#822: neil young - sugar mountain (1978)
i had a really important epiphany tonight. i realized that at a certain age we all accept that neil young is the ideal adult and the person to whose heights we should all aspire.
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this website ft. the beatles, aretha franklin, neil young, dr. dre, will oldham, serge gainsbourg, the kinks, dusty springfield, jimi hendrix, pavement, the clash, the smiths, al green, rolling stones, cat power, yo la tengo, stevie wonder, antony, wilco, elvis, talking heads, elliott smith, r.e.m., ray charles, velvet underground, the monochrome set, randy newman, the cure, queen, duke ellington & more
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives & a random post
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"gotta think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain-clothes." -bob dylan
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. do it very slowly and don't confuse him." -charles mingus
"she had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"you can't hold the hand of a rock 'n' roll man." -joni mitchell
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" - shoot the piano player
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, yeah, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom like a gentle drum. -john cale
"i’ve still got things inside me, sad things, happy things, that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"to try to maximize the relationship of listening to a record through promotion is like experiencing driving a car by reading about stimulus programs." -bonnie 'prince' billy
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"we can make each other happy, or we can make each other happy." -harry nilsson
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'm an idiot for you." -iggy pop
"i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"lyrics choochoo from my mouth like locomotion." - pato banton
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away." -lowell george
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"at a certain point phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"he's got a mind like a sewer, and a heart like a fridge" -elvis costello
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home." -gram parsons
"i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face." -woody allen
"where have you been all my life?" -emmylou harris, to my brother tommy
"the first time i got stoned on grass was with john paul jones of led zeppelin. we'd been talking to ramblin' jack elliott somewhere and jonesy said to me, 'come over and i'll turn you on to grass.' he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police." -david bowie
"tired of the tango? fed up with fandango? dance on moonbeams, slide on rainbows, in furs or blue jeans. you know what I mean." -roxy music
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff." -radiohead
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"i could even find it in my heart to love mike love." -belle & sebastian
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead.” -pete seeger
"but chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it altogether." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about us: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy," 33 1/3 says: "it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction," others say: "pulitzer."
download albums, see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & 'staches
the olden days: 08 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 09 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 10 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 11 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 12 j.
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1960s on mon
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
i'm a journalist at bloomberg news, here's recent work
feel free to email
this website ft. the beatles, aretha franklin, neil young, dr. dre, will oldham, serge gainsbourg, the kinks, dusty springfield, jimi hendrix, pavement, the clash, the smiths, al green, rolling stones, cat power, yo la tengo, stevie wonder, antony, wilco, elvis, talking heads, elliott smith, r.e.m., ray charles, velvet underground, the monochrome set, randy newman, the cure, queen, duke ellington & more
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives & a random post
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"gotta think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain-clothes." -bob dylan
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. do it very slowly and don't confuse him." -charles mingus
"she had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"you can't hold the hand of a rock 'n' roll man." -joni mitchell
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" - shoot the piano player
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, yeah, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom like a gentle drum. -john cale
"i’ve still got things inside me, sad things, happy things, that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"to try to maximize the relationship of listening to a record through promotion is like experiencing driving a car by reading about stimulus programs." -bonnie 'prince' billy
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"we can make each other happy, or we can make each other happy." -harry nilsson
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'm an idiot for you." -iggy pop
"i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"lyrics choochoo from my mouth like locomotion." - pato banton
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away." -lowell george
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"at a certain point phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"he's got a mind like a sewer, and a heart like a fridge" -elvis costello
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home." -gram parsons
"i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face." -woody allen
"where have you been all my life?" -emmylou harris, to my brother tommy
"the first time i got stoned on grass was with john paul jones of led zeppelin. we'd been talking to ramblin' jack elliott somewhere and jonesy said to me, 'come over and i'll turn you on to grass.' he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police." -david bowie
"tired of the tango? fed up with fandango? dance on moonbeams, slide on rainbows, in furs or blue jeans. you know what I mean." -roxy music
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff." -radiohead
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"i could even find it in my heart to love mike love." -belle & sebastian
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead.” -pete seeger
"but chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it altogether." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about us: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy," 33 1/3 says: "it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction," others say: "pulitzer."
download albums, see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & 'staches
the olden days: 08 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 09 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 10 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 11 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 12 j.
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#759: neil young - thrasher (rust never sleeps, live 1979)
on weeks like this one, when everything’s covered in a thick fuzz and drenched in haze and the news is all bad and all ugly, i listen to mid-70s neil young loudly. and when the going gets really tough i turn to the best album he never made, 1977’s chrome dreams (you’ll find it here), especially the song he sings with emmylou harris about the star of bethlehem. because bob dylan is for the hour when the writing’s on the wall, but bob dylan listens to neil young when the handwriting’s illegible.
#537 - neil young - dead man theme (1996)
i’m getting a little bit worried about alice in wonderland. i wonder if it’s too late for tim burton to scrap all that cgi and just reuse johnny depp’s performance in jim jarmusch’s mid-90s western dead man? or at the very least avril lavigne’s alice (“when the world’s crashing down/ when i fall and hit the ground/ i will turn myself around/ don’t you try to stop me”) can be replaced by an entire soundtrack of neil young’s noodling.
