Neil Young

[Frankie]

There is an article in this months "Vintage Guitar", that gives the lowdown on his guitar and amp set up.. Interesting read..

[RichardWitt]

The first time I heard Neil, I was so high I was lying upside down on my friends couch when he put "Harvest" on his record player, switched the lights out and turned his mirrorball on.
I don't think of any other moment I have been so profoundly moved by an artist's music? We must have listened to that album a dozen times that night!

I do a great impersonation of Neil too! Not that this is something that most people would admit to?

[Derwood]

I have loved NY for years. I do like him best when he is loud and grungy.
His old acoustic stuff was great, but I think the more recent acoustic work lacks something, maybe it's because he doesn't seem to use a pick for much of it anymore. Living with War is a good album, but I think the drums are too far up in the mix, and the guitars are not prominent enough.
NY is the reason I have a Winfield 5e3.

[furrfurrfurr]

Originally Posted by bigdog

OK while we are on this topic, Our band has started to add in a few NY tunes to our list with Powderfinger being the first. While researching the song I read about an acoustic version that was bootlegged back in that time frame. Does anyone know where an acoustic version of Powderfinger might be available legally (Maybe a live version ) ?

It was never released legally but there's an AMAZING acoustic Powderfinger on a bootleg called Chrome Dreams. Studio, not live. It's an album that Neil was gonna release but never did.

I got a hold of a copy years ago and it's still easily one of my favs.

[Bluesbob]

in which I play bass, does 3 of Neil's tunes; "Like a Hurricane", "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Cinnamon Girl". I sing the lower vocal harmony on "Cinnamon Girl". Good thing about covering his songs, you don't have to be able to sing well, just with conviction. Speaking of "Cinnamon Girl", I have to admit Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere may just be my favorite album of all time. I wore out an 8-track and 2 vinyl copies. The CD just isn't the same though (no ambience). Supposedly Mr.Young was going to release his older stuff re-mastered (maybe in HDCD), but I haven't heard anything about it lately. I think I'm going to look around for an original pressing (green label), unless it's been re-released on Sundance or one of the other specialty audio labels.

[guitar_ed]

The first song I learned to play on guitar was "Cortez the Killer", which is one of my 2 fave NY tunes. The other is "Like an Inca" with Nils Lofgren. I definitely have a thing for his music, though I can't stand his voice, like Bob Dylan to me.

He has just done so much stuff in so many different styles. a Hall of Famer for sure.

Guitar Ed

BTW: One of earliest bands was with Rick James.

[Quinn]

I've been a big fan for over 35 years. Powderfinger is about as good as R&R gets.
Saw the Garage Band tour of '86 from the tenth row in Denver. The ringing in my ears subsided in about three days!

[Dan R]

Wow, I had no idea so many people played songs like Powderfinger and Cortez the Killer. I thought they were obscure. Just about every time I jam with friends we play Southern Man, Down by the River, Cowgirl in the Sand or the two mentioned above. I learned how to play guitar with Neil Young and John Prine songbooks. I'd like to think my guitar playing friends and I were unique in playing these tunes. However, it's cool to think lots of other folks had a similar experience.

Dan R

[Derwood]

Speaking of volume, that was one disappointment of the Greendale tour. I saw it at Mohegan Sun and when they did the Rust stuff at the end, I missed the power you could feel in your chest from the old days. I saw the Garage tour back when Life came out, and it was incredible. At Mohegan Sun the music was great, but there were some loud people talking near us, and it detracted from the music. Back in the day, you never would have been able to even hear them.
One thing I wonder about, Live Rust and a lot of the older stuff have a lot of treble. Broken Arrow especially is kind of lacking there, what changed?
As far as crappy guitar playing, I think it is awesome, he plays melodic solos, not just scales. And when the solos are one note, the chord progression is cool enough to compliment.

[Wildhawk]

Originally Posted by Dan R

Wow, I had no idea so many people played songs like Powderfinger and Cortez the Killer. Dan R

Was walking through the back receiving area at work years ago and heard some guy singing Powderfinger down one of the hallways.

Of course that left no option except to hunt him down and chat Neil for a few minutes.

Couple years later chased down a 20 something black guy that was belting out an absolutely amazing version of War Pigs in the same back area. He liked Ozzy.. this white boy liked Jimi.. life is funny. He was so good other employees would request it occasionally at which point he's jump up on a skid of whatever for a stage and let loose.

