(Rumors, Sightings, Eavesdroppings)
The newest report comes first. Scrolling down takes you backward through time... Note that this report is a log of stuff posted to the Rust List, so some of it may not make a lot of sense when taken out of that context. Subscribe to the Rust List to get ALL of the info...
Chart Magazine in Canada has made a habit of polling music fans, industry people and journalists every four years about their top ten Canadian albums and singles of all time. The top 50 albums chart was released today and I have included the comments about the five Neil albums that made the list. You can get all the comments on all the albums at their web site.
26. NEIL YOUNG Tonight's the Night (Reprise, 1975)Their #1 album was Joni Mitchell's Blue (Reprise, 1971).
The album has a "darkness on the edge of town" feel to it. With Tired Eyes there's an intense world-weariness in Young's voice. You can sense how close to tears and to the brink he is. It's pretty obvious the album was recorded in a chemically-altered state. Just brings chills down the spine. {Jonathan Bunce, music writer, Eye magazine}24. NEIL YOUNG Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Reprise, 1969)
This was his breakout record. It's got that primal, Crazy Horse sound. I already knew of the hit songs Cinnamon Girl and Down By The River before I got the record. The album introduces the idea of guitar proficiency and economy, not just wanking off a guitar solo. It's minimal, with him taking the art of one note and excelling. {Kieran Grant, music writer, Toronto Sun}16. NEIL YOUNG Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise, 1992)
One of Young's most powerful albums with Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps yielded such favourites as Pocahontas and Powderfinger. With his unique voice in full swing and guitars blaring and booming, Rust Never Sleeps has more bite after 20 years than most fluff today. {Keith Carman, punk rocker, Chart writer}12. NEIL YOUNG After The Gold Rush (Reprise, 1970)
After The Gold Rush consisted of folk-country love songs, which consolidated the audience Young has earned through his tours and recordings with CSNY; it's dark, yet hopeful tone matched the tenor of the times, making it the singer-songwriter's magnum opus. Little known 17-year-old Nils Lofgren's piano turned one of the record's few rockers, Southern Man (with it's Phil Ochs-inspired lyrics) into a more stately effort than anything on 1969's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Lofgren also gave the album's title track a classic tone, a mystical ballad which featured some of Young's most imaginative lyrics. {Tyson Parker, manager national media & artist relations, Virgin Music Canada}2. NEIL YOUNG Harvest (Reprise, 1972)
As you can see, the kid from Winnipeg is all over this Top 50 chart. Harvest shows Neil at his height of commercial success. Not only did Harvest garner the number one spot on the Billboard Album Chart and produce two top 30 singles, Heart Of Gold and Old Man, it also contains one of his most affecting and endearing songs from his 35+ years of material, The Needle And The Damage Done (which comes in at #15 on Chart's Top 50 Songs), a song that recounts a close friend of Young's harrowing experience with drug use. {Edward Skira, Chart publisher}
Canuck Sean
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2000 21:33:49 -0400
From: Harris Lacey <laceyh@erols.com>
Subject: Thanksgiving in July
In today's USA Today On-line, there is a main page link that's captioned "Speaking of sports -- Zillgitt gives thanks for the All-Star Game, Neil Young and good coffee." The column is about giving thanks for lots of different things. Mostly sports stuff, but also other recreational, entertainment and arts stuff.
Here's the small Neil reference:
[Thanks] for CDs, such as Neil Young'sOther musicians he's thankful for: Widespread Panic, John Prine, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and bluegrass music in general.
new one, Silver and Gold.
On Triple-A format radio, Silver & Gold finally dropped out of the top 10 after a few months up there. Moved down from #6 to #11 last week.
On Americana format radio, the album remains strong, staying at #4
for another week.
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 00:08:31 -0700
From: Ivan Makortoff <loosebottles@email.msn.com>
Subject: Their Free World was Rocked, too...
