Rust Never Sleeps

Closing things out with an album that features a song that many regard as one of Neil Young's best. Released in 1979 as a somewhat Live album "Rust Never Sleeps" is what some may consider his last good record before things went a little crazy. The majority of the record was recorded at The Boarding House in San Francisco during the 78 tour. The album is half acoustic and half electric, closing with the song "My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)". Overdubs were added to cut out the majority of the crowd noise, although some can still be heard. Young would later release "Live Rust" to accompany the album and movie. The album was a play on the Rust-Oleum spray paint. You can credit Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo for that. Few people know that Devo and Neil Young worked together during this time period. While this doesn't really count as a true Live album, it's one of the better 'shopped' ones of its time.

My Dad used to joke this was one of the worst Neil Young albums ever. The ongoing joke was that Neil was to messed up to play his own material. It might have been true. While it's far from the worst album in the catalog, it is one of the more relevant ones. 'My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)' features one of rock musics best lyrics in, "It's Better To Burn Out, Then Fade Away". That line would famously be quoted nearly two decades later in Kurt Cobain's suicide note. Even Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten isn't quite sure why Neil references him in the song. In any case it is one of musics more well known lyrics and song. Neil would later dedicate the album "Sleeps With Angels" to Cobain and even thank him in his Rock Hall Of Fame speech. The song itself was inspired by Devo actually. Just goes to show how many genres music can cross and have an impact.

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Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Taking it back to some early Neil Young for this post. Neil has played with various bands throughout his solo career. Probably none more famous or well known than Crazy Horse. 1969 marked the first time Neil would record with the band Crazy Horse. "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" was the beginning of a long standing working relationship. This album also was the first of what would become classic Neil Young albums over the years. The album would feature songs that would remain staples in Neil's live shows over the years. Songs like 'Cinnamon Girl', 'Down By The River' and 'Cowgirl In The Sand' all became fan favorites and radio hits. While the record is almost 45 years old now, it sounds as fresh as it did when it was first released.

For some reason this album was a late addition in our collection back home. I think for whatever reason it was kind of hard to find. I think I may have found it on vinyl before CD even. The vinyl is spinning right now and it sounds great for the age. My dad used to reference the title of the album every so often. Usually when we founds ourselves in some small town. For some reason I didn't really get into this album like I did say "Harvest" or "After The Gold Rush", but I found as time has gone on I've really gotten to enjoy this album. 'Cinnamon Girl' is a great opener and it's great that a metal band like Type O Negative could cover it. Deep cuts like 'Cowgirl In The Sand' and 'Down By The River' are just great examples of how Neil could craft a story around a great melody. There's also something about this record that when you're in a down mood really fits, but brings you out of the mood. It's amazing what music can do to us.

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Freedom

Moving forward in this story arc if you will, I will focus on Neil Young's 1989 album "Freedom". This album in a way may have relaunched Neil's career. After about a decade of odd records being released, Neil tapped into what was to become the grunge movement. This record is best known for the hit "Rockin' In The Free World'. the rest of the album is an eclectic mix of grunge, rock, and country, oh and an odd cover of the classic 'On Broadway'. While the album was diverse it set in motion the style for Young's next few records. As the 90's progressed and grunge took over, Neil was dubbed 'The Godfather Of Grunge' for his playing style. He even worked with grunge giants Pearl Jam on his album 'Mirrorball'.

For me I become fixated on the song 'Rockin' In The Free World', in fact it still remains one of my favorite Neil Young tracks today. I remember seeing Neil play with Pearl Jam at the 93 VMA's. It was one of those moments where you knew something great was going to happen. And it did, it's a great performance. I hadn't really gotten into harder music quite yet. I was slowly uncovering the grunge scene right as Cobain died. I was exploring bands like Guns 'N Roses, who by 93 were falling apart and bands like Nine Inch Nails, who I wasn't sure what the hell was going on there. I got into the grunge movement eventually, listening to bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, L7, 7 Year Bitch and Pearl Jam. But by this time alternative was riding high and nu metal began to rear it's ugly head. All the grunge bands kinda faded out with the exception of Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Neil Young. Neil has always done things his way and I'll be damned if it hasn't worked. It's no a bad way to live your life either.

 

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Harvest

Continuing on with a weeks run of Neil Young material and how certain albums influence me, we roll on with the 1972 classic "Harvest". This album became the crowning point of Young's career up to this point. Changing directions somewhat from the previous "After The Gold Rush" album, Young decided to make a Country Rock record with some local Nashville musicians. The band was dubbed The Stray Gators. The record was a massive hit, spending time atop the Billboard chart as well as producing a number 1 single in 'Heart Of Gold'. Not to mention the album featured the likes of Young's old band mates in CSN, as well as James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. The album today is still as strong as it was when it debut. In fact the popular cartoon Futurama plays off two references of this album. In one episode depicting a folk rock concert, the departing bus shows the heads of Neil as well as fellow Canadian Folk giant Joni Mitchell. In addition at one point Leela quotes a line from 'A Man Needs A Maid'. In the end this seems to be the definitive Neil Young record.

