Shakey
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If anyone hasn't read Jimmy McDonough's biography on Neil Young entitled "Shakey," I recommend you do so. It's fantastic! It's funny and I learned so much about Neil Young (well as much as possible--the man really is an enigma.) Stories, crazyness... and lots and lots of drugs. Makes for a real life Fear and Loathing...
here's one of the funny tales:
It was during the Harvest period that Neil Young's film company, Shakey Pictures, was born. Young had already toyed with moviemaking, fooling around with Super-8 equipment in Topanga. The first Shakey Pictures project would be a pseudo-documentary entitled Journey Through the Past. Did Young work from a script? No, nothing so comventional. "I have a list," Young would tell Larry Johnson, his pricipal collaborator, and with a crew consisting mainly of Fred Underhill, Jeannie Field, and veteran cameraman David Myers, Young ran around the country shooting mostly 16MM footage relating to weird ideas on his list and whatever other odd ideas popped out of his skull in the process.
A man who's funny, fast and takes the weirder aspects of Young's scene with a grain of salt, Johson said Journey Through the Past "was a very experimental, and that to me is a strength of Neil and why he's great to work for- because he will try stuff that other people more knowledgable than him would never think of trying, because they know all the pitfalls. Neil's the naive explorer."
...
James McCracken, who also appeared before the cameras, spent hours and hours building elaborate miniature adobe buildings housing salamanders, and then promptly destroyed them. "Mac was drunk and he didn't think Neil responded appropriately---like he was totally blown away---so he just walked all over 'em," said friend Sandy Mazzeo. "Neil would go 'No! No!' and Mac would step on another one." (The incomprehensible salamander footage would give Young and out when constructing the equally incomprehensible movie; when things got too confusing, he'd command Johnson, "Cut to the lizards.")
Apparently this Journey Through the Past movie is like an acid trip on film haha.
what a GREAT book.
here's one of the funny tales:
It was during the Harvest period that Neil Young's film company, Shakey Pictures, was born. Young had already toyed with moviemaking, fooling around with Super-8 equipment in Topanga. The first Shakey Pictures project would be a pseudo-documentary entitled Journey Through the Past. Did Young work from a script? No, nothing so comventional. "I have a list," Young would tell Larry Johnson, his pricipal collaborator, and with a crew consisting mainly of Fred Underhill, Jeannie Field, and veteran cameraman David Myers, Young ran around the country shooting mostly 16MM footage relating to weird ideas on his list and whatever other odd ideas popped out of his skull in the process.
A man who's funny, fast and takes the weirder aspects of Young's scene with a grain of salt, Johson said Journey Through the Past "was a very experimental, and that to me is a strength of Neil and why he's great to work for- because he will try stuff that other people more knowledgable than him would never think of trying, because they know all the pitfalls. Neil's the naive explorer."
...
James McCracken, who also appeared before the cameras, spent hours and hours building elaborate miniature adobe buildings housing salamanders, and then promptly destroyed them. "Mac was drunk and he didn't think Neil responded appropriately---like he was totally blown away---so he just walked all over 'em," said friend Sandy Mazzeo. "Neil would go 'No! No!' and Mac would step on another one." (The incomprehensible salamander footage would give Young and out when constructing the equally incomprehensible movie; when things got too confusing, he'd command Johnson, "Cut to the lizards.")
Apparently this Journey Through the Past movie is like an acid trip on film haha.
what a GREAT book.
Camden 7-5-2003, Camden 7-6-2003, Hershey 7-12-2003, Camden 5-27-2006, Camden 5-28-2006, Lollapalooza 8-5-2007, Camden 6-19-2008, Camden 6-20-2008, New York 6-24-2008, New York 6-25-2008, Mansfield 6-28-2008, Mansfield 6-30-2008
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Definitely read it though, if you're a fan of music - the man has had so much influence on modern music, it's crazy....
he really is a puzzle unsolved isn't he?
My favourite part so far would be when Neil says that he classifies all music as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones: this had me trying to classify all my music for months!
Is Rock 'N Roll the Devils Music?
- Rock 'N Roll is everybody's fuckin' music. I would certainly hope it's the Devils music, but its not just the Devils music. I think that's where God and the Devil shake hands- right there.
on eddie:
Eddie Vedder's a real guy?
- Oh, I really think so, yeah. He's a unique kid. There's nothin' false about him. He's a little unbelievable in his naive ways, his openness- but it's real. Music is his religion, that's what he told me. He came in after we were playing with tears in his eyes. This is just the way he is- it's not just when he's onstage. Plus he records everything, did you know that? He records EVERYTHING. There's something slightly Chaplinesque about him. He's a very interesting character.
he goes on...
Pearl Jam are interested in bein' in the space to play- mentally. Surviving that trip from the dressing room to the stage and back, remaining intact with what's goin' on. That's why they have candles around. That's a reminder- and the crew keeps those candles coming, they keep them lit all the time. Because they know that the candles have something to do with the music, what's goin' on.
... I'll tell you what: If all I had was Pearl Jam, and I didn't have another band in the world, I would not be worried. Because in there is the essence of making great music. You don't have to use it all at once, but it's there.
... Elliot (Roberts, his producer) almost went onto a feeding frenzy with Pearl Jam, heh heh. He wanted to put me and Pearl Jam and Crazy Horse together. I told him, "No chance. You think we're gonna do that to Crazy Horse? No fuckin' way."
But the Stones/Beatles, thing really hooked me because I hate classifying music by genres - so much of the music I listen to is hard to classify, and music evolves, so at what point is something pop or rock?
how'd you even put this bad boy down?? yes i'll agree that the beginning was slow going... how about life back then? bouncing around with absolutely zero security? not know where you're even going, where you're going to sleep or even what you can eat? man the times are sooooo different...
Well, I'm really careful about not burning myself out with books - learned the hard way when I finished my degree in English Lit and couldn't read a good book for a year! :( I has a lot going on when I was reading it, so I didn't have the time to devote to the massive chapters (I'm quite anal sometimes, and one thing is I hate putting a book down when I haven't finished a chapter, lol)... So I put it down instead of starting to not enjoy it.
I actually found the first bit really cool, but it was quite personal for me - I only live a few hours from Omeemee and my parents grew up in Winnipeg at the same time as Neil. My mom actually might have run in the same circles as Neil, because she used to see Burton Cummings pre-Guess Who band every Friday night!
i just meant the very very beginning. before he started playing music... other than that i have zero problems with this book i just find it all sooo interesting.
Toronto 05/10/06 | Vancouver 04/02//08 (Ed) | Manchester 06/14/08 | Montreal 08/09/08 (Ed) | Montreal 08/10/08 (Ed)
Albany 06/08/09 (Ed) | Philadelphia 10/31/09 | Montreal 09/07/11 | Ottawa 05/08/16 | Brooklyn 04/07/17 (RRHOF)
Dana Point 09/09/17 (Ed) | Rome 06/26/18
About halfway through.... but this is a great quote. Hahaha.
Note to Fellow Shakey Lovers, however: Do not ask Neil Young to autograph your Shakey book. He HATES the book. I am not exactly sure why, since I am a huge fan of Neil's and I absolutely love it; I think Neil comes off great in the book. But he does hate it. There was a huge lawsuit to get it released by Jimmy McD, etc. A very bad and ugly scene went down there. Too bad. Great book. GREAT book!!! Off to find my dog-eared copy right now ...