Shakey

by Jimmy McDonough

  13 “I get into each thing I do …” NY, Amsterdam press conference, 12/10/89.

  15 “The other day I was thinking …” Rickie Lee Jones website quote.

  17 David Bowie quote from David Sprague interview, Pulse!, 2/97.

  17 Peter Buck quote, Guitar Player, 9/97.

  17 Eddie Vedder quote from his speech during Neil Young’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1/95.

  20 “It’s not really advantageous …” NY interviewed by Tony Schwartz, Newsweek, 11/13/78.

  24 “Some people around me think …” NY interviewed by Steve Clarke, NME, 4/3/76.

  mr. blue & mr. red

  Author interviews: NY, Rassy Young, Nola Halter, Scott Young, Bob Young (uncle), Bob Young (brother), Astrid Young Sr., Astrid Young Jr., Lavinia “Toots” Hoogstratten, Neil Hoogstratten, Virginia “Snooky” Ridgeway, Jay Hayes, Stephanie Fillingham, Penny Lowe, Murray McLauchlan, Marny Smith, June Callwood, Trent Frayne, Comrie Smith, Pierre Berton, Elliot Roberts, Garfield “Goof” Whitney III, Henry Mason, other sources.

  32 “It was something about defeat …” Scott Young, A Writer’s Life.

  38 “It’s a Canadian thing, this balance …” Cronenberg quote from a Rolling Stone interview, late 80s/early 90s.

  42 “I was always shy …” NY interviewed by Dave Zimmer, BAM, 4/22/88.

  50 “I really wanted to be …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  52 Ronnie Self info: We Wanna Boogie: An Illustrated History of the American Rockabilly Movement, Randy McNutt. HHP Books, 1988.

  59 “When I was in school …” NY interviewed by Dave Zimmer, BAM, 4/22/88.

  61 “I got expelled for …” NY to Cameron Crowe, Rolling Stone, 2/8/79.

  66 NY on Astrid letter, Scott Young interview, author.

  72 “Neil Young’s Father,” by Juan Rodriguez, Ajax, 1972.

  Various quotes—Scott Young, Neil and Me; Scott Young, “Once Upon a Time in Toronto,” Home for Christmas and Other Stories, Macmillan of Canada, 1989; Scott Young, The Flood.

  leaving things behind

  Author interviews: NY, Rassy Young, Jack Harper, Juan Rodriguez, Randy Bachman, Jim Kale, Ken Koblun, Allen Bates, Ken Johnson, Gary Reid, Don Marshall, Mike Katchmar, Ken Smythe, Pam Smith, Terry Crosby, Joni Mitchell, Astrid Young Sr., Astrid Young Jr., Bill Edmunsen, Ray Dee, David Rea, Nola Halter, Pete Barber, June Callwood, Lavinia “Toots” Hoogstratten, Virginia “Snooky” Ridgeway, other sources.

  79 “To me his music always …” Rassy Young to Bob Young, Maclean’s magazine, 5/71.

  79 “Anyone that tells you …” Graham Nash, The History of Rock & Roll: “Rock & Roll Explodes,” Time-Life, 1995. Andrew Solt, Producer.

  88 “I almost was a professional …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  89 “You knew when you …” Fran Gebhard to John Einarson, Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied (hereafter NY:DBE).

  93 Harry Taylor anecdote: John Einarson NY:DBD.

  96 “In the early days …” NY speech inducting Woody Guthrie into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1988.

  100 “I’m not trying …” May 9, 1964, Scott Young letter.

  101 “It drew a long letter …” Scott Young writing as James Reilly Dunn, Toronto Globe & Mail, approximately mid-60s.

  107 “We just went nuts …” NY interviewed by John Einarson, NY:DBD.

  112 “would shift from job to job …” Dave Zimmer, Crosby, Stills and Nash: The Authorized Biography (hereafter CSN Authorized).

