Neil Young photography, apparel and posters from Bill Graham's personal collection
 
Neil Young
From his early days in the 60's with Buffalo Springfield, through his time with Crosby, Stills, and Nash, on to his solo career and to the present, Neil Young has been a mainstay of the American rock scene.
In his stint with CSNY, he lent a country flavor to the band with songs like Helpless. But, he also showed his anger at the establishment with songs like Ohio, which he wrote within days of the Kent State Massacre.
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"Ohio"
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
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Moving on to his solo career, he released a self-titled album Neil Young, that did not sell well, but is musically very good. His big breakthrough as a solo artist was with the album Harvest, which has become one a rock classics. In many songs it had a decidedly country flavor, but he did some great rock guitar on songs like 'Alabama'.
Neil's backup band, Crazy Horse, has provided a very solid musical foundation for many of Neil's albums. And over the years, Neil has experimented with several types of music, from country, to hard rock, back to 50's styles (the album was Everybody's Rockin'), and he manages to pull most of it off well. However, this author feels that Neil is truly at home when he comes back to his country/rock roots, as he did in the Harvest Moon album. One interesting album where Neil displays both his softer and harder edges is Rust Never Sleeps. The first side of the album was all acoustic, with songs like Pocahontas, and the second side of the album went electric. A personal favorite off this album is Powderfinger.
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"Powderfinger"
Look out, Mama,
there's a white boat
comin' up the river
With a big red beacon,
and a flag,
and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call John,
'Cause it don't
look like they're here
to deliver the mail
And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side
and a gun
And it's makin' big waves.
Daddy's gone,
my brother's out hunting
in the mountains
Big John's been drinking
since the river took Emmy-Lou
So the powers that be
left me here
to do the thinkin'
And I just turned twenty-two
I was wonderin' what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew.
Daddy's rifle in my hand
felt reassurin'
He told me,
Red means run, son,
numbers add up to nothin'
But when the first shot
hit the docks I saw it comin'
Raised my rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why.
Then I saw black,
And my face splashed in the sky.
Shelter me from the powder
and the finger
Cover me with the thought
that pulled the trigger
Think of me
as one you'd never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know I'll miss her.
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Neil underwent surgery to repair a brain aneurysm in April 2005. He made a full recovery.
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