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Thursday 12 November 2020
Although his voice sounds quite fistulous and there are more commercially successful rock musicians than Neil Young, few are as significant and style-defining with their work as the Canadian who became a citizen of the United States primarily to vote for Donald Trump. Now the legendary singer and guitarist turns 75.
It has never been easy to take care of him, neither for friends and bandmates, nor for record companies and fans. But perhaps only a musician and an often uncomfortable person like Neil Young can deliver such monumental and influential work in six decades. Now the Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist, who recently acquired US citizenship to vote for the resignation of Donald Trump (a typical political coup), is 75 years old.
Born November 12, 1945 in Toronto as the son of a sports journalist, Young has never been a delicately cultured folk poet like Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen – his lines are simple, but with fury, compassion and melancholy they go just as deep under the skin. Plus, Young hasn’t become a rock stand for massive stadiums like Bruce Springsteen, yet he can thrill thousands of people at loud concerts with creepy songs and seemingly endless guitar solos.
Voice that takes time to get used to
This musician with a fragile voice (some say: fistulous) has only had single hits very sporadically. The closest thing to a world-class career was Young as a member of the popular folk rock supergroup Crosby Stills Nash & Young, with whom he performed at the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969. And a little later on the delicate country pop album. “Harvest” (1972) which includes the nostalgic ballad “Heart Of Gold”.
But instead of further weaving these strands of success, the singer-songwriter, who regularly changes his band’s lineup, recorded difficult, rather non-commercial records with which he offended new admirers: “Time Fades Away”, “On The Beach” and “Tonight’s The Night” – now recognized classics of the genre. “Heart Of Gold” put me in the middle of the road, “was as Young later explained the change of course.” I quickly got tired of lingering there, so I headed for the ditch. A more difficult journey, but I met more interesting people there “.
Courage to take risks
David Crosby and Neil Young around 1970 (from left).
(Photo: imago images / Everett Collection)
With such courage to risk, the musician, who suffers from polio, epilepsy and other diseases, has created landmark records of folk, rock and country – seven of which have been classified on the “eternal list” of the American music magazine “Rolling. Stone”. Subsequent albums like “Ragged Glory” (1990), the painfully beautiful “Harvest Moon” (1992), “Mirror Ball” (1995) or “Psychedelic Pill” (2012) are fantastic. Sometimes he plays with much younger musicians like Pearl Jam or Promise Of The Real, who adore him – only to soon team up with longtime Crazy Horse mates.
Young’s oeuvre with dozens of studio and live albums (mostly overwhelming: “Live Rust”) is therefore sprawling, confusing and even erratic. Yes, there are really bad records, especially from the 80s, with which he probably wanted to annoy his label. Even in the old rocker era, there are a lot of new recordings. Additionally, Young has long been providing insights into his huge archive with growing enthusiasm – some nuggets are yet to come to light.
From Buffalo Springfield to a solo career
Since leaving his first major band, Buffalo Springfield, to work primarily as a solo artist from 1968 onwards, Young has “followed his muse in unpredictable directions” but has always remained a great innovative songwriter, according to the online lexicon. Allmusic.
Neil Young and Daryl Hannah at a demonstration in 2014 – they have been married since 2018.
(Photo: imago / UPI Photo)
Ties not only stylistic, but also personal, he shrugged off abruptly from time to time, for example with musician friend David Crosby or with longtime partners Carrie Snodgress and Pegi Young-Morton, with whom he has three children. He has been married to Hollywood actress Daryl Hannah since 2018.
Neil Young himself described his indomitable desire to move forward: “One of the good things about the past is that you can’t change it. So there’s no need to go back (…) The only thing that can be changed can is the present and what happens after “. His political commitment can also be seen in this light: for liberal left (hippie) values, environmental and climate protection, needy farmers or civil rights, for example of African Americans and natives in the United States and Canada.
It is better to burn than to fade “
With such restlessness, it’s almost a miracle that Young didn’t follow one of his most famous songs himself: “It’s better to burn than to fade.” It is better to burn than to fade. One super fan, depressed Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, used it to justify his suicide in 1994, which made Young very sad.
The “Godfather of Grunge” marched stoically and to this day has neither faded nor faded. You just have to watch the eternal, epic fight of the tall, seasoned man with his famous Les Paul “Old Black” guitar on the stage of a concert to find this confirmed impression: here a phenomenal rock musician obviously wants to stay “forever young” .
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