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The Neil Young discography - Shakey II, part 1

Back in 2010 and into 2011, contributing writer John Truslove from Perth, Australia did an incredible Bruce Springsteen countdown of his favorite 101 songs, Top 101 Songs Of Bruce Springsteen.  The series was both informative and highly personal.

It's my pleasure to bring you another project by Truslove.  This time around his taking on the daunting task of discussing the Neil Young discography. Every week we'll publish another installment.  The discography, and Truslove's musings on it, will run chronologically.  So let's get underway with part 1.

Written by JT of Perth, Australia (follow him at @thesonofnoone on Twitter)

For my favourite artist, I can't believe there's so many songs I dislike, and so many albums that I just plain don't get. But that's ok, because the highs well and truly make up for the lows, and even then - the lows aren't as disastrous as the lows by his peers.

So, what have we got? Well, it's all over the fuckin' place (as if you didn't know this already). There's the beginnings with the Buffalo Springfield, the initial solo career, the CSNY sojourns, the full-blown superstar years, the years where he was unfuckwithable, the underrated 80s, the (somewhat) overrated 90s, and everything since.

A lot to cover - so let's begin with a little detour.



How the hell does Neil Young survive in a band where he wasn't the lead singer, nor the main songwriter? How the hell did he get through the years when some of his own songs weren't even sung by him? Well, the answer is that he barely did. But what he did while in and out of the band was more than promising. Sure, some of the songs weren't classics (they can't all be), but some have yet to be topped.

1966-1968 - The Buffalo Springfield Years.



Buffalo Springfield (1966) Spotify

'Nowaday's Clancy Can't Even Sing' - Jesus, that's a crappy song title. And Neil's not even singing! But that doesn't matter much, because Richie Furay does more than a decent job. In the first Neil Young song to be heard by the mainstream, you can tell that this guy's not your normal run-of-the-mill songwriter. It's a strange piece (but not his strangest), but it works somehow. I can't specifically pinpoint one area where it soars - it's timing changes aren't really great and the melody is just good (but not fantastic). But as I said - somehow it works. 

Do I score these things? If so - Clancy gets a 6.0

'Flying On the Ground is Wrong' - This is more like it. Still no NY vocals, but it's a better song. A more memorable chorus, sweet backing vocals that don't have as much Stills influence in them (not knocking Stills). Already you've got this knack in Neil Young's writing where you know he's writing about something simple but you (well, me at least) aren't really sure what the fuck he's actually trying to say. Nevertheless, a pretty decent song. 6.5

'Burned' - That's more like it - there's the voice. What a great little track as well. Still awkward, but the song goes by at such a speed (well, comparing to the other NY songs on this album it's a song by The Ramones) you can forgive the awkwardness. This shit just gets better and better. 7.5

'Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It?' - Hell, another crappy title. But not a bad song. A step down from 'Burned', but that's ok - it's still the first album NY had anything to do with, and you can't expect masterpiece after masterpiece. Only played twice live - both in 2004. Don't know why I said that, but it's interesting that NY pretty much neglected the song for almost 40 years, yet songs like 'Motorcycle Mama' get pride of place (meaning they're played every damn night on not one, but two tours). Not really the best NY song on the album. 6.0

'Out of My Mind' - Wow. Masterpiece #1. Starts off a little odd - like it's the main instrumental theme to 'Requiem for Everyone's Favourite Surfer' (or something like that). But man, when those vocals kick in it takes you to another planet. 'Out of My Mind' indeed. Simple lyrics that fit perfectly with the song. You think that it could've been an album of songs like this that NY was trying to record for his debut album (but more on that later). Let's just bask in this song. Fuckin' glorious. 10.0



Buffalo Springfield Again (1967) Spotify

'Mr. Soul' - OK, here's where I spit in the face of some other NY fanatics. I don't really love this song at all. There are days where I really like it - but I've never loved it. The closest I've got is some of the live versions with Crazy Horse in 1986. I don't know what it is about 'Mr. Soul' which I dislike, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I think it strives for a greatness it was never going to reach. After all, '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' had already been written and perfect by the Rolling Stones. Next! 6.5

'Expecting to Fly'. Double wow. Masterpiece #2. Neil Young's best song of the 1960's (and knowing what he would come up with in a few years - that's saying something). The kind of song where if you were dreaming and lived out this song in your head, you'd wake up in tears. How much we can attribute to Jack Nitzsche, I don't know. But with or without knowing how much he helped - I'll give the credit to NY himself. "Babe, now you know I tried." He did more than that - he wrote the first ten of his career. It wouldn't be the last. 10.0

