I
remember the first time I heard a Neil Young song. I was 17 and I had recently
moved out of my parent’s house to attend university in Ottawa. A friend and
co-worker with whom I worked at Tim Hortons in my home town sent me a song
through MSN Messenger. That song was a live version of “Sugar Mountain” (I
think it was from Live Rust). I liked
the song and for years kept it on my computer, listening to it from time to
time. There was something mystifying about it. I really responded to the
melancholic tone of the song.
It took
me several years to dig up more songs by Young and begin my exploration of his
discography. I remember discovering that he was the writer of “Heart of Gold”,
a song I first heard on a Boney M CD my mom had. It took me a few years to
listen to about half of Young’s prodigious output. It’s time consuming because
he has so many albums and some of them are so damn good they kept me busy for
weeks on end. Naturally, I listened to other music while working my way through
his back catalogue and because of this it took me years to get relatively
knowledgeable about the man and his music. Throughout those years my respect
and admiration for Young has steadily increase. So much so that when I found a
battered copy of Neil and Me: The Neil
Young Story by Scott Young, I picked it up without hesitation.
Neil and Me is written by Neil’s father, a writer. He was a minor celebrity on Canadian television due to hosting Hockey Night in Canada in the late 50s. Being the writer of his son’s biography gave the book a very interesting perspective. Some parts of the book are actually as much about Scott as they are about Neil. I didn’t mind because it often related to Neil in some way and it gave the book a broader perspective than it otherwise might have had if it had been written by someone outside of Neil’s family. What I mean by broader perspective is that events are recounted from an insider view, thus giving certain events an intimate coverage, looking at how the events affected people other than just Neil. A good example is how Neil’s step sister, Astrid Young, once worked with his tour crew. Scott tells us how this related to Neil but also how it related to Astrid. Since both are children of his, Scott is equally interested in recounting the impact of this story on both Neil and Astrid. The writing style makes both perspective seem equally important and, honestly, I actually enjoyed a fair deal of the non-Neil related asides. It helped that they often circled back to Neil in ways that explained his character or his temperament at the time.
This odd
yet very engaging balancing act between the rock star life of Neil Young and
the more intimate story of the extended Young family greatly contributed to
giving this book its unique flavour. The book chronicles Neil’s life from the
years leading up to his birth and up to 1986, the year of the revised
publication of Neil and Me. Part of
this unique flavour is that the book focuses less on the music and more on Neil
and his life, particularly his family life. Events in Neil’s life are
interpreted and presented through Scott’s paternal filter. Through this we get
to learn a lot about Neil's personality. He's rough around the edges, but very
capable.
 |
| Scott Young (left) with his song Neil. |
Scott
managed to convey the more personal and human aspects of Neil without reducing
the more public aspect of his life. While reading, I was a little surprised to
learn how much of a big deal Neil Young really is. Not just to me, but to the
history of rock ‘n’ roll. He's easily comparable to some of the biggest names
in rock from the sixties and seventies. One of the differences between him and
those other artists is that Neil has remained active, putting out albums
regularly, since his debut album with Buffalo Springfield in the 60s. He’s a
very important figure to the history of rock music and I wasn’t expecting.
People always talk about Bob Dylan but damn, Neil Young deserves more praise
than I think he gets.
One of
the things I found interesting about this book was the transition Neil had as a
person and as a musician from the beginning of his career in the sixties all
the way through to the mid-eighties. As a young man his focus was solely on his
music. Everything else in his life was secondary. It also seems that with each
additional project, be it a solo or group project, Neil strived to challenge
himself and do something different. His reaction to the success of After the Gold Rush and Harvest was to knowingly steer his next
projects away from path that led him to that success. This led to the famous Ditch
Trilogy of albums. His motivation to try different things, to move from one
musical genre to the next, was an attempt to avoid creative stagnation. That he
managed to do this amidst personal struggles and while absorbing a crucial
aspect of life during the seventies is nothing short of spectacular. His
prodigious output during the late sixties and seventies was not only one of
quantity but of impressive quality. His first dozen or so albums have stood the
test of time and many of them are classic examples of rock ‘n’ roll, folk, and
country rock.
During
the eighties, after the birth of his son Ben to wife Pegi, Young’s focus
shifted towards family life. Having been born with cerebral palsy, Ben required
the attention of both his parents. Neil and Pegi, aided by friends and
acquaintances, spent twelve hours a day helping their son's physical and mental
development. They tried their hardest to help Ben meet his full potential.
There is an interesting shift that happens to Neil at this point in his life.
Not a change in personality, but a readjustment in priorities. He still made
music, he still went on day trips, worked on his train set, work on his film
projects, but he did these things after taking care of his son or on his
afternoons “off” (afternoons where others were helping out Ben).
 |
| Neil with wife Pegi, son Ben, and daughter Amber. |
Shortly
after this point in Neil’s life the book ends. It feels like an abrupt end and
that’s because it is. Neil and Me
kind of just stops rather than finishes. It’s mid-career for Neil, but this
book was first published in 1984 and the revised version was published two
years later. At the time of publication it covered Neil’s entire life up to
that point.
It was a
very enjoyable biography. It's well written. Scott Young has been a writer all
his life, both journalism and fiction. His writing style is casual, inviting,
yet very informative. He doesn't just relay the facts; he considers what those
facts can teach us about Neil's life and his personality. His unique
perspective was also interesting. It's not a third party writing about a
critically successful and incredibly popular rock ‘n’ roll icon. It's a man
writing about another man who happens to be his son and, oh yeah, he's led a
very successful career as a musician. He humanizes Neil with ease without
undermining the success he's had and his hard work along the way. It's also
pretty clear that he and Neil have lived separate lives while also keeping a
regular contact, albeit sometimes with months of silence in between reunions.
After a
bit of reflection this book holds up as a pretty good intro to Neil Young. It's
got a low key kind of feel too it. It's a comfortable read. Comfortable like old,
patched up jeans and a checkered shirt. But it's also really good. It surprises
you and makes you rethink a few things, kind of like good music can do. Like
Neil, this book is casual but it employs simplicity and roughness and elevates
it into something worthwhile, something that holds a few important truths. This
is a good book. I only wished that Scott would have gotten a chance to write
another volume. For now I'll just say that I'll have to track down a copy of
Neil's autobiography because I expect that would also prove to be a really good
read. Until then, I leave you with a list of my Top Five Favourite Neil Young
Albums:
#5 – Rust
Never Sleeps
#4 – After
the Gold Rush
#3 –
Harvest
#2 – Zuma
#1 – Everybody
Knows This Is Nowhere
Man,
narrowing down the list to 5 albums was tough. It almost took more time to come
up with a top five than it did to write the rest of this article. You’ll note
these are all early albums. That’s because I’m not as familiar with the second
half of Young’s career. Sound off in the comments with your top five albums!
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