At Gasworks Park at Lake Union in Seattle, WA, for tonight's 4th of July celebration, the ATT fireworks show was fantastic. Cudos to the radio station that put on the music, especially for their having Neil kick in with Rockin' In The Free World!
Got some of the song/fireworks on MPEG on my digital camera! Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!
Ivan
Hello my old friend, it's good to see you smiling...
PS. Happy Belated Canada Day to all of us Canadians out there..
Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 17:42:47 -0400
From: Terry Durst <infinbd@megsinet.net>
Subject: Their Free World was Rocked...
Headline of The Cleveland Plain Dealer today:
Lake Erie island tragedy...and the story starts...
At least 1 dead, dozens injured as
terrace collapses at Lonz Winery
In less time than it takes to pop a cork, the good times at Lonz Winery turned bloody.Major ArcThe crowd on the patio of the Middle Bass Island winery had settled in for an evening of fun. The band was playing Rockin' in the Free World and Robert Antolak of Detroit was fetching drinks. Then the floor gave way without warning...
The Eels, who played Bridge XII, have a new album out called Daisies of the Galaxy. In a CNNfyi.com article, Neil comes up. The lead singer, Mark Everett (who uses a handle of "(E)" here) is being interviewed...
If there's a common thread running through Daisies, it's the imprint of rock legend Neil Young, who hosted a barbecue at his home where (E) met R.E.M.'s Buck, who ended up contributing to Daisies.RE*AC*TORThe other connection is even more curious.
"My sister used to play Neil Young's After the Gold Rush over and over and over again. Interestingly enough, the piano that's actually used on After the Gold Rush is what I'm playing on Daisies of the Galaxy, " says (E). "I wish my sister were still alive so I could tell her that."
There are some excerpts of the SpeakEasy interview on the MuchMoreMusic site.
kato
Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 09:34:18 -0400
From: eswain@bellatlantic.net
Subject: Phish Albuquerque
I finally got to see Phish do Albuquerque! They played it last night in Holmdel, NJ, on the first of their four shows that I'm seeing this summer. Gosh, was I in heaven.
Next request, guys: Down By The River in Camden. :)
Erik Swain
Be on my side, I'll be on your side
Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 08:38:59 -0400
From: RE*AC*TOR
Subject: Neil Interview on the Web
Today we all can see a new short Neil interview over the web.
It's about 6 minutes and has more of the "in the studio" clips
included (like those in the various clips on
NeilYoung.com).
These clips do include band shots doing some of the other music from
the Silver & Gold album, using a layout like the movie
Time Code.
Check it out.
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 16:49:09 -0700
From: G. Dave <g_dave@transbay.net>
Subject: Neil on Bay Area big screen
Dead Man and Year Of The Horse will be playing July 26 through August 1 at:
Fine Arts CinemaStubs His Toes
2451 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley CA
510-848-1143
New York radio station WFUV 90.7 FM at Fordham University will be featuring Neil all day on Thursday, September 28th. Enjoy the Music!!
Paul Bronstein
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 10:41:08 -0700
From: Sean Palmerston <promo@sonicunyon.com>
Subject: Reminder: Neil on MuchMoreMusic
Don't forget about the Neil Young interview on Much More Music's Speakeasy program tonight at 10 PM Eastern Time. It is an hour long intimate interview with Neil Young by Jana-Lynn White.
I have listed all the times the show is scheduled to run according, to Canoe Online's television site (all are Eastern Time):
Tonight at 8pm Eastern time, VH1 will be rebroadcasting the
Legends: Neil Young show.
If you've had any problem catching it up to now, here's your chance...
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 10:33:32 -0400
From: Mike Cordova <mcordova82@earthlink.net>
Subject: In the skillet
Tony Kornheiser, Washington Post humorist and sports writer, mentions Neil in an article in the Sunday 6/27 issue of the Post. It's a humorous article poking fun at folks who like karaoke. In it, says:
I understand the impulse to perform at a party. You figure: I'm among friends. How bad can I be? Does the phrase "Neil Young in a hot skillet" mean anything to you?Mike
A concert I attended Saturday Night here in Copenhagen, Denmark, featured the legendary Mannfred Mann's Earth Band. They did a wonderful greatest hits concert. MMEB has always mostly done cover versions of other artists (Springsteen, Dylan etc.), turning them more or less into their "own" songs. They've had good succes in doing that.