'Broken Arrow' - Isn't this just the little mess? You can tell that Neil Young aimed for the stars but ended up almost shooting himself in the foot. It's a song that if I didn't know that he laboured over it for hours and hours on end, I'd think that it'd be the kind of song to labour over for hours and hours on end. But I appreciate the effort. Could've done without the 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' interlude, but genius to have Dewey Martin sing the faux-'Mr. Soul' intro. As an autobiographical song, it's not bad at all, but it's no 'Don't Be Denied'. 7.5



Last Time Around (1968) Spotify

'On the Way Home' - OK, so Neil Young's disowned the album, but he hasn't disowned his contributions. 'On the Way Home' is a great song, one that other bands could base their career around. But I can't talk too highly about this version because I know there's better versions out there. Not knocking Richie Furay's voice - because it really is great, but this is a Neil Young song, meant to be sung by Neil himself. Still, worthy of a pretty high score. 8.0

'It's So Hard to Wait' - A co-write, so we can't attribute to complete and utter awfulness of this song just to Neil. Richie Furay gets equal blame for this turd. 2.0

'I Am a Child' - A song that many NY fans love. But I'm not sure why - maybe it was its use in the 'Rust Never Sleeps' film, but I just don't get the love for it. It just sounds like a demo - which is kinda perverse, because when he finally releases the actual demo of the song, it will have about 200 times more soul than this take. Next! 5.0

Next? what's next? Oh that's right - he quit the band for good before Last Time Around got released. Onto the solo career!!

Praise beginning to rain on Cleveland's Cloud Nothings

I wrote about Westlake's Dylan Baldi and his band Cloud Nothings exactly a year ago on the release of his full length debut, Cleveland's Cloud Nothings Power Pop To Make Us Proud.  Tuesday he released the sophomore effort, Attack On Memory, and is getting some nice critical praise.

The album currently has an 81 rating on Metacritic and the online music mavens are talking about him.  Here's some quotes. 

"So far, 1 and 1/2 listens in, this record is kicking serious ass."

"I ran three miles yesterday after leaving work in a pretty bad mood. This album had me jetting around the park, just a fucking amazing album."

 "It's obvious the guy has a way with hooks"

"The second half of the album loses a little bit of steam, but really, this is a solid album overall. I can't get behind preferring the first album to this. This just has that much more energy, intensity, etc.

This is the first new "indie rock" album I've heard in several months that rocked as much as I wanted it to, and I'm not letting you clowns take that away from me."

A listen to the outstanding song "Wasted Days" shows growth and a move away from the straight-forward pop punk of the debut.  The song is a bit of an anomaly clocking in at nearly nine minutes when the rest of the compact eight song album averages about three minutes per tune. 

Dylan spent some time working on the album in Chicago with Steve Albini.  The famed producer's touch is evident. 

Baldi's not really breaking new ground here.  He's just showing us that rock and roll is not dead. 

Artist:  Cloud Nothings (surprisingly he doesn't have an official website)

Album:  Attack On Memory

Review:  A.V. Club

Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory on Spotify

A healthy lunch continues the health and fitness routine

I guess I couldn't have chosen a better time to start talking about my personal health and fitness regimen.  What with the news of Paula Dean's diabetes.  You shouldn't be surprised considering the unhealthy recipes she touts on TV.  Glazed donuts instead of hamburger buns, are you kidding me.  I love Tony Bourdain's tweet regarding her now hawking a diabetes medication.  "Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later."

There was a story in the Sunday New York Times on how we don't see what these celebrity chefs do when they aren't concocting delicious but hardly healthy dishes.  They have personal trainers and they certainly don't devour that whole plate of food they prepared.  And they eat much healthier when not on camera including lots of green vegetables and lean chicken or turkey. 

Which brings me to the continuation of my daily eating routine.  A few weeks ago I wrote about breakfast, My Morning Fitness And Health Routine Continued, A Bowl Of Oatmeal.  I pointed out that I eat the same thing nearly every morning.  Call me boring but I eat the same thing for lunch most days as well.

My meal at lunch is easy to prepare and it's all about green vegetables, said to be the healthiest.  Set a small frying pan on the stove and crank up the heat to about mid level.  Pour a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil into the pan.  Now throw in the florets from one stalk of broccoli. 

Here's where I add a little variety.  One week I may toss in some sliced carrots, another some fresh green beans.  Then, depending on my mood, I sprinkle some diffrent spices and seasonings over it.  These may include oregano, thyme, cumin, garlic powder, coriander, cayenne pepper or a dash of tabasco sauce.  There's plenty of others that, in the right combination, do add some variety to the meal. 

Once the vegetables are slightly softened which usually takes about five minutes, tossing them every minute or two, I tear up some lean organic turkey and throw that in.  I'll then continue tossing and frying.

