ DAVE MATTHEWS, JOHN MELLENCAMP, WILLIE NELSON and NEIL YOUNG (from left).
2008 - Mansfield, Mass., Photo by Mark O'Stow
We know that Neil Young is a humanitarian rebel with causes.


Neil Young
MusiCares Person Of The Year - 2010

 

In 2011, Neil Young was honored with the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award at Canada's Juno Awards. The award honors a Canadian artist whose humanitarian contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada and recognizes Young's compassionate legacy behind events such as Farm Aid, Live 8, and Bridge School Concerts.

As we have noted previously, rarely -- if ever -- has a single artist supported so many causes, for such a sustained period, raising considerable funds and awareness while reaching out to millions and millions around the world. When reviewing a listing of benefit concerts that Neil Young has played over the years, one is struck by the sheer diversity of causes he has supported over his 45+ year career.

One could contend that no other artist has made such an impact on causes involving social justice -- or a better moral character. As we documented in 2010, The Charitable Mr. Neil Young Keeps On Giving & Giving & Giving.

Neil Young
MusiCares 2010 Person of the Year

In 2010, Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year in Los Angeles, two days before the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. An impressive roster of musicians lined up to honor Young which included Booker T. Jones, Jack Black, Jackson Browne, T Bone Burnett, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sheryl Crow, Everest, Patty Griffin, Josh Groban, Ben Harper, Emmylou Harris, Elton John, Norah Jones, Lady Antebellum, k.d. lang, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Ozomatli, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Leon Russell, James Taylor, Wilco, and Lucinda Williams.

Here is just a partial list of benefit concerts that Neil Young has played over the years that we posted on the Rust list back in 1994. And the diversity of causes is particularly striking. Of course, the two primary beneficiaries of Neil's generosity have been the Bridge School Benefit Concerts and Farm AID. The Bridge School concerts began in 1987 and are to benefit the school for children with severe speech and physical impairments. The Farm Aid concerts began in 1985 and benefit the small American family farm. Farm Aid is the longest running event of its type in music history.

Neil has performed annually for decades at both the Bridge and Farm Aid shows and has raised considerable sums for these causes. The performances at these two annual benefits are well documented.


The Farm Aid 4
Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Neil Young

You get the idea. He's got a heart of gold.

Pegi & Neil Young at Bridge 2005 Concert
photo by Craig Abaya

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Neil Young Night 

 Tonight's The Night Because Every Night is Neil Night

Happy Birthday Neil Young!!! Long May You Continue To Run & Run.

"Happiness is the valuable commodity and that's what makes life good." 

~~Neil Young 
Photo by Matt Furman for The Wall Street Journal
(Click photo to enlarge)

So Happy Birthday Neil!

Long may you run. It's all just a magical ride. enjoy.

Also, check out Scotsman's 2023 posting on Neil's birthday @ Patreon.

A Neil Young Birthday Tribute
by Ian

 

A MESSAGE FROM NEIL | NYA (on his birthday in 2021) 

 

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