Neil Young

Outspoken, outstanding and brilliant?  So much has been writtem about one of Canada's, indeed the world's greatest singer songwriters that adding my 10 cents isn't going to change anything or anyone.

All I know is that as long as I can rmember Neil Young has been 'with me'; I have almost all his recordings and certainly they dominate my vinyl and CD collections (apart from the mighty Stones). 

I first heard him as part of Buffalo Springfield in an era when musically anything went and 'The Summer of Love' was in full swing, so as soon as he released his first album in 1968, I was in my local record shop like a rat up a drainpipe .... and I was not disappointed; it is still a favourite and still a great record after nearly 60 years!

..... just as an aside I find it interesting that there was only ever one 'Summer of Love'; it was inevitable, with a new generation fed up with war (Vietnam getting into full swing and also we were still recovering from the nuclear scares of the early 60's), a feeling of new-found freedoms, a sense of being able to do anything with our lives and a time of (apparent) prosperity.  Unfortunately the backlash from an 'Establishment' that was resistant to change, probably very worried about its survival and just ignorant and intolerant, was hostile, indeed overly harsh in some places.  So immediately after it all seemed to go downhill (well not really, it's just at the time it did all seem as if the world was falling apart... and as that hasn't happened, yet, keep on rocking!

Since 1968 Neil Young has produced a plethora of albums, mostly good, some excellent, a number OK and a few... well, let's just say I only played a few of them the once.  Also like it or not I am a product of the age and generation that gave rise to modern music in all its wonderful varieties and so it is Neil Young's earlier albums that I still turn to; from 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' to 'Zuma', I have them all on vinyl and have loved them, excellent, good and not bad, nearly all my adult life.... and of course he's still churning them out!

If you are a Neil Young fan then you'll understand but naturally not necessarily agree.  If you're not or haven't really listened to him then perhaps give 'After The Goldrush', ''Harvest', or 'Comes A Time' a go.

Whatever your views, I will always be a fan.