Next I grab a handful of baby spinach and lay it over the top.  From there I stir the mixture until the spinach leaves have wilted.  Finally, I lay a slice or two of lean deli cheese, usually swiss, on top and remove it from the stove.  The cheese begins to melt and lunch is served. 

To wash it down I will either have a bottle of water or a glass of unsweetened ice tea.  As I'd said previously, I used to drink orange juice but have cut that out of my diet. 

If I'm on the road I'll usually just bring along an apple, a carrot and maybe a small tin of tuna in water.  And if I get a bit hungry in mid afternoon a hand full of raw, unsalted almonds is very good and very healthy. 

Cool Photos Of The Day

Bob Dylan

Keith Emerson, Carl Palmer and Greg Lake

Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris

Pete Twonsend and Keith Moon

John Lennon

Rock Is Dead They Say, Evidence That Alt. Rock Is Dying

A week or so ago I wrote about the death of rock music or more precisely that no genre really dies but may fall out of favor.  Well last week The Guardian published a story about the fall of alt or indie rock, Indie rock's slow and painful death.

They use sales figures to demonstrate and present an interesting argument.  The question they pose though is, should we care.  I don't think so.  At least I don't.  I'm finding much pleasure in all the different forms of popular music that are pushing it out of the way.  There's great satisfaction in much of the electronic music being created today.  And I just listened to NPR's All Songs Considered show on the annual world music event in New York City, globalFEST 2012: A World Of Amazing Discoveries.  That'll keep me busy discovering new music for awhile. 

If you're lamenting rock's current lag then I suggest you broaden your horizons and open your mind.  Or you can become one of those curmudgeon types who say there's no good music being made anymore. 

A Closer Look At SOPA and PIPA

The New York Times' David Pogue wrote a piece this week on the SOPA and PIPA legislation.  His claim is that those opposed used scare tactics and that the bills wouldn't cause that much harm to the overall public.  Here's that story, Put Down the Pitchforks on SOPA. 

Pogue makes some good points but he's missing the big picture.  This  legislation could have dire effects on creativity and make it nearly impossible for the independent artist to get his or her art to the public.  The ability to simply share content could be in jeopardy.  Here's what Bob Lefsetz posed, "You might be unable to do this (share content) under SOPA. For fear that you might be sharing copyrighted material, your ability to share at all could be crippled, because it would cost too much for the linking service to determine whether it's legal to share the content or not."

That could be disastrous for amateur artists.  They would be unable to get their work to the public.  That's just what the supporters of these bills want.  They want control.  They want to tell you what to watch, what to listen to, and what to read. 

Here's an excellent insight into what the ramifications could be if SOPA and PIPA pass from Clay Shirky. 

The good news is that after the online protest on Wednesday the tide seems to be turning.  Congressmen and Senators seem to get it and many have changed their position.  But that's what's really scary, not only for these bills but for anything on the hill.  Lobbyists and influence peddlers have our ill-informed representatives in their pockets. 

Cool Photos Of The Day

Bruce Springsteen and The Obama Family

Paul McCartney, Lulu and John Lennon

Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Mickey Dolenz and Keith Moon

Linda Ronstadt, Jerry Brown, Jackson Browne and others

William Burroughs and Joe Strummer

Stop SOPA and PIPA

Today is the day of the internet blackout to protest bills in Congress and the Senate.  The legislation is aimed at stopping online piracy which is a good thing.  The problem is the language of the bills is far too reaching and will damage the internet in the United States.  The bills are a form of censorship. 

Big corporations would like to take control of the internet, taking away an individuals right to a fair playing field online.  This legislation would be a move in that direction. 

Here's a partial list of those supporting this legislation:  RIAA, MPAA, News Corp, TimeWarner, Walmart, Nike, Tiffany, Chanel, Rolex, Sony, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, VISA, Mastercard, Comcast, ABC, Dow Chemical, Monster Cable, Teamsters, Rupert Murdoch, Lamar Smith (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI)

While here's a list of those opposed to it:  Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay, AOL, Mozilla, Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, Zynga, EFF, ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX)

Many of those in opposition are going dark for 12 hours beginning at 8am today as a form of protest.  Craigslist, for example, will direct you to a landing page about the bills and how you can help defeat the measures by contacting your representatives in Washington DC, Craigslist, About SOPA and PIPA.

In solidarity with the opposition I, personally, will refrain from using the internet today other than for business email.  You might consider doing the same.  At the very least, contact your congressman and do not buy products from those in support of this misguided plan.

January's The Perfect Time To Catch Up On Missed Music From Last Year

As I've said, after Thanksgiving I devote nearly all my music listening to releases from the past year in order to come up with a best of the year list.  Because of technology and the ability for anyone to create a decent recording studio the amount of new music that comes out every year is astounding.  There's no way to hear it all. 