#522: willie nelson - mr. record man (1965)
the fact that all five of last night’s grammy rock nominees are older than 50, and that their average age, according to my calculations, is 61.4 years, would lead a reasonable viewer to conclude that young people were not interested in (or good at) making superlative rock music last year. that is wrong.
so in january 2011, instead of nominating bob dylan, john fogerty, bruce springsteen, eric clapton, steve winwood, jeff beck, stevie wonder, booker t. jones, david byrne, elvis costello, levon helm, rambin’ jack elliott, loudon wainwright iii, willie nelson and (of course) neil young for grammys again, the academy should spend some of the ceremony showing clips of these glorious veterans in their prime (see above), take a few minutes to bring everyone up to speed on what they’ve been up to lately, and then dedicate the rest of the broadcast to serious quality time with the gloriously gaga and grizzly youth of today.
i’m as happy as anyone that neil young won his first-ever grammy tonight, but i hope everyone across the globe can set aside their differences and agree that awarding the 64-year-old his first grammy for a boxed set makes as much sense as giving salinger a long-awaited pulitzer for the grocery list he penned last spring. maybe a few years ago the national academy of recording arts and sciences could have given a grammy to any of his seven absurdly perfect first albums? not to mention csny’s déjà vu. or songs like don’t let it bring you down, only love can break your heart, cortez the killer, down by the river, helpless and harvest moon. please see here for a list of neil young’s career highlights expressed as inequalities, if you’re into that kind of thing.
the cover for the original release of only love can break your heart breaks hearts.
#484: neil young - harvest moon (1992)
it doesn’t matter that the video takes place somewhere called the mountain house bar & grill, or that it has the plot line and production values of poorly financed soft core pornography (the red shoe diaries debuted in 1992, too!), or even that the drummer is wearing a wig, because harvest moon is just terrifyingly pretty. it sounds like blankets. the harmonies and pedal steel guitar make intervertebral discs spin.
#469: crosby, stills, nash & young - only love can break your heart (1970)
david crosby’s early-70s mustache ≥ neil young at the bbc in 1971 ≥ being able to play the stand-up bass while smoking ≥ csny’s harmonies ≥ crazy horse ≥ neil young’s torn jeans ≥ down by the river ≥ being able to sing with joni mitchell and the band while drugs are on your face ≥ the “i have a friend” verses in only love can break your heart. see here for proof.
#406: pavement - father to a sister of thought (1995)
every slightly-mustached, acne-plagued, voice-cracked adolescent with relatively good taste in music and relatively bad self esteem should be gifted copies of pavement’s mid-90s albums, which proved that gangly awkwardness isn’t always uncool. even though father to a sister of thought has a second-rate mall rat’s voice singing third-rate barfly lyrics (“i’m just a man/ you see who i am”), the pimply song’s as pretty as after the gold rush and american as american beauty.
#376: crosby, stills, nash and young - our house (1974, wembley stadium)
it’s hard to tell if this slowed, spacey, dejected version of the once-jolly our house is a total trainwreck or just beautifully hazy. either way, watching it is like seeing your second grade teacher stumble quietly out of a bar alone.
the original our house was a lovable ode to domestic bliss—and it was about joni mitchell! “the first night we spent together, i felt very warm and felt like i’d really found a home,” graham nash once said. “i had never been with a woman like joan.” but at wembley stadium, years after the two broke-up, even the band’s harmonized la-la-las sound like guilty pleas. the faint glimpse of neil young’s mutton chops toward the end of the song slightly makes up for the sadness, but still.
#263: neil young (and crazy horse) - cortez the killer (1978)
you’d think that a man who can sing the high notes of immensely perfect four-part harmonies (our house is the sissiest song of the 60s) wouldn’t be able to sludge his way through muddy, creaky, nine-minute odes to conquistadors (or through entire albums about heroin overdoses), but neil young is cool like that.
npr, bless its public little heart, is streaming a just-released neil young solo acoustic show from 1969, back when he was 22 and hadn’t released his debut album.
it’s genuinely heartbreakingly good, the kind of genuine heartbreaking goodness that happens when a 22-year-old is coaxed out of his hotel room bed (where he’s huddled scared) to play songs that mostly haven’t been released yet, and turn out to be the second-best songs written in north america in the 1960s (behind bob dylan’s).
#53: the band (with neil young) - helpless (1976)
wouldn’t you know it, martin scorsese made this film while handling a serious cocaine addiction. and was the band using with him? actually, backstage there was a room painted white, decorated with noses from plastic masks. an audio tape of sniffing sounds played on a tape. seriously. really. truly.
when neil young came out to sing helpless, he had the most famous glob of cocaine in rock history hanging from his nostrils (which was erased by scorsese in post-production). that didn’t stop mr. young from being as gorgeously delicate as always, singing a velvet canadian harmony with joni mitchell, who has hidden off-stage behind a curtain.
legend has it that the band kept her hidden because her complex romantic dalliances with the musicians were bumming everyone out. but the band has since claimed that it was only so that her later appearance in the show, singing three songs solo, would be more exciting. all things considered, it’s probably because she was a wildwoman.
#22: crosby, stills, nash & young - down by the river (1969)
one neil young song deserves another, even if a group of white men doing four-part harmonies isn’t my cup of tea.
but isn’t neil and stephen stills’ face-to-face guitar playing charming? doesn’t mustachioed david crosby look more stoned than a boulder?
and isn’t “she could drag me over the rainbow, send me away” the most romantic line? never mind that this is a song about shooting your baby dead near a body of water.
