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posts about Neil Young’s activism, politically and environmentally

Monsanto Fires Back at Neil Young Over New Documentary

Seeding FearAn article in Rolling Stone dated July 24 is reporting that Monsanto has issued a statement regarding Neil Young’s new short film: “Seeding Fear,” an anti-GMO documentary featuring a farmer named Michael White.

According to Monsanto, as quoted in Rolling Stone:

“Mr. White is not transparent in describing his actions or the situation,” a rep for the company tells Rolling Stone. “He actually admitted to knowingly planting, producing, saving, cleaning and selling Roundup Ready soybeans illegally. All of this information is available in court documents.

“Protecting patents and copyrights can be difficult in any business – including the entertainment industry,” the rep continues. “Mr. White’s actions are equivalent to pirating an album, producing thousands of copies and selling bootleg copies – all while knowing what you’re doing is illegal and that it will result in criminal charges if caught.”

The rep also referenced a LinkedIn blog by Monsanto’s chief technology officer, Robb Fraley, in which he responded to Young. “Here’s an invitation to establish that dialogue with Neil Young,” Fraley wrote. “I invite him to visit our company and talk with us about what we’re doing.” The rep also provided a link to another blog, hosted on the Monsanto website, titled “Correcting The Monsanto Years,” published earlier this month in response to the album Young put out this year, which attacks the company.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/monsanto-fires-back-at-neil-young-over-new-documentary-20150724#ixzz3hbnrmEGN

Three blissed-out hours of Neil Young on day one of WayHome

Way Home FestivalBetter late than never, this Admin was on vacation in beautiful Oregon.

Carla Gillis of the online magazine Now reports on her experience at the Way Home Festival, a three-day music blitz held July 22, 23 and 24 at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds, Oro-Medonte, Ontario.

Gillis described the scene as tens of thousands of people spread out across the massive grounds.

Here is her review of Young’s performance, accompanied by Promise of the Real:

“We got three hours of him, backed by the flawless Promise of the Real, and every moment was glorious, even all those heavy-handed songs about Monsanto and Starbucks and GMOs and pesticides from his new Monsanto Years album. In a T-shirt that said ‘Earth,’ Young smartly waited for close to an hour before bringing them in, first serving up the perfect soundtrack to an outdoors concert under a half moon: heart-tugging renditions of Helpless, Winterlong, Out On The Weekend, Cowgirl In The Sand.

“And when the eco-crusade began, Young’s passion was so apparent, so genuine, that it made you think about how although his motivation for writing music may have shifted away from rustic love balladry over the last couple of decades, he’s always going to give us honest, stark and impassioned tunes about his current obsessions. And making the world a better place couldn’t be a more admirable one.

“Humour laced the set – ‘Your organic cherries are absolutely perfect'” he said, before throwing a bunch to the massive crowd – and his guitar solos were louder, wilder, more frequent and ferocious than I’ve ever witnessed, especially the epic roaring one that came at the set’s end, long after A New Day For Love, Down By The River, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Rockin’ In The Free World. Pure magic.

“Young’s encore – Don’t Be Denied, Fuckin’ Up – ushered in midnight, just as Kaytranada’s bass-heavy hip-hop-disco-R&B-inspired beats started infiltrating the night. ‘Thank you, Ontario!’ Young shouted.”

Read more at: https://nowtoronto.com/music/concert-reviews/wayhome_2/

Thanks to Tom Hambleton at http://www.sugarmtn.org/

 

Young plays in Massachusetts, review, set lists, videos

Photo by Paul Tomita

Photo by Paul Tomita

On Wednesday night, July 22 Neil Young took his Rebel Content Tour to Mansfield, Mass., where he played at the Xfinity Center with Micah and Lukas Nelson from Promise of the Neil.

His last show on this tour will be tonight, Thursday, July 24 at the Wayhome Festival in Oro-Medonte, Canada.
A review of they concert by Stephen Peterson of the Sun Chronicle says Legendary singer-songwriter-guitarist Neil Young just keeps plugging away as he approaches his seventh decade, and remains as spirited as ever.He writes that several of the new album’s songs were part of the set in the 2 1/2-hour show, which may have disappointed fans wanting to hear more of the folk rocker’s popular tunes. But there were several rarer vintage songs featured, too.

“Taking yet another jab at corporate America, Young called the concert venue Great Woods twice. ‘No corporation can buy your history,’ the ever-rebellious Young told the crowd.