I rely on other fellow music fanatics, many of them quite younger than myself, to point to me to the good stuff.  I find these fellow freaks on message boards and blogs.  I also tune in to some great radio stations on the net to hear what they're playing. 

Since January sees little in the way of new releases it's a great time to continue discovering music missed in the prior year.  It's when I find myself questioning my best of list and kicking myself for some of the great music that I hadn't heard and, thus, doesn't make my list.  Arcade Fire's debut album, Funeral, did not make my end of the year list in 2004.  I now regard it as one of the best albums of the last 20 years. 

One particular message board is in the process of counting down the top 100 singles as voted by members of the board.  It's far from a broad sampling with a fairly small number of voters and an indie bent.  Still, it reveals great music, some of which I missed out on. 

I'll be listening to the songs and adding them to a Spotify playlist if you'd care to follow along with me.  Since there's some acts who are holdouts to streaming there'll be a few missing from the top 100.  Too bad for them...Coldplay. 

SOMB Top 100 Singles 2011 on Spotify

An Inexpensive Workout

I belonged to a health club for about a year.  I miss the pool.  Well, that and the whirlpool and sauna.  Otherwise, it's a waste of money if all you want to do is get and stay in shape.  If you're there for social reasons, then you're not going to like my workout routine.  If, on the other hand, you're looking for an economical solution to get in the fitness habit then read on. 

Fitness habit, that's important.  You need to get in the habit of working out and once you do you've won the battle. 

All you have to do is set a specific time of day you want to do your workout.  I like doing mine first thing in the morning, around 6am.  There's theories that it's best to do physical fitness in the morning as opposed to at the end of the day but I'm not going to get into that.  It's more important that you choose a time you like and stick to it.

Sticking to it is the other part of the success formula.  Adhere to your workout schedule, mine is six times a week, for three months.  It'll be a tough 90 days or so.  There will be times when the last thing you want to do is workout.  Fight through that and just do it. 

After doing something that's good for you, routinely, for three months you're going to start feeling guilty when you skip a day.  There'll still be days you don't feel like it but you'll feel worse if you skip it.  It'll nag on your mind throughout the day.  And that's a good thing.  It forces you to do the workout.  Besides, in the end you feel and look better. 

Break down your workout regimen into two parts, aerobics and weight training.  Alternate days between the two forms of exercise. 

I'm a bike rider.  I have always loved riding my bike.  I'm not one of those hard-core, speed freak riders that's prepping for the Tour De France.  I get by just fine with a steady clip, enjoying the ride on the all-purpose trail as opposed to the road.  I'm fortunate to have the Cleveland Metroparks close by, and there's nothing that will raise your heart rate better than a pedal through the park and a deer running across your path just a bit too close.  My three times a week morning bike ride lasts an hour.  Though on Sundays I may ride for much longer because it's hardly work.  I love my bike.

When the cold weather hits I either ride my stationary bike or use one of those adjustable exercise steps, alternating legs every 10 minutes.  Either way, I spend an hour on the routine. 

As for the weight training you can get by on a couple of pairs of dumbbells at different weights and a dumbbell bench, the kind without the arms you'd use with barbells.  Something as simple as this. 
I use those solid weights so you don't have to mess around with adding or removing weights.

On Mondays I have a weight routine in which I concentrate on my lower body while on Wednesdays and Fridays I focus on the upper body.  There's plenty of sources to find a good variety of specific exercises to do.  Just find a good group of them and make that your routine. 

I use a notebook to write down each exercise then daily jot down how many reps I did.  I have pages and pages of numbers which give physical proof to my commitment and work as a good motivator. 

In weight training the rule of thumb is three sets of a certain number of reps that increase as you stay true to your fitness routine.  There's other advise on weight training like doing it slowly and steadily.  You'll find that sort of guidance when you look for those dumbbell exercises online. 

Finally I use one of those exercise wheels both on weight and aerobic days.  I hate sit ups and this stalwart is very effective in tightening up your stomach and getting rid of that gut. 

Weight training days are a bit shorter, maybe 45 minutes or so.  Of course, if you're just starting out your routine will be shorter than mine but will gradually lengthen as will the poundage of the weights and the distance of the ride.  At this point I'll recommend you run the fitness routine by your doctor.  For goodness sakes, if you're over 40 and don't see your doctor annually you'd better change that.  Preventive maintenance is so important.

So let's see, there's the outdoor bike, the stationary bike, the exercise step, weights and a bench.  And if you're lucky enough that your body can take the pounding of running, mine can't, then you don't need the bikes.  It's much cheaper than the annual dues at a fitness club and you don't need all that complex machinery in your home either.  The important thing is the results and I guarantee they are the same with this economic routine.