  112 “because he was always being told …” Stephen Stills to Dave Zimmer, CSN Authorized.

  114 “I don’t know why …” NY to John Einarson, NY:DBD.

  115 “Mort is dead,” postcard, NY Archives.

  115 “That’s the way I was …” NY to Johnny Walker, 1992 British radio interview.

  a big blur of images

  Author interviews: NY, Rassy Young, Scott Young, Bruce Palmer, Murray McLauchlan, Comrie Smith, Linda Smith, Joni Mitchell, Ken Koblun, Craig Allan, Vicky Taylor, Janine Hollinghead, Beverly Davies, Richard Meltzer, Brian Stone, other sources.

  118 “Playing with Neil …” Bruce Palmer to Mojo, 7/97.

  119 “He was very friendly …” Terry Erickson to John Einarson, NY:DBD.

  120 “I didn’t see much folk-rock …” NY to John Einarson, NY:DBD.

  122 “I never played …” NY to John Einarson, NY:DBD.

  125 “Many people I know …” NY interview with Jeffrey C. Alexander, Los Angeles Times Calendar, 9/67.

  126 “You read the newspaper…” NY, Rome press conference, 4/29/87.

  135 “Convinced Neil that …” Stephen Stills to Allan McDougall, Rolling Stone, 3/4/71.

  135 “I was by myself …” NY interviewed by Nick Kent, The Dark Stuff.

  137 “Melodically speaking …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  138 “As far as we knew …” “stride up and down …” Bruce Palmer to Scott Young, Neil and Me.

  139 “If they thought we weren’t …” NY interviewed by Cameron Crowe, Musician, 11/82.

  141 “taught me about cool.” NY to?, original clipping misplaced at press time, late 80s/early 90s vintage.

  145 “Lover in the Mirror” lyrics, NY Archives.

  147 “I’d be laying at the back …” NY to Nick Kent, The Dark Stuff.

  mind over matter

  Author interviews: Ken Viola, Charlie Beesley, Bruce Palmer, Dewey Martin, Richie Furay, Arthur Lee, Henry Diltz, John Breckow, Donna Port, Vicki Cavaleri, Barry Friedman, Charles Greene, Marcy Greene, Brian Stone, June Nelson, Jack Nitzsche, Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, John Hartmann, Richard “Dickie” Davis, Miles Thomas, Nurit Wilde, Ron Jacobs, Eve Babitz, Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Judith Sims, Bruce Cannon, Elliot Roberts, Sandy Mazzeo, Peter Lewis, other sources.

  155 “Kind of hopped up …” NY to Karen Schoemer, The New York Times, 11/25/92.

  156 “We were in this …” Richie Furay to Dave Zimmer, CSN Authorized.

  157 “It was the best …” NY to David Gans, The Record, 10/82.

  161 “The group was Western …” NY to Robert Greenfield, Fusion, 4/17/70.

  167 June 8, 1966, contract date and contract information: Brian Stone author interview.

  168 “That’s when we peaked …” Stephen Stills to Allan McDougall, Rolling Stone, 3/4/71.

  169 “He’s on top of the beat …” NY to Sylvie Simmons, Mojo, 7/97.

  170 “Our producers …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  170 “I was trying to be boss cat …” Stephen Stills to Allan McDougall, Rolling Stone, 3/4/71.

  172 Spector “Fellini” anecdote: interviews with Nitzsche, Greene and Stone.

  173 “When we got …” Stephen Stills to Joe Smith, On the Record: An Oral History of Popular Music, Warner Books, 1988.

  173 July 10, 1966, arrest date: Brian Stone legal document, 10/18/66.

  174 “When I turned …” Bruce Palmer to Scott Young, Neil and Me.

  176 “When they happen, you actually …” Thom Jones, People article, date unknown.

  179 “We all panicked …” Richie Furay to TeenSet, 8/68.

