an original voice

Patti and I watched quite a bit of Neil Young's concert film 'Neil Young:Heart of Gold' last night.

That guy is the real deal. In the seventies, I was not a fan. I just couldn't get by the vocal style in general, and the general noisiness of the electric stuff. I never got into any of the folky artists that came out of the seventies. I was never a Dylan or Joni Mitchell fan. Patti, however, was a HUGE fan right from the start.

I remember seeing him on that MTV Music Award show with Pearl Jam and he was just sooo cool. He definitely has the cool vibe going. Over the last few years we've picked up a large chunk of his catalog and I really have become a fan.

He does a bunch of stuff from the old days in the film, some of it with just him, a harmonica and a guitar. And he sounds as good as the day he recorded the originals 30 some years ago. He's 63 years old now and is still writing and recording.

So many of the 60's and 70's artists are either faded into obscurity or just do reunion tours. They don't record and haven't stayed viable. I give the Stones props for at least recording new music and then touring. The Who, who I think peaked with Quadrophenia, haven't done anything in years and still roll out and tour.

Love him or hate him, Neil Young is still the artist Neil Young, and that's a rare thing after 40 years of the music biz....
m.