Canadian Neil
Little Neil on some logs. This image dons the back cover of his 2005 album, Prairie Wind
Friday night I entered a debate about one of my old favourites, none other than Mr. Neil Young. While a group of us sat at a crowded, cozy Hamilton bar, one of my friends suggested that Neil's artistic integrity is questionable, specifically because he left Canada and proceeded to change his identity, growing apart from his Northern roots. My friend went on to praise Gordon Lightfoot, who, unlike Neil, had maintained his Canadian integrity.
This prompted me to re-engage with my all my Neil albums and think about how much of Neil's music is not only about, or influenced by, his Canadian roots, but also how much of his songwriting is about honestly expressing himself and who he is, Canadian and otherwise.
This led to the Canadian Neil mix I made today.
Here's the annotated track list:
1. I am a Child.
This song was released by Buffalo Springfield, Neil's first American band, and it appeared on their third and final album in 1968. He wrote it in his early twenties and the song speaks to Neil's reflections on coming of age. Throughout his recording career, I feel Neil has remained true to the sentiments in this song. His candour and emotional honesty does at times seem childlike, though that's also what makes it so endearing.
2. Journey Through the Past
This version of this reflective song comes from the Live at Massey Hall '71 show. When he played this show, he was already post Buffalo Springfield, CSNY 's Deja Vu, the Woodstock festival, the first Crazy Horse record, Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, and his first two solo albums. Having achieved fame and stardom with others and on his own, he'd already come a long way since leaving Canada. The song's "journey" seems to be wholly metaphorical, or mental in nature: travelling through memories offers him solace at this charged artistic moment in his career. The next project he released in early '72 was one of his most successful - Harvest.
3. Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
This is the title track from the first album Neil did with Crazy Horse, released in 1969, which also boasts the classics "Down by the River," "Cowgirl in the Sand," and "Cinnamon Girl." I remember reading that he wrote all 3 songs, or 2/3, bedridden with a high fever, in a sort of manic state. I chose this track as it's short and punchy and seems to be about knowing that the town you're from, or currently in, is "nowhere." Makes sense for a guy who spent many of his formative years in Winnipeg in the late 50s - early 60s.
4. Helpless
Originally released on the CSNY Deja Vu project, in 1970, this is a Canadian anthem about life in Northern Ontario (in a highly insubstantial dream like way). I've always thought it's about how environments in Northern parts of any province in Canada are so vast and empty, that they stir up feelings of helplessness when one considers how inconsequential he is in a vast, wild, open space. This particular version is from The Band's Last Waltz concert, recorded in 1976. I chose this version because it's beautiful and because Neil's got another Canadian singing backup, who more or less steals the show.
5. I Believe in You
This appeared on After the Goldrush, the second solo album, also released in 1970. I don't know who Neil is singing to or about, and I wonder if it's not about himself? Regardless, it's a highly emotional song and speaks to Neil's ability to channel honest emotions into moving lyrics.
6. Mellow My Mind
This appears on Tonight's the Night, recorded and released in 1975, following the overdose death of Danny Whitten, Crazy Horse's original lead guitarist. This album, alongside Journey Through the Past, and On the Beach, are often referred to as the "ditch trilogy." This trilogy marks a period of commercial failure for Neil, and these albums were somewhat forgotten as the years passed. In hindsight, they now receive reverence and acclaim as key artistic statements in Neil's canon. I really like this particular song, and the imperative call that runs through the chorus express Neil's yearnings for escapism.
7. Music is Love
This is a bit out of sequence, chronologically, as it appears on David Crosby's solo record, If I Could Only Remember My Name, released in 1971. Nonetheless, Neil gets a co-write on this track and you can hear his background vocal quote clearly throughout the song. Nice psychedelic jam session with a simple, evocative lyrical refrain.
8. Ambulance Blues
This appeared on the second ditch trilogy album, On the Beach, released in 1974. I first heard this song when I was sitting front row at my first Neil Young show, in 2007 at Massey Hall. Funnily enough, Gordon Lightfoot was also at that show, and I remember him walking by me on his way to the backstage entrance on side stage. I later learned that the song is a loose narrative full of memories from Neil's experiences playing the folk clubs in Yorkville, Toronto, in the mid 60s, which he calls those "old folkie days." It's a beautiful, rambling song. At that 2007 show, which was the first he'd played at Massey Hall since 1971, he chose to play this Toronto-centric song.
9. Homegrown
Released on American Stars 'N Bars, in 1977, but written and recorded earlier, this track speaks for itself. It's about weed, sure, but it's also about how great things are "grown" at home.
10. The Loner
Released on Live Rust in 1979, this is an abrasively loud version of a song originally released on Neil's first self titled solo album in 1968. I like the references to the subway, and it makes me think of time spent on the TTC growing up in Toronto.
11. Little Wing
Appearing on 1980's Hawks & Doves, this short, soft song just feels like quintessential Neil. Soft spoken lyrics, emotional tones, and ambiguous meaning.
12. My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)
This is also from 1979's Live Rust, and became infamous when Kurt Cobain quoted the line, "it's better to burn out than to fade away," in his suicide note. It's a catchy tune and the song's speaker seems to be a young person exalting the staying power of rock n roll to some dubious, aging square.
13. One of These Days
The obvious mention of "my Canadian prairie home" is self explanatory, in terms of his Canadian inklings, but this track is all about connecting to people from the past, a common theme in Neil's work. It first appeared on Harvest Moon, in 1992. This version is taken from the live concert album Dreamin' Man, released as part of the Neil Young Archives series, in 2009.
14. Four Strong Winds
Tipping his hat to his fellow countryman, Ian Tyson, Neil covers this classic Canadian folk tune on Comes a Time, released in 1978.