They opened with a Dylan cover and a song of their own, and then they annonced that they would now do a song that they never recorded before, so this was the only chance for anyone to hear it. And then the magic broke loose...
With the first lines "...Old man sitting by the side of the road..." they exploded into Don't Let It Bring You Down. It was an absolutely killer version, with great lead singing by a guy called Noel McCullem.
After that they continued with songs like: Martha's Madman, Angels At My Gate, Father Of Day - Father Of Night, Blinded By The Light, Demolition Man, Redemption Song, Davy's On The Road Again, and more. They closed with Quinn The Eskimo. The MANN really rocked!
They are touring over Europe, South Africa and more at the moment, so if you get the chance, go and see them. Of the more than 150 concerts I have attended, this was one of the top 5.
Take care - Thomas
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 08:37:01 -0500
From: Dale.Kalina@rrd.com
Subject: Who and a taste of Neil
Saw Pete and the boys last night on the kick-off concert of the Who's North America tour, at the New World Theater. They played all the hits over the course of about 2:15.
Neil content? The opening act -- a band called Unamerican -- did a so-so version of Don't Let It Bring you Down. They also performed a number of other tunes with Neil-influenced intros.
Dale
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2000 11:25:46 +0930
From: Daniel O'Brien <dobrien@picknowl.com.au>
Subject: YOTH on TV in Oz
For all the Aussies out there, the movie Year Of The Horse,
covering Neil Young and Crazy Horse on their 1996 tour, is on
the Foxtels Arena channel on Monday the 10th of July at 8.30 pm.
See Ya
Dan
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2000 02:58:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: kurty <unclekurty@yahoo.com>
Subject: Neil checks out Bob
Saw Neil and Pegi checking out Bob Dylan's set tonight at
Shoreline. Jim Keltner was also there. Bob was great
and I thought Phil was too...
=====
Kurt Hibner
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 18:06:05 +0100
From: Plantman <theplanthouse@ic24.net>
Subject: Ferry likes him a lot
On BBC Radio 2 earlier this week, there was an interview with Bryan Ferry. When asked about his early influences & people he looked up to, he answered, "Lou Reed, Van Morrison, Neil Young and Bob Dylan." The interviewer asked "Neil Young?????" Bryan answered, "Oh yeah, Neil Young. I like him a lot."
Good man, Bryan.
Tim - out hunting in the mountains
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 11:40:22 -0400
From: RE*AC*TOR
Subject: Silver & Gold Chart Watch
Silver & Gold re-entered the Billboard Top 100 album chart after the VH1 features, rising from last week's 105 up to position 77. Pretty big jump...
On this week's "Triple-A" format radio chart, it's still hanging in there after a couple of months, sitting at #6 (down from #4 last week).
On the "Americana" format radio chart, it continues its slow, steady
rise, now up to #4 from #6 last week.
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 09:52:28 -0400
From: Bob Sagerer >bscore@aol.com<
Subject: Other stuff in Neil's Garage
Besides stuff mentioned before, here are a few other things you'll find in the revamped NeilYoung.com:
Once you find your way to Silver & Gold page on NeilYoung.com, the "In The Studio" link there takes you to an unlabeled set of buttons to load some un-named video. Took a look at the stream appropriate for my connection and it turned out to be a triple video of Without Rings. The style is similar (in the same studio, same cameras) to the one for Silver & Gold that's at the end of the Silver & Gold movie.
Neil walks in and sits in the studio (viewed with split-screen video) and begins warming up for Without Rings, but mixes in some riffs from Buffalo Springfield Again. He then procedes to play Without Rings THREE times all the way through. Then he splits.