One question I get asked a lot is about my chops. My sideburns have been a part of my identity for the better part of fifteen years now. People seem to be surprised that, one, I can grow them and they looks decent and two like it's something they've never seen. There's reason behind why I have them and I like having some mystery behind them. Many years ago when I found Neil Young, I really didn't know what the guy looked like. By this time we had settled in the desert and for once in my life I had cable TV. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a big deal for us. So one night we were flipping through the channels and Neil Young's Unplugged was on. You remember when artists used to play on MTV, yeah it's a foggy memory. There's an epic story behind that Unplugged too, but alas that's another story. So for those of you who have seen Neil, you realize for the majority of his career he's had long hair and chops. I, wanting a change in my tired old hair style, decided to grow the chops. The hair thing still really hasn't worked out, I'm sad to say. So in the end my chops are simply an homage to Neil Young and my appreciation for his music. So much for the mystery.

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Harvest Moon

Time to resurrect this beast of a blog back from the dead. For those of you wondering where it went, the short answer is nowhere really. Things happened, life unfolded some more and this sort of took a back seat. The goal is polish of the A-Z thing and focus on some lesser known bands and other albums that tie into who I am. The blog did kind of get away from what I had envisioned, but it's time to get things back on track. So I'm short on the Y bands, but I've had a lot of time to think about things in general and decided to go with a weeks worth of albums from an artist who has shaped me in a few ways. So strap in for a week on Neil Young albums.

For those of you not familiar with Neil Young outside the reference to him in the classic Skynyrd track 'Sweet Home Alabama', Neil has been making music for many a decade now. Hailing from the Great White North that is Canada, Neil has been called everything from a Folk Rock pioneer to the Godfather Of Grunge. Playing in a band or as a solo artist since the mid 60's, he's played with the likes of such greats as Joni Mitchell, Rick James (Yes, That Rick James), David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, and Pearl Jam, just to name a few. Releasing a wide range of albums over the years, Young has released some classic genre defying albums. Some of which I'm gonna feature and how the relate to me.

My earliest memories of hearing Neil Young probably date back to me as a kid in middle school. I just started finding my taste in music thanks to my Dad's old cassette collection. Hendrix, Clapton, Rush, Young, all the greats and some underrated bands were all in there. About the time we had settled up in the desert in California, my Dad picked up a copy of "Harvest Moon", which was released back in 92. So by now the record is five years old, but still new to me. The album was seen as a somewhat follow up to the classic 72 record "Harvest". I remember listening to this record every weekend it seemed like for months on end. I knew the opening riff to 'Unknown Legend', the folksy tale of 'Old King' and perhaps became a bit of a 'Dreamin' Man' myself. The music was stripped down and yet still told a story. Showing me that everything doesn't always need to go to 11. This became my introduction to Neil Young. Some years later my Dad decided to actually upgrade and spring for the CD copy of the album. By now I think the cassette was worn pretty bad. We put the album in the rotation seemed like in the Fall and it stayed there. We knew the music, the lyrics, but never grew tired of it. In 09, Neil put out as part of his Archives, "Dreamin' Man", which was the album Live from various stops from that tour. It came out about a year after my Dad's passing. It's one album I'm sure we would've worn out.

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X-Ray Spex

We jump across the pond for the other X band. And unless you're a Punk junkie, you may have not heard of this next band. X-Ray Spex were a London Punk band that formed in 76. During their initial lineup the band in three years released one album and five singles. Perhaps what set X-Ray Spex apart from the othe UK Punk acts at the time was that they were led by a female, Poly Styrene and the band happened to feature a Saxophonist. Yes you read that right, a Saxophonist. In addition Poly's voice was unmistakable, at times sounding like a wailing banshee. Plus who ever heard of a Saxophone in a Punk band? The band played in and around the UK until 79 when Poly tired of touring left the group. The group briefly reformed in 88, 91 & 95 to play gigs, but never recording any new material. The band did reform and play their entire album 'Germ Free Adolescents' in 08. The album was recorded live and released. Sadly any future reunions were cut short when Poly passed away in 2011 due to cancer. The band remains somewhat of a cult favorite and can be seen as a precursor to what became the Riot-Grrl movement in the early 90's. The band didn't have a whole lot of material, but the wonderfully done 'Let's Submerge, The Anthology' captures the band fully. The album includes the album and the singles, along with their John Peel sessions and some live material from 77. An interesting band that deserves a listen.

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X

It's been a bit since I've updated this blog, so in rummaging through my collection I realized I was a bot short on the X bands. So it's a quick double shot of Punk bands. First up is the iconic Punk band X. Formed in Los Angeles in 77 by Billy Zoom and John Doe, X were among the first wave of American Punk bands that shaped the scene. The band scored a record deal with Dangerhouse records in 78 and released their first single 'Adult Books'. As the band gained attention in the LA scene the band caught the attention of Slash records and somehow managed to get former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek to produce their debut album 'Los Angeles'. While the album gained some minor success in the mainstream media, the underground grabbed a hold and didn't let go. The band would continue to release material through the mid 80's before taking several hiatuses. The band continues to play live as a band as well as in solo projects. While initially shunned by mainstream critics, 'Los Angeles' today is revered as one of the best Punk albums ever released. I've gone ahead and uploaded the deluxe version which features the Dangerhouse Records cuts as well as some demos.

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