“The feisty Canadian native kept up his social commentary with two longer songs also off the latest album, “People Want to Hear About Love” and “Big Box.”

Norah Jones’ alternative country group, Puss n Boots, a trio whose members all sing, opened.

Jones, 36, is best known for “Don’t Know Why” off her five-time Grammy winning 2002 debut album, but the song list centered on her group’s 2014 debut album, “No Fools, No Fun,” including “Twilight,” “Don’t Know What It Means,” the snappy “Always” and “GTO.”

Thanks to Tom Hambleton at http://www.sugarmtn.org/

 

 

 

 

 

Message from Neil: Seeding Fear

seeding fearHere’s a message from Neil Young that was posted on his Facebook page on July 23.

He has also released a 10-mnute short  film Seeding Fear, which tells the story of a farmer named Michael White, who with his father Wayne, took on the corporation in court.

The film was released by Shakey Pictures and co-executive-produced by “Bernard Shakey,” Young’s pseudonym.

Message from Neil:

As I write this, the dark act is up for a vote in the House of Representatives; representatives of the people. The dark act takes away the rights of those people to vote for or against things like GMO labeling in their states. It does seem ironic. If the act is passed, it will truly be a dark day for America.

Monsanto is a corporation with great wealth, now controlling over 90% of soybean and corn growth in America. Family farms have been replaced by giant agri corp farms across this great vast country we call home. Farm Aid and other organizations have been fighting the losing battle against this for 30 years now.

Dairy and meat farming is done in those white sheds you see from the freeway, no longer on the green pastures of home with the old farmhouses and barns. Those beautiful buildings now stand in ruin across the country. This has happened on our watch while the country slept, distracted by advertising and false information from the corporations. Monsanto and others simply pay the politicians for voting their way. This is because of “Citizens United,” a legislation that has made it possible for corporations to have the same rights as people, while remaining immune to people’s laws.

Both Democratic and Republican front runners are in bed with Monsanto, from Clinton to Bush, as many government branches are and have been for years. This presidential election could further cement the dominance of corporation’s rights over people’s rights in America. If you have a voice you have a choice. Use it.

On the human side, the film I would like you to see tells the story of a farming family in America, but the same thing is happening around the world. It is a story that takes 10 minutes of your time to see. It is a simple human one, telling the heartbreaking story of one man who fought the corporate behemoth Monsanto, and it illustrates why I was moved to write The Monsanto Years.

The film presents a rare opportunity to hear from the source as Mr. White is one of only four farmers who is still legally allowed to speak about his case as all the others have been effectively silenced.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you look at this simple and powerful film, “Seeding Fear”.

Neil Young
The Monsanto Years

I encourage you to view and post “Seeding Fear”:

http://smarturl.it/SeedingFear

 

Jones Beach, concert review, set list, video

Photo by BH

Photo by BH

Reviews for the Jones Beach show of Neil Young and Promise of the Real on Tuesday, July 21 have been hard to find, but here is one from The Brooklyn Vegan’s Blog.

Fellow Monsanto hater Reverend Billy and Norah Jones‘ country band Puss N Boots opened.
Andrew Sacher writes that last night’s set was filled with favorites.
He writes: “What were highlights was seeing Neil come out by himself at the start of the night to play ‘After the Gold Rush,’ ‘Heart of Gold,’ ‘Long May You Run’  ‘Old Man’ and ‘Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)’ consecutively on either piano, acoustic guitar, or organ. It wasn’t until after those five that the band even came out, and it wasn’t until even later that Neil picked up an electric guitar for the first time.
“Promise of the Real obviously aren’t Crazy Horse or anything, but they did a great job backing him. They brought a lot of energy to the show, and they basically played all the songs the way they sound on record. When they locked into the extended jams on ‘Down by the River’ and ‘Love and Only Love,’ they were on fire.
“Another treat was he gave us a good amount off one of his best ‘latter day’ albums, Harvest Moon, including the title track, ‘From Hank to Hendrix’ and  ‘Unknown Legend.’ Plus he sprinkled in even more from his most classic era, including ‘Out on the Weekend,’ ‘Words (Between The Lines of Age)’ and ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.’ Really an incredible show.”

 

Cortez

 

(unconfirmed)

 

Thanks to Tom Hambleton at http://www.sugarmtn.org/

 

 

Random Quote

The appeal of Neil Young has always been mysterious.
by Hua Hsu, Slate.

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