  182 “That’s where ‘Flying on the Ground’…” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  the red-haired guy

  Author interviews: Bruce Palmer, Dewey Martin, Peter Lewis, Richie Furay, Robin Lane, David Crosby, Richard “Dickie” Davis, Charles Greene, Brian Stone, Tom Dowd, Jim Messina, Chris Sarns, Linda McCartney, Denny Bruce, Jerry Miller, Bruce Tergesen, Paul Williams, Donna Port, Vicki Cavaleri, Elliot Roberts, Barry Friedman, Jack Nitzsche, Eve Babitz, Nurit Wilde, Linda Stevens, Marcy Greene, Dennis Hopper, other sources.

  186 “You know, you start out and …” NY to Marci McDonald, Toronto Daily News, 2/1/69.

  190 “We hated each other …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  192 NY’s UCLA Medical Center stay was from 7/27 to 8/3, according to recent information f
rom private source.

  198 “There was this big …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  202 “slapped me across the face …” Stephen Stills to Allan McDougall, Rolling Stone, 3/4/71.

  205 “Manager! What kind of cat …” NY to Jean-Charles Costa, Circus, approximately 1971.

  206 “I put out the wrong one” anecdote: Ken Viola, author interview. Verified by NY.

  208 “The sound of the Buffalo …” Mark Volman to John Einarson and Richie Furay, For What It’s Worth: The Story of Buffalo Springfield.

  208 “Now, we never call meetings …” Richard Davis to Jerry Hopkins, The Rock Story.

  209 “Neil’s music was criticized …” 6/26/67 Bob Young letter, McDonough Archives.

  209 “That’s when Neil …” Stephen Stills to Allan McDougall, Rolling Stone, 3/4/71.

  growin’ up, blowin’ up

  Author interviews: Jack Nitzsche, Denny Bruce, Jack Nitzsche Jr., Tim Drummond, Bruce Botnick, Bruce Palmer, Dewey Martin, Peter Lewis, Richie Furay, Richard “Dickie” Davis, Charles Greene, Brian Stone, Donna Port, Vicki Cavaleri, Leslie Morris, Eve Babitz, David Crosby, Ken Viola, Jim Messina, Linda Stevens, Chris Sarns, Ahmet Ertegun, other sources.

  212 Link Wray “Rumble” anecdote: author interview with Link Wray.

  212 “Jack’s one of the …” NY to Gavin Martin, NME, 11/7/92.

  212 Carly Simon anecdote: author interview with Jack Nitzsche.

  215 John Hunter anecdote: author interview with Jack Nitzsche.

  217 “I didn’t know how …” Bob Dylan quoted by Clinton Heylin in Behind the Shades Revisited. The original interview was from 1978, done (I believe) by Matt Damsker.

  218 “Expecting to Fly” session credits: author interview with Jack Nitzsche.

  219 “I’ll tell ya …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  222 “Jimi was my …” “When Jimi died …” Stephen Stills to Dave Zimmer, CSN Authorized.

  225 “The only good album we made was the second one,” NY to Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 10/28/68.

  227 “pieced together …” NY to Gary Kenton.

  229 May 10 date: legal documents concerning Dewey Martin lawsuit.

  230 “Jimmy Messina did …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  231 “We were good, even great …” NY to Scott Young, Neil and Me.

  In recent interviews Denny Bruce alleges that when Young played “Expecting to Fly” for Jack Nitzsche, it was to pitch it as a song for the Everly Brothers. During their tenure at Warner Bros., the Everlys would record a striking, very slow version of “Mr. Soul” (with Ry Cooder on guitar) produced and arranged by Nitzsche that remained unreleased until 1984.

