Beachen With Neil

The day I became a Neil Young fan is the day my uncle took me aside when I was in 8th grade and told me that I should be listening to him more then anything. I was listening to Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd and King Crimson. He told me I have to listen to someone with heart. That heart tells the truth. The truth of life, love and a person who knows and talks about pain. A person who been through a lot in life. My uncle handed me a few Neil Young albums and I remember taking out Everybody Knows This is Nowhere from the library. I would sit down and really listen to him. His music was not fantasy like Pink Floyd or King Crimson. His music was not bright or cheerful like the Beatles. His music was truthful and to the point.

Neil Young was a person I knew I could see live and when he came with Crazy Horse. My uncle would tell me stories how great he was to see live. He told me he saw Neil with Crazy Horse in 1975 and how speechless he felt after the show. He told me it was like being hit by a Mac truck. I took that praise when I saw him in 1991. I took my father because he did not want me get around Hartford all alone. Three of my friends went with us. My dad who told me he too went with my uncle to see Neil. I asked him if he felt the same way. Sadly, my dad told me it was great but a bit loud. All in all, that night my father once again had the same feeling. He hated the opening acts, but thought Neil was great. That was my first of over a dozen times seeing Neil Young.



I hear some people
been talkin' me down,
Bring up my name,
pass it 'round.
They don't mention
happy times
They do their thing,
I'll do mine.
Ooh baby,
that's hard to change
I can't tell them
how to feel.
Some get stoned,
some get strange,
But sooner or later
it all gets real.
Walk on, walk on,
Walk on, walk on.
I remember
the good old days,
Stayed up all night
gettin' crazed.
Then the money
was not so good,
But we still did
the best we could.
Ooh baby,
that's hard to change
I can't tell them
how to feel.
Some get stoned,
some get strange,
But sooner or later
it all gets real.
Walk on, walk on,
Walk on, walk on.



When choosing what to write about for Neil Young's first blog was easy, because that was the first album I ever heard of Neil Young. What made it tougher was the rule I had with the blog from the start. The rule was one album, one artist. I decided to change that rule slightly. I decided that if an artist is in another group, like Neil was in CSN&Y or had another group he was with, like Crazy Horse, then I would find solo work to talk about. I did that with Skip Spence from Moby Grape and I also did it with Gram Parsons. Neil is tough because there are so many great ones to talk about.

I chose On The Beach for a reason, This album was one of the last album of his collection I bought. It took me years actually to understand it. I had on LP when I was in High School, but I actually never listened to with such seriousness or with open ears. I had two songs on my Decade album that were from On The Beach, but I just passed them up as another song. They were great, but they did not hit me. Songs that made an impression were "Like a Hurricane," "Cortez the Killer", "Down By The River", "Southern Man" and others. Then one day that changed when I picked up the copy of On The Beach. I was doing my radio show. I decided to do a four song set of obscure Neil. I had two already picked out, but I needed two more. I selected "Round and Round (It Won't Be Long)" The next track I chose was "Pocahontas" then I decided to go deeper. I grabbed my Time Fades Away and put on "Last Dance." I looked everywhere for the last song, but it was starring me in the face. I grabbed On The Beach and picked "See The Sky About To Rain." After the set I went on to other things, but what struck me funny was the phone calls with people asking me to play more obscure Neil Young. So for a few weeks I decided to have fun.



Well you know I mention all the time on what albums to buy and I keep telling you how good they are, but this one is a classic. It's Neil Young at one of his best. Neil is a great musician. His lyrics are great and On The Beach is no exception. He was in a difficult period in his life, but this album is quite good. The barbs were mixed with humor and even affection, as Young seemed to be emerging from the grief and self-abuse that had plagued him for two years. But the album was so spare and under-produced, its lyrics so harrowing, that it was easy to miss Young's conclusion: he was saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it. (AM) Check it out. Enjoy!