Los Angeles Times - 02.11.2019

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War protests in 1970, or
“Rockin’ in the Free World,” a
1980s commentary on the in-
equities of Reaganomics.
More recently, that com-
partment of his songbook
has expanded with “Shut It
Down” from “Colorado,” the
project for which the two-
time Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame inductee reunited his
long-running band Crazy
Horse for the first time in sev-
en years. In that song, Young
takes a jab at the many ways
he thinks the country has
veered off course, his remedy
being “shut the whole thing
down” and start again.
Why become a citizen now
after living in the States for
more than half a century?
“We’ve got a climate emer-
gency, and governments are
not acting,” he said between
bites of the omelet and
sautéed spinach that consti-
tuted his lunch, part of a
healthier diet and lifestyle
he’s embraced.
Climate change surfaces
as a theme in another song
from “Colorado,” “She
Showed Me Love,” in which
he owns up to his station in
life, singing, “You might say
I’m an old white guy. ... You
might say that,” adding, “I’ve
seen old white guys trying to
kill Mother Nature.”
The song spontaneously
stretched out into a signa-
ture Crazy Horse jam (it ex-
tends for more than 13 min-
utes on the album) during
the recording session high in
the mountains of Colorado
this year, for which he reunit-
ed with longtime Crazy
Horse bassist Billy Talbot
and drummer Ralph Molina.
This time out, Crazy Horse
also includes guitarist Nils
Lofgren, who first played in
Crazy Horse in 1970 and has
periodically collaborated
with Young over the years
when he hasn’t been occu-
pied with his duties as a
member of Bruce Spring-
steen’s E Street Band.

Lofgren has stepped in for

guitarist Frank “Poncho”

Sampedro, who has retired

to his home in Hawaii, ac-

cording to Young.

When Young talks about

Crazy Horse, he sounds less

like he’s simply discussing a

group of musicians and more

like he’s alluding to another

form of life, one that some-

how exists beyond the limita-

tions of human musicians.

“The Horse is not on a

schedule,” he said when

asked what moves him to re-

activate the group time and

time again. “It’s really the

feeling: certain songs, loca-

tions, places, times. It’s the

way our instrumentals are:

How do we know where we’re

going? How did we end up

jamming and having it be

really melodic when I’ve ne-

ver played this before? So

that’s where we want to be.

It’s almost like jazz — but it’s

not that.”

In quieter moments

Crazy Horse has earned

its reputation as one of rock’s

noisiest, brashest, most

magnificently ragged en-

sembles. So one potentially

surprising aspect of “Col-

orado” is its quieter mo-

ments, songs built on some of

the most poetic and graceful

lyrics Young has written in at

least a decade: the opening

track “Think of Me,” in which

he envisions life from the per-

spective of a bird; a melan-

choly benediction for com-

promised ideals titled

“Green Is Blue”; a reverie for

loved ones who are gone,

“Olden Days”; and “I Do,” a

paean to nature’s wonders

with a hint of foreboding:

“Show me that garden / In

the sun that you saw / Let me

see the flowers / And the bees

before they fall.”

In his 2012 autobiography,

“Waging Heavy Peace,”

Young revealed that he had

given up smoking pot, some-

thing he had enjoyed for dec-

ades, after doctors recom-

mended he quit following a

life-threatening brain aneu-

rysm for which he underwent

surgery in 2005. As he wrote

the book, he said he was un-

sure how that change would

affect his songwriting, which

subsequently leaned more

heavily on more overt mes-

sage songs than the meta-

phor- and allegory-rich songs

that represented some of his

most prized earlier work.

Subsequently, however,

he resumed inhaling, and to-

day counts himself among

customers of his friend and

Farm Aid annual benefit

partner Willie Nelson, who

has created a line of marijua-

na products, Willie’s Reserve.

“I’m back to smoking,”

Young said. “I stopped for a

while and then I started

again, but I’m much healthi-

er. I lost like 35 pounds from

what I weighed at that time.

My life is full of exercise and

happiness and creativity. So

I’m very happy.”

Young acknowledged the

major life changes he has

weathered in recent years:

the 2014 divorce from his wife

of 36 years, Pegi Young, and

her death this year; his move

out of the ranch in Northern

California he bought in 1970; a

2010 fire that ravaged his

LincVolt electric car project

and the warehouse it was

stored in, and another last

year that partly destroyed

the home he owned in Malibu

Canyon; his marriage last

year to Hannah; their pur-

chase of a second home in

Colorado; and the death in

June of his longtime manager

and friend, Elliot Roberts.

“It’s a new world,” he said.

“Thank goodness I got mar-

ried to Daryl.”

As artists and social activ-

ists who are often occupied

with multiple projects, do

Young and Hannah ever find

time to curl up and binge-

watch “Game of Thrones”

like garden-variety married

couples?

He laughed at the ques-

tion. “We do things together

all the time,” he said. “We ap-

preciate life. We’re happy.”

He indicated they do en-

joy watching films together

— on the list of music-related

films still on their to-see list

are “Amazing Grace,” the

concert film of Aretha Frank-

lin’s gospel performances in

Los Angeles filmed in 1972,

and “Linda Ronstadt: The

Sound of My Voice,” profiling

the singer who, among her

many collaborations, sang on

several of Young’s recordings

in the mid-’70s.

One he’s not in a hurry to

see is “David Crosby: Re-

member My Name,” film-

maker Cameron Crowe’s look

at the life of Young’s on-

again, off-again bandmate

from Crosby, Stills, Nash &

Young, who drove a stake

through their friendship by

disparaging Hannah at the

outset of their relationship.

(Crosby later apologized.)

Young simply smiled when

asked about the film and

sided with another of Cros-

by’s many former bandmates

who recently said, “I have no

sympathy for David but I

have compassion for him.”

Followed instincts

Mostly, they’ve been too

busy to watch other people’s

films because they’ve been

immersed in completing

“Mountaintop,” which pre-

miered Oct. 22 with a string of

one-night-only screenings

across the country. (The rest

of the world will have a shot at

seeing it in a theater Nov. 18,

when it is set to screen glob-

ally. After that, Young said,

the film probably will live on

his online audio and film

website, the Neil Young

Archives.)

“A lot of people are going

to see it tonight,” he said a few

hours before the formal pre-

miere at the ArcLight in Hol-

lywood, which he ultimately

bypassed. “I’ve got to find out

if I have to do an apology.”

He’s referring to the

warts-and-all 92-minute

document of the final days of

the 11-day recording session

out of which “Colorado”

emerged. It captures Young

occasionally swearing at co-

producer John Hanlon and

other studio personnel out of

frustration or miscommuni-

cation. Hanlon comes close

to throwing in the towel on

the project over technical

mishaps.

“I don’t know what to say

about working on it,” Young

said. “It was a real eye-

opener. It reveals more about

what happens, more than

people are used to seeing.

“Daryl wanted to do it, but

I didn’t want to, at first,” he

said. “I said no, because it will

get in the way of the music. So

we just let it go, and then at

the end, I said, ‘OK, it’s all

right.’ ”

As with most things in

Young’s world, and always

when it comes to Crazy

Horse, instinct leads the way.

“We just knew it was there,

and you don’t have to do any-

thing more than just be ready

once you recognize that you

have it,” he said. “That’s what

we did. That’s how we did

‘Colorado.’ And we still

haven’t played any more live.

We’re just waiting for the

right time to do that.”

NEIL YOUNGis captured in a multiple exposure photograph as he promotes a new album with Crazy Horse.

Genaro MolinaLos Angeles Times

Neil Young is

out for a ride

with Horse

[Young, from E1]