  Space didn’t permit delving into Buffalo Springfield unreleased material, but the 2001 Buffalo Springfield boxed set includes a bunch of Young outtakes, among them demos of “There Goes My Babe” (written by Young for Sonny and Cher), “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong,” “Out of My Mind,” “One More Sign,” “The Rent Is Always Due,” “Round and Round and Round,” “Old Laughing Lady,” and perhaps most stunningly, solo demo/band versions of “Down Down Down,” later incorporated into the “Country Girl” “suite” on 1970’s Déjà Vu. There are also studio band versions of instrumentals “Falcon Lake (Ash on the Floor),” “Kahuna Sunset” and “Buffalo Stomp (Raga)”—the former cowritten by Stills and the latter the only Springfield song to receive a group writing credit; plus the Furay-sung Young opus “Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?”; and—finally—the scratchy acetate original version of “Mr. Soul” that had obsessed Young for so long. Still lurking in the Archives are solo demos of both “Sell Out” and a particularly evocative “Broken Arrow,” plus a Nitzsche coproduction/arrangement of “Expecting to Fly” – vintage recording entitled “Slowly Burning” (which Young has threatened to add a contemporaneous vocal to, as the original track was never completed).

  Perhaps most disappointing is the lack of any Buffalo Springfield live material, especially of the original lineup. “The curse of the Buffalo tapes,” sighed Joel Bernstein. “There are no usable live tapes anywhere …we really did try.” Rumors of Springfield tapes done during the 1967 Beach Boys tour prompted Bernstein to ferret through all their tapes; nothing was found. The recently discovered Jennifer Starkey tapes—approximately a dozen Springfield shows—were done on a poor-quality portable tape recorder. Of the other live tapes acknowledged to have the original lineup including both Young and Palmer—namely (at the present time) the 4/29/67 Hollywood Bowl (with a dark “Mr. Soul” sung by Young), the 8/12/67 Teen and Twenty Club and the Fillmore West 12/21-23/67 tape—all have major technical problems. The most interesting audio tape that’s come to light recently is that of the band’s 8/14/67 performance of “Bluebird” on the cop show Mannix, which—despite the quality and the intermittent TV dialogue—is far more compelling than the long studio “jam.” What is interesting about all the Springfield live tapes is how little Young is represented as a singer (and at times even a songwriter). A medley of “The Midnight Hour”/“Mr. Soul” (!) gets sung by Dewey Martin (even Stills tackled “Mr. Soul” upon occasion). Outside of “Burned” or lip-synching “Mr. Soul” on the 1/20/67 Hollywood Palace show, current evidence suggests to Bernstein that “Neil was most prominent as a guitarist.”

  the no men

  Author interviews: Selwyn Gerber, Elliot Roberts, Ahmet Ertegun, Dennis Hopper, Harlan Goodman, Willie B. Hinds, Gerald V. Casale, Frank “Poncho” Sampedro, Larry Johnson, Leslie Morris, Jim Jarmusch, Jeff Wald, Dean Stockwell, Gary Burden, Ron Stone, Larry Kurzon, Dallas Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Richard Meltzer, Joel Bernstein, Sal Trentino, Danny Hutton, Barry Goldberg, Don Paris, Jeannie Field, Richard Kaplan, Robin Lane, John Hanlon, Shannon Forbes, Lincoln Briggs, John Locke, Connie Moskos, John Nowland, Nils Lofgren, Kirby Cohee, David Blumberg, Bobby Morris, Louie Kelly, Niko Bolas, Sandy Mazzeo, Billy Talbot, Laurie Talbot, Ralph Molina, Barbara Molina, Brenda Decker, Terry Sachen, Larry Lear, Marie Janisse, Barry Goldberg, Ben Rocco, Pat Vegas, George Whitsell, Bobby Notkoff, David Briggs, Graham Nash, David Crosby, other sources.

  235 “Artists are manipulated …” NY to Johnny Walker, British radio interview, 1992.

  245 “I didn’t dig Elvis …” David Crosby to Dave Zimmer, CSN Authorized.

  251 “not to reach people’s souls …” Graham Nash to Dave Zimmer, CSN Authorized.

