Neil Young's Special Deluxe: A Memoir of Life & Cars

Anyone else pick this up yet? (Yesterday was the release day.) So far (20 pages in), it appears a little more tightly edited and less hastily drafted than Waging Heavy Peace. The car theme seems like a useful framing device without overwhelming the structure.

I did skip ahead to a somewhat detailed discussion of the Homegrown and other late 1974 recording sessions, in which, among other things, NY excerpts verses from Frozen Man and Daughters, both of which show him at the top of his game as an evocative lyricist. One quote in this section should have us all face palming: "I really think Homegrown was one of my best albums, and I hope it gets out there in its original form someday." As if he has no control over that event!

 

I enjoyed the loose and rambling format of Waging Heavy Peace. I also found it very Zen-like, even spiritual. So I'll probably pick up this new one.

Yeah Neil, release Homegrown and Time Fades Away while you're at it!

 

I'll be buying my copy tomorrow morning. "Mort", like Mr. Young, is a legend.

 

after the first one im taking a pass on this one.

 

The new one is better, and gives serious longterm fans more inside dope about various musically brilliant periods of Neil's life. If you liked Dylan's Chronicles Vol. One (that title is getting slightly hilarious) this has many of the same virtues.

 

i think ill go by the bookstore and peruse it before i buy it this time. the first one left a bitter taste.
i know neil wants to be bob but only bob could have created something like chronicles.

 

Very good article on Ben Rayner's interview with Mr. Young, which appears in today's Toronto Star.

 

I savored most of Waging Heavy Peace, especially when he got deep into the music, but I speed-read through the car talk. Doesn't interest me. If the new book is more car talk than musical content, I'll pass.

 

About 1/2 way through. It is better written than WHP, he seems to have adopted or developed a concise and occasionally wry style of prose. The car stuff is more interesting than I thought it would be, and does provide a type of framework, generally chronological. Usually it relates to other realities in his life. Dogs figure prominently too. Just don't expect a comprehensive reckoning. I'd sure like to know more about the Springfield. Some surprises, like his assessment of 'Toast' and the circumstances recording it.

Between Shakey and interviews and these two books, I still don't know why 'Traces" sat in the vaults for 40 years... I suppose he doesn't either.

 

Neil doesn't seem to know why he doesn't do the things he didn't do, or maybe he does? I guess we'll never know either.

 

I remember reading somewhere that Briggs was hounding Neil to listen to the Massey Hall tapes and he just wouldn't. He says, in retrospect, Briggs was right; had Live at Massey Hall been released in the 70's, it would possibly be one of the biggest releases of his career.

 

Indeed the same for me. I wait and maybe later.

 

What is an objective take on this?

 

Special Deluxe by Neil Young is 384 pages ?

 

And it's more expensive to buy in Canada!

 

i read 'waging heavy peace" and i got real tired of reading about cars.

won't be buying this one for sure.

 

I really wish Neil would occasionally take questions from fans on his website. He might be inspired or at least challenged by some inquiries. For instance: Who came up with the wonderful and inventive arrangement of "On the Way Home" (which is believe is the final recording of the 5 original Buffaloes). Why don't you and Stills play together more? Why don't you and Nils and Stills play together? Did you actually play on the Byrds 1973 reunion album? What did you think of Gene Clark? Do you ever give any practical e.g. commercial considerations to when and how much material you release? Etc...

 

One of the few times I've enjoyed reading anything Rayner's written. He's thought of here as a horse's ass among older Rock fans. He trashes so much good music and holds Sonic Youth up on some kind of pedestal...; he's a hypocrite. However, he may be mellowing somewhat...

 

While your questions are excellent, and many of them are ones I'd like to hear the answers to, they are precisely the reason he'll probably never respond to fans.

What I read from his last book I found meandering and not very well written, so I don't know if I'll check out this new one. For some reason these days I find myself totally exasperated with Neil and his current work. Psychedelic Pill was good, but most of his other recent albums haven't done much for me. I feel like I don't have the energy anymore to keep up with his music and other work.

 

I'm about half-way through the new one. I was going to wait for the paperback but then I heard he was doing a book signing on the day of release so I decided to go for it. There aren't many opportunities to meet Neil in a situation where I wouldn't feel like I was being a nuisance to him. I'm happy to say that he was really nice.

Anyway, I'm enjoying the book so far. The car stuff is interwoven with life stories and pretty interesting. There's some cool info on the unreleased Homegrown album, including some lyrics to songs that aren't yet "out there". He says it's one of the best albums he's done, and Levon Helm plays on a few of the tracks.

I expected it to be almost entirely about cars so I was pleasantly surprised to hear a lot about the Squires, some details about the 1974 CSNY tour, playing "Cortez the Killer" and "Hitchhiker" for Dylan and hearing Dylan's reaction, among other things. Overall, I think it's better than Waging Heavy Peace, certainly more cohesive, but again, I'm only half way through it.

 

i leafed thru it at the bookstore, and im going to pass. i read bits here and there, one where he was recording with crazy horse but brought in some other players because he thought they were not in the groove but looking back they probably were and it was him that didnt realize it etc etc.

 

A few impressions: Neil seems to be in a mental place where he's looking forward and back, sometimes almost simultaneously. It seems like Dylan's random access approach to his own life in Chronicles seems to have inspired this 'whatever I happen to remember in whatever order' approach to a memoir.

- He seems more apologetic and remorseful about his behavior in the Springfield. Although he seems to position that way in the past, conveniently forgetting how he also upended their recent tour because the muse was calling...

- The occasional but cavilier drug references. Whatever Neils' legitimate issues are with Big Oil, he seems o.k. with supporting Mexican Drug Cartels. Sorry Neil, there's no such thing as 'Fair Trade' or innocent Cocaine.

- The car material was not uninteresting to me. Though it is still unclear if he'll succeed with Link Volt, or Pono for that matter.

 

I finished the book. The second half, unfortunately, had less about music and more about the environment and Lincvolt. He touched on the loss of LA Johnson and Ben Keith, which was clearly tough for him.

The most interesting thing is his mentioning that Pegi is his soulmate. So, either this is the most amicable divorce ever, or their separation was abrupt, after the book was already finished. Also, he describes his meeting of Daryl Hannah though he doesn't mention a relationship.

 

He does mention marital troubles around the recording of the Toast album, a few years back now.