This all happens less than 48 hours after the end of the HORDE tour,
which explains the low pitch (due to his voice being "tired" from
the tour) for that song...
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 16:52:23 -0400
From: Naomi Rothenberg <rothenberg.7@osu.edu>
Subject: NeilYoung.com Heads up!
Hey it changed! Neil's Garage -- way cool. There's stuff about The Archives! I dont have time to look at the whole thing right now, but just wanted to let everyone know...
naomi
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 18:39:55 -0500 (CDT)
From: Laurie Graham <luckylolo@yahoo.com>
Subject: Ozzy's not Neil
I'm laughing my ass off yesterday at this article I was reading in the most recent issue of Rolling Stone. I'm a big fan of Ozzy Osbourne (yeah, I was a head banger in highschool, and I'm proud of it.) So I was happy to see a long article regarding his life at home with three tennagers and a wife in a mansion in Beverly Hills.
So Ozzy's wife Sharon comes home one night and says that she's volunteered Ozzy to do two benefit concerts for their son's special dyslexia school. Sharon tells Ozzy,
"We HAVE to give back, Ozzy. That's what life's all about."To which Ozzy replies,
"I don't want to give back! I'm the FUCKING Prince of Darkness, not NEIL YOUNG!"Rust on, everyone.
There's a new Neil bio called Neil Young: Kill Your Idols, by Alexis Petridis (published by Thunder's Mouth, 2000). It's a little 5x7 inch softcover book with a B&W picture of Neil circa 1974 on cover. The book is 138 pages plus 8 pages of B&W photos.
The first 51 pages are a biography, and the next 71 are track listings of his albums with short 1 or 2 sentence song naratives. Then comes a 14 page chapter "The Legacy".
Alexis Petridis is a young London journalist whose work has appeared in Q and Mojo. Other books in the series cover The Clash, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, and Tom Waits.
The title is explained on the back of book...
Kill Your Idols is a series of opinionated biographies of artists whose careers have resisted easy classification and whose success is best measured off the charts, in their influence on our popular culture. The artists profiled are iconoclastic, unafraid of experimentation, and unrepentantly uncommercial. They hold nothing sacred and inspire the same skepticism of idol-making in their lsiteners.
The new Fred Eaglesmith site is operational and the home page starts with the following quote from Entertainment Weekly:
Walking the same shadowy streets as Neil Young, Tom Waits and Steve Earle, Eaglesmith mixes an edgy blend of folk, country and rock.Always (time to get),
That was me on Boston's ZLX requesting Neil today at noon. Kinda cool to hear yourself on the radio, even if you do sound like a dork! The DJ made a good comment at the end...
"It's Neil's world, we just live in it..."Yellow Serviceman
Radio stations have just received the 2nd radio single from the Silver & Gold CD. The song is Good To See You.
The front photo on the CD-single shows Neil waving to the audience from the stage.
Brian From Boston
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 10:48:02 -0400
From: Doriann <frc2@cloud9.net>
Subject: Legend show reviewd
The New York Daily News Arts and Lifestyle -- Television section
has
a review of VH1's Legends:
Neil Young show called Neil Young's Zigzag Life is Stuff
of 'Legends'.
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 09:08:13 -0400
From: RE*AC*TOR
Subject: S& Radioplay
On the "Triple-A" format chart last week, Neil swapped places with the Jayhawks which brought Silver & Gold down from #3 to #4. The strong rise of Clapton & B B King's new album brings it up to just behind Neil at #5.
On the "Americana" format chart, Silver & Gold remains at #6.
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 01:33:47 -0500
From: kbraun@mb.sympatico.ca
Subject: Neil on Canadian TV
Neil's going to be on MuchMoreMusic:
Wednesday, June 28, 2000, 10:00 PM ETJana Lynne White usually asks pretty good questions so this could be an enlightening interview.
SpeakEasy: Neil Young.
