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 will turn 60 in 2005. Kevin Chong will turn 30. To celebrate these two milestones, Chong sets off on a road trip in search of his boyhood hero. Crisscrossing the continent, he visits Winnipeg, where Young formed his first band; Toronto, where Young was a Yorkville folkie; Los Angeles, where he became a star with Buffalo Springfield; and other noteworthy stops before ending up in Seattle, where he finally sees Neil Young on stage. Along the way he spars with rabid Neil fans, talks to people who knew Young as a kid, and puzzles over Youngand#8217;s strange, sometimes contradictory pronouncements on such topics as digital music, the environment, AIDS, and Ronald Reagan. More than just an entertaining account of Chongand#8217;s journey, Neil Young Nation is a celebration of rock and roll, contrarianism, the allure of the road, being cool, and aging gracefully.
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;