As the Neil Young and Crazy Horse show approaches (Monday October 8 at the Wolstein Center) here in Cleveland I seem to be caught up in some sort of web of his. I'm not complaining, mind you, as a reader you know my Neil Young fandom.
Let me take a moment to thank contributing writer JT for his excellent series on the Neil Young discography that we've published here every Friday for over half a year. If JT ever gets around to critiquing his latest couple of releases we'll be sure to post them as well.
This Sunday in the New York Times magazine David Carr gives us an in depth look at Neil Young in one of the rare times Neil allows a reporter to get close. You can read it here, Neil Young Comes Clean. As the title of the story eludes to, the buzz (pun intended) is that Neil talks of his sobriety for the past year. It's refreshing that he has no misgivings about his years of weed and wine, saying that for now he's not partaking.
Next week his autobigraphy, Waging Heavy Peace, is released. Actually I hadn't heard that he was even writing one, figuring Jimmy McDonough's reluctantly authorized bio Shakey would be as close as we get to a look inside the man. It's now on my Kindle wish list.
Last night his wife Pegi Young and her band The Survivors played to a poorly attended show at the Winchester in Lakewood. Truthfully I went with the slight hope that Neil might be there since they would all be in Hershey, Pennsylvania on Saturday for Farm Aid. Alas, no Neil but Pegi's band was highlighted by a couple of legendary players, namely bassist Rick Rosas and keyboardist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Spooner Oldham.
I got to meet Spooner after the show and even got a photo op with the man.
When I got home I did some Spooner research to refresh my memory on his many musical milestones. Damn. Co-writer, along with Dan Penn, of "Cry Like A Baby", "I'm Your Puppet" and many more he also played on countless classic tracks including "When A Man Loves A Woman", "Mustang Sally" and "I Never Loved A Man". It certainly made my day.
