# I called myself a Neil Young fan **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705 "2019-02-17T03:57:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/1 "2019-02-17T03:57:36Z")
Been a fan since about 1979 when I was seventeen. One day I was driving home from a bookstore/record store and I heard Like a Hurricane on the radio. Blew me away as it were. And ya know how when you hear a song on the radio they play blocks of songs and don’t always identify the artist for every song. And as I was listening to the song I said to myself, please tell me who is playing this. And he did, and the next day I went back to that bookstore/record store looking for that song. The only album I found that had it was on Live Rust. To this day my favorite album of all time. I have seen Neil about 25 times since then, and I have at least that many albums Including On the Beach. And I have always loved For the Turnstiles, on the Decade album. How is it possible that, until tonight, I have never really listened to On the Beach? This is like a Beatles fan saying they’ve never listened to Rubber Soul. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/2 "2019-02-17T04:17:29Z")
Aah. Nobody’s perfect. It’ll be ok. You can now have fun learning about it.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/3 "2019-02-17T04:52:44Z")
I had so much fun when he posted his archives on his website. I spent hours and hours and hours listening to stuff I’d never heard before; it totally fucking rocked! ETA: I think that was over a year ago now; I wonder if it’s all still available for anyone to listen to? EATA: It looks like it is but you have to sign up/log in. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/4 "2019-02-17T05:14:46Z")
Great site.You do have to pay now, like a dollar a month. But i was disappointed, I’ve already got almost all of the stuff. I was hoping to find a lot of unreleased songs and expecially videos. But for a novice Neil fan, just join. As some critic once said, I think it was after Rust Never Sleeps came out, “he may be the greatest.” Well that is ridiculous, like “I have seen the future of rock and roll and it’s name is Bruce Springsteen.” But Neil is one of the greatest. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/5 "2019-02-17T07:14:05Z")
I think my favorite is _Ragged Glory._ Really, really Loud. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/6 "2019-02-17T07:56:04Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I think my favorite is _Ragged Glory._ > > Really, really Loud. Oh jeez. I became a Neil fan just about the time he started to put out albums that were, well, not great. 80’s Neil. Then the comeback, starting with Ragged Glory. Full blown fucking Crazy Horse. I still remember putting that album on (vinyl) and he starts with a riff of Country Home and plays it for a couple of bars in the intro, with solos in between verses. And I saw him in concert, with opening acts Social Distortion and Sonic Youth. Still the best hard rock concert I have ever seen. Cranking that album to 11 now. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/7 "2019-02-17T08:11:54Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > And I saw him in concert, with opening acts Social Distortion and Sonic Youth. Still the best hard rock concert I have ever seen. An incredible tour, 3 totally unique and uncompromising bands on the same bill, but Neil & The Horse were the clearly the Elder Statesmen and gave no quarter. Since then I have seen Neil Young perform live at least 15 different times, with many various bands and in several iconic locations, including Red Rocks, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park (a free show, with Neil playing with both Crosby Stills & Nash and The Grateful Dead) Jazzfest in New Orleans, NYC’s Roseland Ballroom (as an unannounced guest at a Bob Dylan show, alongside Bruce Springsteen) and Berlin’s Olympiastadion, and he never fails to deliver a raw, blistering night of primal Rock & Roll. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/8 "2019-02-17T09:41:02Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Been a fan since about 1979 when I was seventeen. One day I was driving home from a bookstore/record store and I heard Like a Hurricane on the radio. Blew me away as it were. And ya know how when you hear a song on the radio they play blocks of songs and don’t always identify the artist for every song. And as I was listening to the song I said to myself, please tell me who is playing this. And he did, and the next day I went back to that bookstore/record store looking for that song. The only album I found that had it was on Live Rust. To this day my favorite album of all time. I have seen Neil about 25 times since then, and I have at least that many albums > > Including On the Beach. And I have always loved For the Turnstiles, on the Decade album. How is it possible that, until tonight, I have never really listened to On the Beach? This is like a Beatles fan saying they’ve never listened to Rubber Soul. On the Beach is a masterpiece. Right up there with Zuma and Everybody Knows. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/9 "2019-02-17T11:38:23Z")
