Now we take a time rocket to the year that The Band's The Last Waltz came out. At that point, I'd be willing to wager that I still didn't own any Neil Young records. What opened my eyes was seeing Young sing "Helpless" (with Joni Mitchel on high harmony). My goodness, what the hell was that?! Maybe further investigation is warranted? Yes.
There are a pile more of these anecdotes, from the timeless Rust Never Sleeps (nestled between memories of learning how to drive a stick shift in my sister's Volkswagen and the horror of a family member's alcoholism) to my friend Steve doing a hilarious Neil Young-meets-Johnny Mathis version of "Sugar Mountain," to giggly and drunken listens through the Trans and The Shocking Pinks records to the beautiful singularity of Harvest Moon to the earthy crunch of seeing Greendale performed live, to witnessing the Internet bluster surrounding Living With War.
What I like about Young is his artistic honestly. Folks used to love bashing Trans until they discovered the connection to Young's handicapped son. Say what you want about the music, Young's intent has always been pure.
So all of these years later the Massey Hall record, long a Young fan bootleg, has finally been released. It's a fine album. The content of the songs is cranked up quite a bit with this intimate setting. There may be no Crazy Horse sonic heaviness on "Cowgirl In The Sand," but the emotional directness of the setting more than makes up for it. Honestly, this is not a fan-only release.
So there's your rolling time capsule. Maybe the only series of stories involving both a smashed guitar, an alcoholic, and a Chihuahua. It just shows you the power of all music, not just this particular record.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Nicely done Mark. I was a little disapointed in this simply because my expectations were raised pretty high by the notion of getting something actually new here (I didn't get the version with the DVD). But taken on it's merits, it's definitely a great accoustic Neil Young live record. As usual with your stuff though, I really enjoyed the personal annecdotes associated with Neil. Just don't get me started on the "the Internet bluster surrounding Living With War..."
-Glen
2 - JC Mosquito
Sure, get into it!
I played it only once - the best description I could give it on one play is that Neil's turned to writing formla Neil Young songs - the buzzy guitar, the cranky artist as an old man stance, the really, really good song lurking about under the messy production. I dunno - I'd like to hear one more killer album from him in his dotage - I'm sure it's still in there.
3 - Mark Saleski
oh ya, i didn't mean to imply that your disappointment was somehow invalid. i can see how if a person was waiting for something all of those years and then there was no "kaboom"...well sure, completely understandable.
and yes, let's skip the bluster. there's enough of that around here already.
4 - C. Michael Bailey
A very thoughtful review. "Heart of Gold" was the first song I was to learn to play on guitar (with the same sore fingers). Years later, I frequently tore up "Powderfinger," which I thought the greatest Country song ever written,
I await a full-blown, bone crushing electric release, circa "Live at the Fillmore East" with twice the music.
5 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com (going live soon).