The power of music has no boundaries

[Tim Bowen]

As it turned out, the only Neil tune I played over the weekend was "Down by the River". I've played the tune a gazillion times on electric or acoustic guitar, never the same way twice, as Neil would have it. At this particular job, the frontman for my pop band, who is currently "coming out of the closet", after about a fifteen year sabbatical from the electric guitar for live use, asked me, "Would you mind playing bass on this one just this once, while I strap on a Tele?" Well, d'uh. Answer: "Of course not, enjoy!" He milked it dry, it was large fun. And I've always enjoyed playing bass on tunes that I've never played bass on before, especially live, with a butt-simple vehicle that offers such boundless parameters for expression as this one.

"Hurricane", "Cowgirl", "Powderfinger" - haven't played these in quite some time, but I'll jump when the opportunity again arises. As mentioned earlier, a Neil Young tune feels very much like a Miles Davis tune, to me, in terms of musical possibilities. I love a great tune.

[rowdy27]

Time Fades Away was the album I first heard ol' Neil..Rock on!

[Doctor D]

It was like he described everything I experienced; my high school was like he sang in "Don't Be Denied."

I was in a small high school in SW Colorado back in the late 70s/early 80s, pretty much behind the moon in terms of Neil Young and met a new friend who moved there from Phoenix. He turned me on to Neil and my life was changed forever. He had an 8-track of "On the Beach". I learned Damage Done, Cortez the Killer and Down by the River on a garage sale acoustic. He spoke my language and I could relate to everything; Sugar Mountain, Rust and the Old Laughing Lady, "from my little box at the top of the stairs..."

Dylan spoke of the masses, but Neil was an instant friend.

The only frustration was musical: I live in pentatonic scales and he's the folk metal of G, Am, Em, and A and I can't just paste a blues riff into his songs. But that's okay.

[FriedEggs&CountryHam]

Originally Posted by Kingtone

Neil Youngs music will always have a special place in my heart and soul. One of my favorite LPs is Decade..

Kingtone,

Don't make the same mistake I made. My first NY records were Rust Never Sleeps and Live Rust (I was a high school junior when RNS came out). Soon afterward I bought Decade.

Decade is a great collection of early NY, but it lulled me into a sense that I had everything there was to have in the from the early years. For 20 years I never dug any deeper. I bought and listened to the new stuff that came out, but never went backwards. 20 freakin' years! It wasn't until I read Shakey a few years back that I went back to listen to everything else from that period.

If it weren't for Jimmy McDonough (writer of Shakey) and (Thasher's Wheat ), I never would have realized what a gem NY is. These days, my turntable and CD player rarely have anything other than NY (or NY inspired) sitting on them.

To think that I may never have heard Don't Let It Get You Down, Borrowed Tune, Ambulance Blues or Albuquerque is depressing.

Fried Eggs & Country Ham

[tazzboy]

Originally Posted by Wildhawk

My favorite artist.
The weapon above made for some rock classics.

Hey do you have any picture of Neil's the whizzer that changes his amps settings on his Tweed Deluxe.

[bonemachine78]

neil young is awesome. he's type of artist that really has their hooks into me. i don't have a ton of his albums and some of his songs outright suck, but i love his style. his voice is ****ed up and his playing style is intentionally sloppy... and just pretty much does what feels right to him. he gets out what he wants to get out. to me, stuff like helpless and mr. soul are a few of my favorites. he's got a lot of grit. i like grit. people like lou reed and kurt cobain were basically ****ty when it came to technique but they were raw. neil fits that for me. i also think he can be a brilliant lyricist. expecing to fly, which i always seem to have mixed feelings about, has really awesome lyrics. great thread...

[boogaloo]

Originally Posted by televiking

Listening to Neil yesterday I thought that for some reason he really moves me.
He has a high and shaky voice, sure.
He cannot play very fast or technically, sure.
His studio tone is sometimes wimpy, his live tone sometimes too brutal.

But like Tom Waits (another of my great favourites) he has something in his music that deeply affects me. Maybe it is the sincerity, maybe not. But damn it feels good to hear him playing a 2 note solo, but just the right notes at a right time.

