COMPARABLE only
to Bob Dylan in terms of his contributions to songwriting and rock 'n'
roll, Neil Young's place in the pantheon of music greats was booked long
ago.
And while his powers may have peaked during his golden decade – from
1969's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere to 1979's Rust Never Sleeps – his
muse has barely deserted him through five decades.
Indeed, during a career that extends back to his mid-60s roots as a
coffeehouse folkie, the prolific Canadian has experimented with a wide
range of musical styles, delving into folk, country, rock 'n' roll,
garage-rock and grunge.
And in doing so, of course, he has written some of the greatest songs
ever – Old Man, Cinnamon Girl, After The Goldrush, Only Love Can Break
Your Heart, Cortez the Killer, Rockin' In The Free World and so on.
But what's equally impressive is that, at 62 years of age and having
recovered from a brain aneurysm in 2005, he is still a vital performer
who continues to challenge the status quo.
The British leg of Young's current tour, which opens at the Playhouse on
Monday, is a platform for his most recent release, Chrome Dreams II –
the title of which refers to a planned release from 1976 that never
appeared. But he will perform songs from all stages of his impressive
career, both solo and with a band behind him.
"It's me, Ralph Molina from Crazy Horse, Ben Keith from Harvest and all
of those records, and Rick Losos," explains Young. "There's only four of
us.
"It starts solo acoustic, I play for about an hour by myself, sitting
down and playing different instrum-ents. Then I have a small band that
comes out. My wife Pegi is in the band.
"By the time we get to the end we're doing improvis-ational electric
music," he adds.
On the album itself, Young says, "Some listeners have said that this
album is positive and spiritual. I like to think it focuses on the human
condition.
"Like many of my record-ings, this one draws on earlier material here
and there. I used to do that a lot back in the day. Some songs, like
Ordinary People, need to wait for the right time.
"I think now is the right time for that song and it lives well with the
new songs I have written in the past few months," he adds.
Young says he "had a blast making this music", and considering the
pessimistic message he had to give at a recent press conference to
promote his new film CSNY Deja Vu, this will come as a relief to fans.
"I think the time when music could change the world has passed," he told
journalists at the Berlin Film Festival. "That's not just an opinion, I
think it's a reality.
"It's time for science and physics and spirituality to make a difference
and to try to save the planet. If there is anything I can do through
exposing different scientific theories about how to improve the world,
that would be the best I can do." He went on to add, "If I was to write
a song about that, that would just be an accident that happened out of
habit. But something that would clean up the environment, something that
would end this struggle for survival with fuel – that would be a massive
change. It would be like the wheel or the internet. That's the challenge
for our generation."
His words were met with strong opinion from around the world, with some
fans arguing on chat forums that music can change the world, while
others claimed that it never could nor ever will. The reaction to his
words moved the singer to respond directly on his website NY Times,
through a post titled A Song Alone.
"No one song can change the world," wrote Young. "But that doesn't mean
it's time to stop singing."
Music may have lost its power, but Young appears to have lost none of
his. That's clear by the huge scramble for tickets to his Playhouse gig,
with fans paying up to £500 for pairs of the prized £65 briefs on
internet auction site eBay.