  254 “I believe that …” Bob Dylan to Serge Kaganski, Der Spiegel, 10/18/97. The line was quoted slightly differently in Mojo.

  257 I was informed via his management that Dave Van Ronk had no recollection of Neil Young opening for him.

  more real

  Author interviews: NY, Eve Babitz, Louie Kelly, Max Penner, Dean Stockwell, Elliot Roberts, Jack Nitzsche, Bobby Morris, Nils Lofgren, Guillermo Giachetti, Jeannie Field, Russ Tamblyn, Jim Messina, Peter Lewis, Ken Viola, Joel Bernstein, Jimmy Dehr, Danny Tucker, Ron Denend, Tom Wilkes, Lynn Wilkes, George Herms, Charlie Beesley, Allen Chance, David Briggs, Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina, other sources.

  287 “great, he was unreal …” NY to Nick Kent, The Dark Stuff.

  287 Manson anecdote from interview by Michael Moynihan, Seconds #32, 1995.

  293 “My first album …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  295 “I always thought …” NY to Nick Kent, Mojo, 12/95.

  295 “never wanted to be in a group,” NY to Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 10/28/68.

  295 “The Strip! …” NY to Marci McDonald, Toronto Daily News, 2/1/69.

  298 “changed my mind …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  298 The Rockets Whisky A Go-Go dates—Evening Outlook, 7/30/68.

  299 “That’s when a change …” NY to B. Mitchell Reid, KLOS radio interview, 9/73.

  300 “My songs are pictures …” Bob Dylan to Paul Zollo, Songtalk interview, 1991. Songwriters on Songwriting, Da Capo Press, 1997.

  301 Young’s comment
s on “Cinnamon Girl” written to author, 2000.

  301 “It’s a cry …” NY to Robert Greenfield, Fusion, 4/17/70.

  302 “He draws out notes …” Greil Marcus, Goodtimes, 1969.

  310 “It was really groovy …” NY to Tony Pig, KSAN radio interview, 11/12/69.

  the guy with the balls

  Author interviews: NY, David Briggs, Joni Mitchell, Dallas Taylor, Greg Reeves, Ken Viola, Larry Kurzon, Melvin Belli, Russ Tamblyn, Nils Lofgren, Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Elliot Roberts, Richard Meltzer, Terry Sachen, Randy Newman, Louie Kelly, Dennis Hopper, Denny Bruce, John Locke, Jack Nitzsche, Johnny Barbata, Chrissie Hynde, Gerald V. Casale, Gary Burden, Linda Stevens, Linda Ronstadt, other sources.

  312 “At that time …” NY to B. Mitchell Reid, KLOS radio interview, 9/73.

  317 “Woodstock—I didn’t want …” Bob Dylan to Jim Jerome, 11/10/75 interview.

  317 “They represented …” Grace Slick to Dave Zimmer, CSN Authorized.

  318 Big Sur CSNY concert dialogue from the 1971 documentary Celebration at Big Sur

  321 “Do I think …” NY to Nick Kent, The Dark Stuff.

  321 “I’m trying …” NY to Elliot Blinder, Rolling Stone, 4/30/70.

  322 “You could compare …” NY to Gary Kenton.

  322 “There are certain …” NY to John Rockwell, The New York Times, 11/27/77.

  323 “We were doing it live …” NY to Jean-Charles Costa, Circus, approximately 1971.

  323 “Songs are …” Bob Dylan to Bill Flanagan, Written in my Soul, Contemporary Books, 1986.

  328 Buffy Sainte-Marie/Crazy Horse anecdote: author interview with Jack Nitzsche.

  329 Young’s comments on “Come On Baby, Let’s Go Downtown,” written to author, 2000.

  336 “It sounds like gibberish …” NY to Scott Cohen, Yakety-Yak: The Midnight Confessions and Revelations of Thirty-Seven Rock Stars and Legends, Simon & Schuster, 1994 (originally printed in Spin).