Monthly Archives: June 2012
I am slightly geeked out…
Early last week when the Neil Young and Crazy Horse North American tour was announced I looked at the dates knowing what I would find. Or rather what I would not find…a show around my area of northern California. It had been announced earlier (last month) that Neil and the Horse were headlining one of the nights at the San Francisco music festival called Outside Lands…and bands that play any of the major festivals have to sign a exclusivity clause which forbids the artist from performing in up to a 300 mile radius of the festival. I scanned the dates and sure enough nothing in Northern California except that huge all day festival and I am just not going to fight traffic, fight for parking and wade through the sea of humanity to get something to eat or use the bathroom…even if it is my only chance to see one of my favorite musical artists.
I have seen Neil perform at a couple of his Bridge School concerts but those are always low key acoustic affairs. I have had the pleasure of seeing Neil with Crazy Horse only one time. It was an amazingly brutal experience.
…It was 1991 and Neil was coming out of a pretty horrible decade music wise for him, but he had bounced back with two excellent albums Freedom (from ’89) and Ragged Glory (from ’90). Ragged Glory was made with Crazy Horse and it was a true return to form. He was also being embraced by a new rock movement called ‘Grunge’. They were calling him the Godfather of Grunge and it seemed that Neil was out to wear the title with pride. So when a tour stop was announced for Sacramento I grabbed a ticket.
He had assembled a tour with punks Social Distortion and Sonic Youth opening up the show. One would think that would be signal enough to people that this was not going to be acoustic Neil strumming Heart of Gold and Helpless, but as I listened to the pre-show chatter I knew that most people had no clue what they were in for. Before the show I met up with an older couple that I knew we made arrangements to meet up again after the two opening bands were done to chat about it. I took my seats and watched the hippie crowd sit quietly for Social Distortion. I was wondering what people were thinking. When Sonic Youth hit the stage with their trademark feedback assault I was grinning ear to ear. They were relentless. They were even playing classic rock out of a mic’ed boombox between their numbers…and I noticed boos from the crowd. By the time they finished their set with the feedback assault of the 15 minute Expressway to Yr. Skull the audience was upset and restless…I loved it.
When I met up with my friends again they were aghast at how bad that band was. They told me they were ready for some Neil Young music. I grinned and told them to enjoy it. I left them to head back to their high dollar seats close to the stage. After a short break, the lights went down and something very similar to this happened…
Now imagine that level of playing and distortion played for 95 minutes with little room to catch your breath. They played only 12 songs in that set and Cinnamon Girl was the biggest ‘hit’ out of the bunch. It was incredible and my friends hated it. They hated the opening bands and they hated Neil Young that night. It was one of the better night’s of my life.
So last Sunday night when I looked over the new tour dates I was disappointed, but that is the way it goes.
But that all changed on Thursday of last week when Another Planet Entertainment announced Neil Young and Crazy Horse at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena (aka the back parking lot at Harvey’s Casino) on Thursday August 9th. Lake Tahoe is a short 90 minute drive from my home and I can’t be happier. Neil is one artist that my wife and I both enjoy, so we are planning on making a long weekend around the concert. Plus the venue is fairly small with a capacity of 7,000, so I’ll be fine with a cheaper bleacher seat…if I can score tickets.
Book Review: My Cross to Bear by Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman’s autobiography, written with Alan Light, is the latest entry of music legend memoirs that the co-writer tries to capture the cadence and tone of the musicians voice. Most of these books are pieced together from interviews and audio tapes of memories by the subject of the ‘autobiography’. It works to a fault here. By giving Gregg Allman such a cornfed, boorish and just plan simple ‘voice’ it works a disservice, even if it is his real voice.
Gregg always exuded a shy, brooding quiet that threaten to explode into a violent rage. In interviews he always seemed to be a straight shooter and never pulled punches. For example, when Dickey Betts was ranting to the press after he was released from the Allman Brothers Band Gregg just called the remarks ‘Bullshit’ and dismissed his ex-bandmate as an out of control alcoholic with ego and anger issues. That southern enlightened openness comes through page after page.
He goes into every chapter of his life…his father’s murder, his brother’s death, the band’s road manager stabbing a club owner to death over money owed to the band, his heroin and cocaine addiction, his marriages (six and counting) including Cher, the Dickey Betts episode, and being a witness for the state against a paid employee of the Allman Brothers Band whom was also his drug supplier (causing Jerry Garcia and others to label him as a narc). There is some good juicy stuff in the book. There is also a warmness that comes through…his love of family, his love of life and his spirituality.
There is a lot of venom written about Dickey Betts. It is pretty much all laid out for the reader…or at least Gregg’s side of the story. But the book is not all bile and doom. There are some funny episodes like the ‘foot shooting party’ in which a drunk Gregg tries to get out of Veitnam. After you finish the book you feel like you know only the surface of this complicated man.
But I am getting a little tired of all the ghost written rock star autobiographies. When they are bad they are almost unbearable, when they are good you can breeze through them and come away with a feeling of identifying with the artist. This book is not a bad one by any stretch, but it is not one of the great ones. I am not sure if he is guarding himself or with all the years of drug and alcohol abuse he has trouble articulating his thoughts, but the ‘voice’ of Gregg Allman has hindered this book.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the book and I am glad I read it…I just wish it was more. By the way I just read that Gregg is engaged to wife number seven…and she is 24 years old. Hopefully he won’t refer to her as ‘a crazy bitch’ as he did one of his ex-wives in the book. On second thought, maybe that is his real voice…
3 out of 5 Stars
Terri Gross Interviews Neil Young on NPR
In case you missed it this morning, you can listen to a very laid back Neil Young being interviewed on Fresh Air. Click over here to be taken to the NPR webpage. The audio will be up this afternoon.
Capture the Moment in a Photograph…
Reformed Santa Cruz band Camper Van Beethoven played an in store appearance at the local Sacramento record store The Beat on June 13, 2004. After they played at a local club with the band that was formed by Camper singer David Lowery after the band had broken up in the early 90’s…Cracker. More of my photos were taken with that old Sony Cyber-Shot…
Camper Van Beethoven – Live at The Beat, Sacramento, CA 05-13-2004
Camper Van Beethoven – Live at The Beat, Sacramento, CA 05-13-2004
Camper Van Beethoven – Sacramento, CA 05-13-2004
Camper Van Beethoven – Sacramento, CA 05-13-2004
Santa Sangre Redux 