Q: Do you have any songs that are too personal to sing to an audience?
A: Well, some songs are just too hard to do live. Like, ???Will To Love,??? I don???t know how I could ever do it. I would just feel too open, too wide open. You don???t sing all that stuff on TV.
Q: ???Will To Love???: is an amazing song. You describe a fish struggling upstream. Randy Newman???s praised your nature writing. You???ve written from the perspective of the animals in ???Thrasher,??? enough birds to fill an aviary. Can you really immerse yourself so completely in the creative process that you feel your fins swimming upstream?
A: Yeah, I can. ???Will To Love??? was written in one night, in one sitting, in front of the fireplace. I was all alone in my house and I was really high on a bunch of things. This was a long time ago. I really don???t abuse myself like I used to. I don???t think I???d still be here if I did. But I was really out there and I wrote the whole thing and put it together. None of the verses are exactly the same length. They???re all a little different. I made it through once on the tape. And then I went to record with Crosby, Stills and Nash in Florida after that. I took this cassette along and said, ???Listen to this song I wrote.??? I played it for David and he loved it. He said, ???Wow, that???s great just the way it is.??? We tried to learn it but we could never get it as a band song. I couldn???t sing it. I couldn???t sing past the second verse without forgetting what I was doing, losing it totally, and getting all pissed off because it didn???t sound right. I couldn???t get through it.
I never have sung it except for that one time. That???s what I used for the record. A Sony cassette machine which I transferred to twenty-four track and then I played it back through my Magnatone stereo reverb amp. I brought two tracks of the cassette up on a couple of faders with the stereo vibrato in it, then I mixed them in with the original cassette for that sound of the fish. I overdubbed all the instruments on it and mixed it in the same night. Up in a place called Indigo Ranch. What a night it was, man, unbelievable. I ordered all the instruments from Studio Instrument Rentals, the drums, the bass, the amps, the vibes, all the percussion stuff. We had them set it up like a live date. I made the transfer of the cassette onto the sixteen-track and then I started overdubbing all the parts. They thought it was going to be a live session! They were all set up and ready to go. I just walked from one instrument to another and did them all, mostly in the first take. And then mixed it at the end of the night. It took us about eight hours to finish the whole thing and make it sound like it does now. I think it might be one of the best records I???ve ever made. I think as a piece of music, and sound and lyric and spirit, it???s one of the best. And that???s why it???s important for mew as an artist to be able to record a song when I want to. I will never stand for anybody trying to take that right away from me.
--from Written In My Soul by Bill Flanagan
Heavy-duty/-Duty thanks to Terrence Clubbuppington, who put both myself and Young Tannery up on this particular wonder of a song.
One of the best song writers evar! This dude's appreciation post should go on for pages! Anyone like his America stuff? My moms put me on to "A Horse with No Name" bless her heart.
I really hope you're kidding.
That said I'll take American Stars n' Bars, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Time Fades Away.
about America yes (just testing!), I know he wasn't in the group and that A Horse With No Name is famous for being such a Neal style bite, the whole group's style was a Neil Young bite really.
I was serious about him being a great song writer!
Listening to Mr. Soul in the snow while coming down off an enormous amount of LSD was one of the most harrowing musical experiences I ever had. Down to the Wire is my shit right now; but I celebrate the entire catalogue.
The Dead Man soundtrack is fantastic. He improvised the entire thing and it was all done in one take. They locked him into a private cinema with a bunch of instruments and equipment and he composed the entire thing while watching the film for the first time!
Reccommended film as well.
- J
absolutely.
heart-melting with a fantastic breakdown:
Down To The Wire
Every time you touch her sets your hands on fire, And every thing you've got is all that she requires. And you hang on, hang on, hang on to the words of a liar. You can feel it getting down to the wire.
All the hurt you thought was gone has now returned, And every thing she's laughing at is all you learned. And you let go, let go, let go, 'cause you know you're getting tired. Can you feel it getting down to the wire?
Take the time to close your eyes and look around, 'Cause anyone who helped you out can let you down. And look out, look out, look out, the voice is now the choir. Can you feel it getting down to the wire?
Pocahontas (Rust Never Sleeps) The Campaigner (Decade) Helpless (Deja Vu) Sedan Delivery (Live Rust) Cortez the Killer (Zuma) Keep on Rockin' in the Free World (SNL live boot) I Believe In You (After the Gold Rush) Motorcycle Mama (Comes a Time) Homegrown (Stars and Bars)
My favorite Neil memory is going to see him with my Dad on the Harvest Moon Tour. My father was dying of cancer at the time. When Neil started playing the opening notes of Needle and the Damage Done I heard this blood curdling rebel yell on my left. When I looked over it was my Dad who was busy straight shooting an airline bottle of tequila with the biker dude sitting next to us. My dad was feelin Neil.
Last year, my friend sent me this 8 cd compendium of LIVE Neil bootleg joints. Pretty killer.
I actually really like this album - you kinda have to only listen to one track at a time, like throw on "Transformer Man" and then change the record, or mix "Sample & Hold" with some Gary Numan...
Comments
Heavy-duty/-Duty thanks to Terrence Clubbuppington, who put both myself and Young Tannery up on this particular wonder of a song.
But have you ever listened to it wearing one of these?
I really hope you're kidding.
That said I'll take American Stars n' Bars, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Time Fades Away.
I was serious about him being a great song writer!
neil rules. i wish he were an uncle of mine
absolutely.
heart-melting with a fantastic breakdown:
Down To The Wire
Every time you touch her
sets your hands on fire,
And every thing you've got
is all that she requires.
And you hang on, hang on, hang on
to the words of a liar.
You can feel it getting
down to the wire.
All the hurt you thought was gone
has now returned,
And every thing she's laughing at
is all you learned.
And you let go, let go, let go,
'cause you know you're getting tired.
Can you feel it getting
down to the wire?
Take the time to close your
eyes and look around,
'Cause anyone who helped you out
can let you down.
And look out, look out, look out,
the voice is now the choir.
Can you feel it getting
down to the wire?
Pocahontas (Rust Never Sleeps)
The Campaigner (Decade)
Helpless (Deja Vu)
Sedan Delivery (Live Rust)
Cortez the Killer (Zuma)
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World (SNL live boot)
I Believe In You (After the Gold Rush)
Motorcycle Mama (Comes a Time)
Homegrown (Stars and Bars)
My favorite Neil memory is going to see him with my Dad on the Harvest Moon Tour. My father was dying of cancer at the time. When Neil started playing the opening notes of Needle and the Damage Done I heard this blood curdling rebel yell on my left. When I looked over it was my Dad who was busy straight shooting an airline bottle of tequila with the biker dude sitting next to us. My dad was feelin Neil.
Last year, my friend sent me this 8 cd compendium of LIVE Neil bootleg joints. Pretty killer.
?
Neil Young is from Canada, right?
Pretty much exactly what a coworker and I agreed on this evening. Kinda like Dylan in that respect.
Yeah, they actually bood Sonic Youth.
I actually really like this album - you kinda have to only listen to one track at a time, like throw on "Transformer Man" and then change the record, or mix "Sample & Hold" with some Gary Numan...