We were already two bottles of Malbec in the wind , with a fine celebratory tapas dinner under our belts, so the six of us were feeling no pain .As the hoary grey drizzle hung in the Irish air in that Sunday lag between the Orange Twelfth of July celebrations and the Scarva mock fighting of the following day, we stepped out into the beautiful six -thirty sunshine of the Liverpool streets . Neil young and Crazy horse beckoned at the Echo theatre.
Reality soon showed up in the form of a demo .The Liverpool friends of Palestine were out in a small vociferous group just outside the concert entrance .As the some twenty thousand punters filtered in to catch the warm -up act of local Liverpool musician Ian McNabb, leaflets were busily being handed out.
“Neil. you didn’t play in Apartheid South Africa! Why play Apartheid Israel?”
Now you might think that is a fair point, In some respects it is. It is certainly worth some thought. The thing is though, there is a subtle difference of time and age and a few other more nebulous things. You see Neil Young was never an “entertainer”.When you went to see someone like Neil Young , you would be aware of his many facets.it would not be like going to see a pop or rock group like Queen. It would always be about the music and what was hiding inside the music. There’d be no dancing girls and costume changes here. Neil Young’s concerns were always about social issues and environmental ideas.This is the man who wrote “Ohio” minutes after the National Guards gunned down four students at an anti-Vietnam war demonstration.This is the man who dragged his old bandmates in Crosby , Stills , Nash and Young on a tour to impeach George Bush because of America’s dealings with Iraq. A tour that kicked up such a stink that it divided public opinion in America and had “fans” walking out of his shows for pointing out the iniquities of American foreign policy. A lot of Americans love America unquestioningly. Neil being a Canadian anyway, possibly has something of an outsider’s perspective. Sometimes fans will find it difficult enough to switch from his folky/country wooden acoustic lullabies to this barnstorming psychedelic abstractions of garage band collage. He doesn’t really care .He approaches it all like Picasso approaches painting or as Hendrix tackled the National anthem at Woodstock, by grafting it seamlessly onto the the strum , drang and clatter of the war that was sucking the lifeblood out of America’s children.
This tour was for his psychedelic fans , rather than his folkies hordes but in the very centre of the rocking firestorm there was a lull where he seemingly purposefully answered his demonstrating critics by taking his acoustic guitar and playing Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind “….”A song you can take anywhere” he said .
I was simply thinking that the T-shirt he wore was saying it all already. It simply said in big stencilled letters….
“EARTH”
I think he should take this music to every corner of the earth, and make them listen.
“Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky ?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?
The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”
by Bob Dylan
I have been a keen listener to Neil Young and CSNY, even though their music was of an era before my time. I can add John Fogerty and CRR to my list, another group with political ideals, in fact maybe I should add Springsteen, Dylan, Cale and a few other politicised yanks. My point to my post was my good lady wife bought us tickets to watch Young in Dub last year, what a terrible disappointment. Being a politicised person I can relate to these iconic stars having their views but allowing those views to destroy the myth and cause us to leave the concert early was absolutely terrible. His swearing got so bad it got in the way of his music, and many, many others also walked out. Sorry Neil, tour the world, I’m not listening to you ripping off your fans anymore, €95 a ticket, what is your story.
Hi William : That hasn’t been my experience over the years.Granted, I’ve seen Neil only three times in the past forty something years… ..first time with Crosby, Stills , Nash , Joni Mitchell and the Band .in 1974…second time at Slane in the mid 1990’s with Booker T and the MGs and Pearl Jam…and then the recent show .Every time it’s a different show…an older man …a different part of the man.. I really haven’t heard a lot of swearing from him in concert although there is one song where the chorus is “why do I keep fucking up?” If every second word was a swearword but not in the context of a character in a song or a play …Swearing is a strange thing when you think of it .If used in a context , it can be very effective and emotive , but if used all the time in everyday speech, can grate and become boring. I think it’s all in the timing!
I was trying (badly) to explain to some American friends recently the circumstances which led to the start of The Troubles. An analogy that came to mind were the Kent State Shootings, immortalized in the Neil Young penned CSNY song ‘Ohio’. Dunno whether this was a good analogy or not, but it was the only one that came to me at the time.
Hi RJC…to my mind it is in the same ballpark.All that counter-culture…anti Vietnam …anti Nixon…pro Civil Right…anti apartheid in South Africa was all pouring out of the same paint can.In Ireland we were very obviously part of that too.Back then , musicians were divided into two camps reflecting the viewpoints..You were either part of the problem or part of the solution..