And of course he has the coolest Gibby ever. Old Black is just too cool. And on Tonight's the night he played a Tele..


http://www.thrasherswheat.org/sound.htm

How does Neil affect you?

Televiking

Neil was my initial impetus for playing guitar / writing music. Absolutely love him, BUT, as in all relationships, there were definitely some "darker" times and some very bright and joyus times (more of the latter than the former- I'm happy to report)

Friend turned me on to him in 1972- I've been hooked ever since. Highlights for me were: "Country Girl" on Deja Vu Album, ALL his acoustic stuff on Four Way Street, Southern Man on that album too, Harvest Album in it's entirety and the quintessinal "Unplugged" album too. Most memorable performances? "Helpless" on "The Last Waltz" and the time he was in Philly (2000 or 20001? I forget) with CSN- the man kicked butt. NEVER stopped moving or playing- went through 3 t-shirts and criticized the "F-U's" (First Union's) air conditioning system. (My kinda guy...)

First song I could ever play on guitar in it's entirety was "Down By The River" BTW BIG +1 on Mr. Waits...

Brian

[Tnek23]

I wore out my first copy of Decade, when I was learning to play guitar, and attempting to play harmonica, as well. His music is too much fun to play. Thank goodness is health is back- my friends & I, have been pulling for him, big time!

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Derwood

Speaking of volume, that was one disappointment of the Greendale tour. I saw it at Mohegan Sun and when they did the Rust stuff at the end, I missed the power you could feel in your chest from the old days. I saw the Garage tour back when Life came out, and it was incredible. At Mohegan Sun the music was great, but there were some loud people talking near us, and it detracted from the music. Back in the day, you never would have been able to even hear them.
One thing I wonder about, Live Rust and a lot of the older stuff have a lot of treble. Broken Arrow especially is kind of lacking there, what changed?
As far as crappy guitar playing, I think it is awesome, he plays melodic solos, not just scales. And when the solos are one note, the chord progression is cool enough to compliment.

Casinos often have very strict sound pressure level limits, and even the big acts must comply.

[Paul in Colorado]

I've been a fan of Neil's since Buffalo Springfield Again. My favorite album of his is the first one, "Neil Young." IF you've never heard it, do yourself a favor and buy it. To me THAT is "The Great Gretsch Sound." I always think of Neil as a Gretsch player more then a Les Paul guy, even though Ol' Black is his main squeeze. Maybe it's the pictures on his early album covers.

He was without Old Black for a few years in the '70's. He took it in to a shop for some repairs and when he went back to pick it up, the store had closed. I don't know how he was reunited, but it took a while. He tried all kinds of guitar and amp combinations. There's a picture of him with a Flying V, two Tweed Deluxes, two Twin Reverbs and two cream Tolex Showman's with 1 X 15" tone ring cabs. And Neil has a look of total frustration on his face that seems to say "Why can't I get my tone?"

I've seen him with CSN&Y several times but never solo. I need to do that sometime.

I've been playing his songs almost as long as I've played guitar. I can still do a set of acoustic Neil songs. In one of my yearbooks from High School, there's an inscription from one of my female friends that reads, "Thanks for playing Neil Young for me." I used to serenade her at school.

I never really think of Neil as an inspiration or influence on my playing, but I'd be a different guitarist if I'd never heard him.

[telescooter]

whenever I get depressed about what I CAN'T play, I think about Neil...soul and feeling win out over technique and precision, IMHO...but I HATED what CSNY did to Eight Miles High back in 2000, CPR did it better...saw RITFW (SNL)on youTube yesterday...THAT was GREAT!!

[David Barnett]

LSMFT

[size=1]acronym[/size]

[Westerly Sunn]

I think a lot of you have already hit the nail... His performing style is simply rooted in intuitive gut-level feeling. One-note with vicious re-lentless feel is primally expressive! His songwriting hooked me when I was a kid. My sister turned me on to Harvest and After the Gold rush when they came out and I was enthralled... From that time on I aspired to write songs... So I guess I really have mainly NY to blame for all this time I've wasted... just kidding. Oh, and "Powderfinger" is just too damn cool!

[telescooter]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

LSMFT

[size=1]acronym[/size]

Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco ? (how's THAT for giving one's age away?)

hmmm, guess my post WAS a little heavy on acronyms...sorry 'bout that...

[msteurbaut]

Anyone seen this? http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heart_of_gold/