These one hour MMM original programs are exclusive, intimate, in-depth interviews with masterclass artists. Their videos will also be featured. Host: Jana Lynne White. This week: Neil Young.
Just a reminder that tomorrow night is
the premier of the Legends: Neil Young show on VH1, at
10pm Eastern Time. It's followed by the TV version of the Silver & Gold
video, and at mid-night a repeat of Legends.
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 13:00:59 CDT
From: SteveDittman@hotmail.com
Subject: Continental Drifters do Neil
I caught the Continental Drifters show in Milwaukee last night. As part of their encore, they performed Cinnamon Girl -- and did a darn good job of it too.
Sorry for ruining the surprise for anyone attending the Minneapolis or Oshkosh shows over the next couple of nights.
Steve
A Man from Mars
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 17:12:50 -0400
From: Ashley O'Kurley <OKurlA@parl.gc.ca>
Subject: Canadian "Vote For Neil" status
In the top 20 Canadian artist songs of all times poll, all three of the Neil songs on the list (Heart of Gold, Cinnamon Girl, & Rockin' In The Free World) are in the top 20 so far. The contest ends at the end of June. Check out the interim results.
Ashley "talkin' bout eternity" O'Kurley
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 15:09:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Laurie Graham <luckylolo@yahoo.com>
Subject: "Chicks really dig Neil"
The above quote comes from an article praising Silver & Gold in LA Weekly.
The article is a little naive, and I think you'll understand what I mean after you read it. It sounds like the author has only listened to the record once.
See Ya!
. . . The DJ's Daughter
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 22:33:21 EDT
From: Livs4lafs@aol.com
Subject: Neil after Nile
Friday night I drove into NYC to the Mercury Lounge to see this obscure but WONDERFUL singer / writer / guitar player named Willie Nile. No, he didn't play any Neil, but after his set on the PA they played Don't Cry No Tears, then Bar Stool Blues, and thennnnnnnnn BITE THE BULLET...
Jill<SweetSweetSmile>
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 19:49:34 +0200
From: Cornell <Dangerbird@zonnet.nl>
Subject: PJ, Pinkpop & Neil
Today at the Dutch Pinkpop-Festival, Pearl Jam played this afternoon. They played a steaming version of Fucking Up.
Cornell
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 10:52:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: shiang yang <shiangy@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hart's favorite Canadian
In a show last Friday, Alvin Youngblood Hart said something like, "We just came back from Canada. This one is by our favorite Canadian." And he launched into Mr. Soul. It sounded great.
Except for 2 solo acoustic numbers, he and his trio played electric all night.
Shiang
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 19:02:22 -0400
From: RE*AC*TOR
Subject: Earle & Young
Today's L.A.Times has a review of Steve Earle's new album Transcendental Blues. Within it they say:
After shaking some drug-related demons and returning to the music scene in the mid-'90s, Earle has released five compelling collections (counting this one) about the restlessness of the human spirit -- music that explores issues of identity and self-worth, commitment and self-destruction. Only Neil Young, perhaps, has given us as many superior works so steadily over the last decade.RE*AC*TOR
Seems to be a rumor going around here in Toronto that there will be some big party for the people who got new stars on Toronto's Walk of Fame. Donald Sutherland and Neil have recently been starred, and so the rumors flow....
Andy
Cutlass Supreme
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 15:41:44 -0400
From: John Kitamura <kato@ati.com>
Subject: Extended Razor Love
There appears to be a version of Razor Love on the Reprise Records site that's about a minute longer than the CD version. They say it's a "very special seven-and-a-half minute version of Razor Love given to Reprise by Neil Young specifically for broadcast on this web site."
I haven't been able to play the entire stream yet, so I can't tell where the extra minute is!
regards, kato
Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2000 14:35:34 -0400
From: RE*AC*TOR
Subject: S&G remains in Top 100
In it's 6th week on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, Silver & Gold weighs in at #91. This is a drop from last week's chart position of #75...
