Happy Xmas, Ymas to all the Zumans along the Human Highway.
2017 was a rough year for this planet. We could expand on this ad nauseam.
Instead, here’s an excerpt from a Christmas story by Scott Young about his son, Neil Young, found in the book: “Home for Christmas, and other stories” on the blog, “The Dusty Bookcase” by Brian Busby.
Almost everyone has his own favorite Christmas story. I believe that I am particularly lucky in that my favorite concerns one of my sons. He is 19 now, a little taller than I am and a lot thinner. But this story happened six yard ago when he was 13 and delivered a Globe and Mail route on Brookdale Avenue in North Toronto.
I used to hear him almost every morning at six when he wakened. Usually the two hours after he left were my soundest sleep of the night.
On the rare occasions when he overslept, this built-in alarm mechanism in my mind brought me awake about the time he should have been moving. When I could not hear him I would tiptoe to his room and say, “Neil”.
“Yes,” he’d say instantly, sitting upright in bed, wide awake.
“I guess you overslept.”
“Guess I did.”
But on this Christmas morning of 1958 he was up on time and, like all other Globe and Mail boys up that morning, rose when the world was black and cold.
He made the blind trip to the bathroom and sleepily began to pull on his clothes.
Downstairs, he stood for a moment and looked at the stacked and laden Christmas tree, did the slow march past it, stopped to shake a parcel or two and stood like a robin to listen, and then went on.
A glass of milk and a brief forage in the refrigerator, and then on with his ear-covering cap and his scarf and parka and overshoes and mitts, on that ice-cold bicycle seat and down the driveway to pedal into the morning alone.
Mystery surrounds the private show Neil Young and Promise of the Real performed in Paris the evening of Jan. 25, 2016.
According to UNCUT the event at Theatre Mogador was hosted by Carmignac, who describe themselves as “one of the leading asset managers in Europe” on their Twitter feed. And apparently billionaire Eduardo Carmignac joined Neil & musicians on stage.
Among the surprises in Young’s set the After the Goldrush track “Til the Morning Comes” made its live debut, 46 years after the album’s release.
Another cut from the same album, “Cripple Creek Ferry,” was played for the fourth time only, and the first time since 1997.
The set also included Edith Piaf’s “La Vie En Rose.”
Neil Young and Promise Of The Real have announced a batch of UK tour dates as part of their Rebel Content tour.
Young announced he would play Belfast (for the first time ever) and Dublin, as well as shows on mainland Europe – Leipzig on July 20 and Berlin on July 21.
The itinerary has now been expanded to take in Glasgow, Leeds and London.
Better 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.”
“Go to the country take the dog, look at the sky without the smog, see the world, laugh at the farmers feeding hogs, eat hot dogs.” by -- by Neil Young, HERE WE ARE IN THE YEARSLove Art Dogs
Neil Young on Tour
Sugar Mountain setlists
Tom Hambleton provides BNB with setlists, thankfully. His website is the most comprehensive searchable archives on the Internets about anything Neil Young related setlists. Goto Sugar Mountain.