Happy Birthday Neil Young

I often play a parlor game with friends. I say, “People always lament about what Jimi Hendrix might have accomplished if he had lived longer. Well, he might have done great things, or he might have reached a certain point and stagnated, like so many of the Sixties icons.” We then try to think of artists who had 40 or 50 year careers that have continued to grow, experiment, and change. The list proves to be a short one: Miles Davis, Jim Hall, right up until his death; Jeff Beck, for sure, Joni Mitchell, and always, Neil Young. His recent release of old Blue Note tracks is a step back. But this record, with Daniel Lanois, was a Roots Moderne, guitar noise masterpiece. Happy Birthday Neil.

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2 thoughts on “Happy Birthday Neil Young

  1. Thanks for posting this. I haven’t explored the site really deeply yet but I’m really digging it. Can I add David Hidalgo of Los Lobos to the list of Roots Moderne masters and people who have continued to grow and change? While they have a consistent sound, he has done some amazing, beautifully strange stuff with guitar.

    • He has definitely done some cool stuff. Especially with Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake in the Latin Playboys, and he has had going on a 30 year career, but has he done anything that pushes the envelope in the last fifteen years?

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