On Billboard's Internet Sales chart it remains in the
Top 20 after 6 weeks, sliding from #8 to #18.
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2000 09:03:05 -0400
From: RE*AC*TOR
Subject: S&G still doing well on Radio
Silver & Gold has hung in there on Gavin's "Triple A" ("Adult Album Alternative") format radio chart, sticking at #3 this week as Phish's new album leap-frogged to #1. Counting Crows, who had been above Neil on that chart for the last several weeks, dropped to #5 leaving S&G in its #3 slot behind last week's #1, Matchbox 20.
S&G continued to rise on the Gavin "Americana" format chart, up from #8 to #6. It sits between Todd Snider at #5 and Jimmie Dale Gilmore at #7. Steve Earle remains at #1 there. Nice to see Neil being played in such company...
On CMJ's Top 200 chart Silver & Gold has
risen from position #32 up to #20. Among the top 20 on that chart
that are above Neil, the OLDEST artists are XTC and
Sonic Youth. Nice, again, to see Neil amongst all those
young whippersnappers there...
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 22:14:38 +0200
From: Peter van Zalm <pezal@freeler.nl>
Subject: Neil dominates Jonge Honden
In 1987 and in in 1996, the first two editions of the Jonge Honden Top 100 (in English: the Young Dogs Top 100) were produced in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. On May 20th of this year the third edition was compiled.
For this poll, 60 friends sent in their list of their favourite 100 albums. I had the pleasure of compiling "the ultimate top 100" from their lists. Every number 1 nomination received 100 points, every number 2 nomination received 99 points, etcetera.
The end result is a booklet with the top 100 artist-rankings and lots of other stuff. And of course a great party with lots of fine music -- from each Top 100 album one track was played.
It's pleasing to announce that Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere was at the top of the list! And Neil also lead in each of the three artist rankings: "most nominations", "most total points" and "most individual titles". This is a pretty good illustration of how many people love Neil's music.
Within the top 100 there were actually several Neil albums. Also present were After The Goldrush, Harvest, Rust Never Sleeps, On The Beach (my own favourite NY album), Buffalo Springfield's Retrospective and CSNY's Deja Vu.
Greetings from Doorwerth, the Netherlands...
Peter van Zalm
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 15:48:28 +0200
From: Marc.Verbruggen@alcatel.be
Subject: Humo loves Neil
Yes, Neil is in Humo magazine (the best and most famous weekly in Belgium) again. This time it's a somewhat longer interview about his life, Silver & Gold, becoming older, composing music... Really a very warm interview. It's in Dutch.
Apparently this is a Dutch translation of the interview that appeared recently France's Les Inrockuptibles magazine.
Here's a Babelfish translation
of the French article into English.
Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 10:27:49 -0400
From: RE*AC*TOR
Subject: Schedule for Legends: Neil
Scheduled show dates/times are now
available.
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 11:45:08 -0400
From: RE*AC*TOR
Subject: Canadians, vote for Neil's songs
The Canadian Jam Music web site is having a "top 20 Canadian artist songs of all times" poll/contest. You have to be Canadian to enter. The top 20 songs picked will be placed on a CD (legalities permitting) for general release. One voter will be drawn to win the full catalog of all selected artists (up to 400 CDs).
Good luck...
. . . RE*AC*TOR
Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 09:59:48 EDT
From: BScore@aol.com
Subject: Neil on new Willie album
According to a Country 105 article:
COUNTRY NEWS (June 02 - 04, 2000)Peace, love, happiness and Neil,Luck Records delivers an innovative new album from country music pioneer Willie Nelson. The premiere release, Me and The Drummer, marks another milestone in one of the most important American musical careers.
Me and The Drummer by Willie Nelson and the Offenders features a who's who of country music including Willie, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Neil Young, Kinky Friedman, Terry Lickona of Austin City Limits, Texas Governor George W. Bush, Former Texas Governor Ann Richards, and John Mellencamp among others.
Free-Roamin' Soul
Bob Sagerer