Neil Young has always been one of those artists who is a benchmark for integrity; a performer who, like Dylan, has always remained aloof from the bullshit that goes with success and stardom.
Sure, he’s had some lean years and released some dud albums, particularly during the Reagan years, but he’s always kept moving and been motivated by being true to himself rather than adapting to fit in with any one particular style or image. In an interview with Nick Kent in the early 1990s , he said: “I’m someone who’s always tried systematically to destroy the very basis of my record-buying public…..that’s what’s kept me alive. You destroy what you did before and you’re free to carry on”.
Young can play soul-searching introspective folk as well as a no holds barred rock. These two strands of his illustrious career are well captured in two very different concert based movies that have kept me entertained over this festive season – Jonathan Demme’s ‘Heart of Gold’ (2005) and Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Year of the Horse’ (1997).
The former will appeal most to those who prefer Young as the melodic dreamer of Harvest, while the latter will satisfy fans of Crazy Horse’s brand of noise rock epitomised in monster live albums like Arc-Weld. Personally, I err towards the wild guitar abuse depicted in Jarmusch’s film but the warmth and refined elegance of Demme’s movie is equally entrancing.
Jim Jarmusch first met Young when he agreed to do the soundtrack on his movie ‘Dead Man’. Young clearly recognised a kindred spirit and subsequently asked Jarmusch to make a film record of Crazy Horse shows during a 1996 tour. The resulting film turns out as a semi documentary of the band as it incorporates archive material from as far back as 1976 as well as interviews with the band and even with Neil Young’s Dad!
However, it is the incendiary, full-blooded passion of the live shows that are at the heart of the movie. This is brilliantly captured not by slick video techniques but by being “proudly shot in Super-8”. This rough and grainy footage was chosen because Jarmusch had the sensibility to realise that some MTV hi-tech style would be completely at odds with raw power of the shows he was filming.
At the root of these concerts is the drive to avoid the comfort factor that would turn the performance into something predictable or formula based. For,as Crazy Horse bassist Billy Talbot tells us, the band’s aim is to play rock like jazz by being in the moment and spontaneously feeding off each other’s energy. The idea is not to make the perfect sound but to make it immediate and alive. This is why the title of their 1990 album ‘Ragged Glory’ perfectly summed up the qualities of the band.
Young says that if they ever play a song exactly the way they want to, and get a great response from the public, that’s the time to drop it from the set. For him “security and rock’n’roll have no place together” and the need to constantly set themselves fresh hurdles to overcome instead of playing safe is what keeps them sounding so fresh. They are not on some ego trip, as guitarist Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro says “we are slaves to rock’n’roll, not rock stars”.
Jonathan Demme’s movie couldn’t be more different in terms of shooting style and musical content. It was filmed in the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, home to the Grand Old Opry from 1943 to 1974. It presents Young in mellow reflective mode and features immaculately played songs that deal with memory, dreams, tradition and family.
Young’s trusty ‘old black’ electric guitar gets dusted off for a few token power chords played by Grant Boatwright on Prairie Wind’s title track but otherwise this is a purely acoustic show.
While ‘Year of the Horse’ aims to get a rapid fire snapshot of Crazy Horse, Demme’s movie seeks to create a more enduring document. The concept behind the movie is to use the premiere of Young’s album ‘Prairie Wind’ as an excuse to stage and film a dream concert. This album was written quickly soon after Young was diagnosed with a potentially fatal brain aneurysm. We see assembled a kind of who’s who of Nashville stalwarts which includes Spooner Oldham on keys, Ben Keith on pedal steel, the Memphis Horns, Emmylou Harris as well as Young’s wife Pegi on harmony vocals.
The gathering of such a prestigious network of players could have made the movie into a self-indulgent love-in. Fortunately, Young is not one for peddling superficial nostalgia and it’s plain that the music is what comes first. Young says he chose the backing band because they think and play in the moment – “they are not reproducers”.
In the brief rehearsal time available prior to the show, Young drills them on how to play songs off an album which had never previously been performed live (it was officially released after the show).
Demme’s choice of title for the movie is a little misleading. Young agrees to supplement the album’s material with some old favourites which includes his big hit ‘Heart of Gold’ but naming the movie after this song gives the impression that this is first and foremost a retrospective, something that runs counter to Young’s move forward, don’t look back (burning not rusting) philosophy.
The contrast between these two movies highlights both sides of Neil Young’s music. The two aspects of his personality which come out remind me of a quote by Orson Welles when he was asked to explain the contradictory aspects of his life and work; Welles said “For thirty years people have been asking me how I reconcile X and Y! the truthful answer is that I don’t. Everything about me is a contradiction, and so is everything about everybody else. We are made out of oppositions, we live between two poles. There’s a philistine and an aesthete in all of us, and a murderer and a saint. You don’t reconcile the poles. You just recognise them”.
This seems to fit Neil Young’s own philosophy perfectly in that he has been able to switch between the dark ,wilder aspects of his personality and the lighter, more affirmative side. The black and the gold if you will. I appreciate both because whatever musical hat he is wearing, it is clear that he is being true to himself and embracing the oppositions rather than trying to defeat them.
And, as he commented in typically down to earth manner during an interview alongside Jim Jarmusch after the release of ‘Year of the Horse’, “if you believe your own myth you’re history”.
