While I’ve posted numerous times about the 50th anniversary of The Velvet Underground and Nico this year, but I’ve been missing the chance to celebrate other faves. Now that I’m done with all those October horror posts I’m getting back on track with my notable music anniversaries.

American Stars and Bars isn’t considered to be one of Neil Young’s best records, but I’ve always loved the album which turned 40 this year. Critics complain that it’s uneven, but that’s one of the things I like best about it. One side of the record is straight country but the other side is rock. I guess it’s normal for folks to get confused by such an offering, but I like country Neil and rock Neil so of course I dig this double scoop. Plus, how can anybody not love an album that includes a classic like “Like a Hurricane?”

Here’s a cool Neil doc examining his career starting from the mid-1970s through the turn of the millennium. ‘Stars and Bars is the first record spotlighted here…

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If you were in Nashville last night you could’ve caught Neil Young’s directorial debut, 1974′s Journey Through the Past at the Belcourt Theatre. The film combines concert performances, and candid footage of Young during his early recording career with Buffalo Springfield, CSNY and during his first solo outings. Young mixes the music movies together with loose narratives and cinematic non sequiturs that result in a kind of 16mm diary of a madman. Here’s a bit from Janet Maslin’s original The New York Times review…

As far as feedback on Journey goes, Young may wind up being sorry he asked. The film starts off as a loose subjective juxtaposition on Neil Young in real life and on stage; by cross-cutting between his rough personal perceptions and footage of his performances, Young manages to create a sense of how he transforms scattered input into finished product. But after half an hour, he begins to shy away from anything so personal, and the film has progressively less to do with him from that point on. By the end, Young is barely in it at all, having been replaced by a lot of useless-looking objects. There’s a Mercedes limo, odd bits of statuary, a truck that talks back to its owner. There are mysterious black-robed horsemen who materialize on a beach somewhere, in what Young calls “sort of a Lawrence of Arabia parody.” There’s a man who does card tricks (listed in the closing credits as “the grey-faced dude”), and a dazed-looking guy who starts off in cap and gown and collects bruises all through the film. Wearing an official Woodstock T-shirt and what looks like Young’s own plaid flannel overshirt, the graduate finally opens a fake Bible, takes out a cross-shaped syringe and shoots up by the sea.

If you missed the flick check out the Belcourt link above for upcoming Neil Young film screenings. And don’t fret about last night, cuz you know I gotchya…

Stay Awake!

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Neil Young is in the headlines again, saying that Donald Trump’s use of the singer/songwriter’s “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” in Trump’s newly-announced presidential campaign is not authorized. Young has also said that he’s a longtime supporter of Bernie Sanders.

The song is an odd choice for a Republican as the song’s lyrics point a withering finger at former president George H.W. Bush with lyrics like:

We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler
Machine gun hand

Here’s Young’s full statement followed by some sounds and moving images…

Yesterday my song “Rockin in the Free World” was used in an announcement for a U.S. presidential candidate without my permission.

A picture of me with this candidate was also circulated in conjunction with this announcement but It was a photograph taken during a meeting when I was trying to raise funds for Pono, my online high resolution music service.

Music is a universal language. so I am glad that so many people with varying beliefs get enjoyment from my music, even if they don’t share my beliefs.

But had I been asked to allow my music to be used for a candidate – I would have said no.

I am Canadian and I don’t vote in the United States, but more importantly I don’t like the current political system in the USA and some other countries. Increasingly Democracy has been hijacked by corporate interests. The money needed to run for office, the money spent on lobbying by special interests, the ever increasing economic disparity and the well funded legislative decisions all favor corporate interests over the people’s.

The Citizens United Supreme Court ruling is proof of this corruption as well as are the proposed trade deals which would further compromise our rights.

These Corporations were originally created to serve us but if we don’t appropriately prioritize they will destroy us. Corporations don’t have children. They don’t have feelings or soul. They don’t depend on uncontaminated water, clean air or healthy food to survive. They are beholden to one thing – the bottom line.

I choose to speak Truth to this Economic Power. When I speak out on corporations hurting the common man or the environment or other species, I expect a well financed disinformation campaign to be aimed my way.

Such is the case with the reaction to my new album The Monsanto Years, which covers many of these issues. I support those bringing these issues to light and those who fight for their rights like Freedom of Choice.

But Freedom of Choice is meaningless without knowledge. Thats why its crucial we all get engaged and get informed.
That’s why GMO labeling matters. Mothers need to know what they are feeding their children. They need freedom to make educated choices at the market. When the people have voted for labeling, as they have in Vermont, they need our support when they are fighting these corporate interests trying to reverse the laws they have voted for and passed in the democratic process.

I do not trust self serving misinformation coming from corporations and their media trolls. I do not trust politicians who are taking millions from those corporations either. I trust people. So I make my music for people not for candidates.

Keep on Rockin in the Free World.
Neil Young

Here’s a documentary about the folkie/rocker, his obstinate career path and his ever-renewing creative output…

Stay Awake!

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia. Click here to check out more Music posts