So have you got your Pono Player yet? You can’t call yourself a _real_ Neil fan until you do. There are [six of them on eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.Xponoplayer.TRS0&_nkw=pono+player&_sacat=0) at the moment…better get on it. (I’m only half-joking…part of me wants to buy the damn thing myself just to have a cool little quirky piece of music history) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/10 "2019-02-17T12:15:48Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I think my favorite is _Ragged Glory._ > > Really, really Loud. From Wikipedia: “In December 2018 Young revealed in a post on his Archives website that during the process of remastering the album, engineer John Hanlon discovered 38 minutes of unreleased music from the recording sessions (featuring “five songs, with two versions of one, and one long extended take of another”). The expanded set, named Ragged Glory II, is expected to be released on CD, vinyl and Hi-Res audio in 2019.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/11 "2019-02-17T12:48:14Z")
I love Neil Young. His performance of “Keep on Rocking in the Free World” on SNL in 1989 is phenomenal; I remember watching it live and being blown away. Check this out: [https://vimeo.com/257240822](https://vimeo.com/257240822) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/12 "2019-02-17T13:07:45Z")
You frightened me, OP. I assumed Neil had done something evil to turn you away from him. “Like a Hurricane” rocks like nothing else. Simple-but-perfect lyrics and chord progression that hit me in the gut every time I hear it. “Southern Man” is another (similar) personal favorite. And about a hundred other Neil tunes. mmm ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/13 "2019-02-17T14:08:54Z")
_After the Gold Rush_ was one of the first two albums I ever got. We’ve been to several of his shows, and some CSNY ones. **Mrs. FtG** stood in line to get his signature after one. _Prairie Wind_ (2005) was the last good album we bought. The 2006 CSNY Living with War Tour was the last concert. After _Fork in the Road_ we’ve given up on him. Don’t pay attention to whether he’s released anything or not. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/14 "2019-02-17T17:10:01Z")
I like Neil Young a lot. He is one of those artists that has managed to put out good work decades apart instead of making a splash and then just staying famous. I like his early folk stuff, and I like his 90s grunge stuff even though he seemed to be just glomming onto a trend (Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam- quirky and great rock). And I like his Crazy Horse stuff. Ever listen to his techno album, Trans? I got a kick out of that one, too 😃 His having-a-bad-day live takes can amount to caterwauling, but I can let that go. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/15 "2019-02-17T17:30:40Z")
Something abut Neil’s split with Peggy fucked me up. It’s hard to say- I didn’t know those guys, I have no idea why they really split. But it fucked me up like someone I knew had split up. I started an RIP Peggy thread when she died, and I think it got one single response. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/16 "2019-02-17T17:40:36Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Ever listen to his techno album, Trans? I actually bought it. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/17 "2019-02-17T17:53:48Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Ever listen to his techno album, Trans? I like _Transformer Man_. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/18 "2019-02-17T17:54:57Z")
He did a show in Vegas when I lived there. First half was with Crazy Horse, second half was just Neil acoustic. Final song he played was on a foot-pump operated pipe organ. It was like a church service. Not a peep of noise from the audience. Spectacular! ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/19 "2019-02-17T22:36:22Z")
The slamming that “A Man Needs a Maid” took is incredibly stupid. That song works on a hundred levels. Whether he needs a literal maid to keep his house clean cause he’s too pathetic to do it, A Maid Marian like Neil said, a maid as in a woman…the man in the song is very self-deprecating and besides, can’t someone write a song, direct a movie, write a book, write an episode of Southpark… without it literally being how the author feels? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705/20 "2019-02-17T23:08:19Z")
On the subject of On The Beach, that is one of my favorite Neil records. It was one of the handful that he waited for a long time to release on CD. The only version I had prior to that was a cassette tape recording of my buddy’s LP. I became familiar with those songs always having the same pops and one skip in the same place every time. When that one and a few others finally came out on CD, I bought 2 copies just to make sure I always would have a clean version. One of them is still in the original shrinkwrap today! 🙂 At a live acoustic show my buddy with the LP shouted out in between songs “ON THE BEACH!” and Neil glared right at him. He also played On The Beach as an encore, just Neil and his acoustic about 30 feet away from us. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-called-myself-a-neil-young-fan/829705.md?page=2)