Synopses & Reviews
When Neil Young left Canada in 1966 to move to California, it was the beginning of an extraordinary musical journal that would leave song after song resonating across the landscapes of North America. From andldquo;Ohioandrdquo; to andldquo;Albuquerque,andrdquo; Youngandrsquo;s fascination with Americaandrsquo;s many places profoundly influenced his eclectic style and helped shape the restless sensibility of his generation. In this book, Martin Halliwell shows how place has loomed large in Youngandrsquo;s prodigious catalog of songs, which are themselves a testament to his storied career as a musician playing with bands such as Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, and, of course, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
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Moving from the Canadian prairies to Youngandrsquo;s adopted Pacific home, Halliwell explores how place and travel spurred one of the most prolific creative outputs in music history. Placing Young in the shifting musical milieus of the past decadesandmdash;comprised of artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, the Grateful Dead, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Devo, and Pearl Jamandmdash;he traces the ways Youngandrsquo;s personal journeys have intertwined with that of American music and how both capture the power of Americaandrsquo;s great landscapes.
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Spanning Youngandrsquo;s career as a singer-songwriterandmdash;from his many bands to his work on filmsandmdash;Neil Young will appeal not just to his many fans worldwide but to anyone interested in the extraordinary ways American music has engaged the places from which it comes.and#160;
Review
andldquo;Halliwellandrsquo;s study of Neil Young is a superb cultural history and a highly informed piece of music criticism. By situating Youngandrsquo;s songs and films in specific locations, as well as the deterritorialised realms of time and space, Halliwell explores the boundary-smashing nature of a fifty-year career that has transformed the history of North American music.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;All of Neil Youngandrsquo;s changes are expertly accounted for here under the sign of the drifter, with its associated features of mobility, flight, and rootlessness. Halliwell unfolds a detailed map stretching from Thunder Bay to Topanga Canyon of a musical career with plenty of scenic drives and detours. Neil Young: American Traveller beckons us to stick out our thumbs and hitch a ride on the ongoing journey.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;In a half-century of music, Neil Young has been a sort of andlsquo;mindful drifter,andrsquo; offering wistful glimpses of the North American landscape from the tour bus window or behind the wheel of a retired hearse. In one moment, heandrsquo;ll nostalgically invoke his Canadian past in a piano ballad and, in another, conjure searing guitar rock about racial injustice in the US. If Young creates a musical map of North America in his songs, then Halliwell has done a wonderful job of annotating it. Neil Young: American Traveller is a pithy work thatandrsquo;s perceptive to the biographical undercurrents, cultural clashes, and thematic motifs that run through Youngandrsquo;s long, eventful music journey.andrdquo;andnbsp;
Synopsis
Neil Young has had one of the most remarkable careers in the history of music. He hasn't just outlived many of his contemporaries - some of whom were great inspirations for him (From Hank to Hendrix, as one of his own songs says); his artistry lives on through those he has inspired (Pearl Jam, Radiohead), and he remains relevant and vital well into his fifth decade of making music. Young also continues to crank out records at a rate that would kill most artists half his age. Between his solo and live albums, and his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, his remarkable career has spanned well over 50 albums. Although he has experimented in genres from syntho-pop to rockabilly, Neil Young is best known for the fully cranked, feedback-laden noise he makes with Crazy Horse (Rust Never Sleeps and Ragged Glory) and the more introspective folk-pop (Harvest). The glue that binds his work together is the songwriting. Because when it comes to writing great, timeless songs, Neil Young has few equals. Neil Young FAQ is the first definitive guide to the music of this mercurial and methodical, enduring, and infuriating icon. From the Archives to Zuma and from the Ditch Trilogy to the Geffen years, this book covers every song and album in painstaking detail-including bootlegs and such lost recordings as Homegrown, Chrome Dreams, Toast, and Meadow Dusk. Obscure facts and anecdotes from the studio to the road, along with dozens of rare images, make this book a must-have for Young fans.
Synopsis
NEIL YOUNG FAQ: EVERYTHING LEFT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ICONIC AND MERCURIAL ROCKER
About the Author
Martin Halliwell is professor of American studies at the University of Leicester. He is an author or editor of ten books, including Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock since the 1960s and American Thought and Culture in the 21st Century.and#160;