‘News / Article’ Articles

Rassy Ragland-Mother of an Icon

The Winnebago Free Press offers a glimpse into the life of Neil Young’s mother, Rassy Ragland, who was a panelist on a a popular quiz show.

The article states: “Rassy Young was a truly unique character. “She was absolutely herself and I enjoyed her immensely,” recalled friend Nola Halter. “She was so funny, marvellously witty and very zany. She had a little blue English car which she drove in the wrong gear, in the wrong speed, in the middle of two lanes, swearing her head off at all these other drivers who got in her way. The road was hers.”

She bought Neil a Gretsch guitar and a Fender amplifier when requests to his father were rebuffed.

“She was absolutely hilarious when she phoned me and told me that Neiler had bought a hearse [Mort],” laughed Nola. “In that droll manner she had she said, ‘Well, if that’s what the kid wants.'”

It’s fitting that Neil seems so comfortable in the limelight these days: concert tours, talk shows about his book, documentary films, cruising the country in his Lincvolt. His parents were both celebrities, his father Scott Young, a Canadian writer/broadcaster.

Read more at: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/mother-of-an-icon-202890141.html

Tags: Rassy Ragland, Scott Young
Posted in Book Info, Neil-unsorted-MISC-trivia, News / Article | Comments Off on Rassy Ragland-Mother of an Icon

Neil shows off Lincvolt at Sioux Falls

Neil Young takes a tour of the Poet laboratory with company founder, Jeff Broin Friday afternoon on a stop of his cross country road trip to promote ethanol and sustainable fuels in a converted 1959 Lincoln Continental, April 12, 2013. / Elisha Page / Argus Leader

While traveling through South Dakota in his cream-colored Lincoln Continental, the famous Lincvolt, Neil Young stops by the Poet biorefining laboratory to talk fuel with founder and executive chairman of the board Jeff Broin.

A  press conference was held in the frigid Poet parking lot and Neil toured the Poet laboratory with Broin for a  pair of video production crews.

Broin shared how he was contacted by Young.

“One day my secretary said ‘while you were out, Neil Young called.’

“The Neil Young? What’s he want?

“‘He asked you to call back.’

“Neil Young cold called me.”

How many people can say that?

Read more: http://www.argusleader.com/article/20130412/UPDATES/130412026/Neil-Young-shows-off-self-made-LincVolt-Poet-laboratory-

And a Gannett photo gallery:

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DF&Dato=20130412&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=304120803&Ref=PH

Here’s a video: http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/neil-young-stops-in-south-dakota/?id=146580

Tags: Argus Leader, Lincvolt, Poet Laboratory
Posted in Interviews, LincVolt, News / Article | 1 Comment »

25 Years Ago: Neil Young’s ‘This Note’s for You’ Album Released

Think back 25 years. Neil Young was 42 years old when “This Note’s for You” came out.

Michael Gallucci writes at the website “Ultimate Classic Rock:” “Falling somewhere between a big-band record and a soul album, Young’s 17th album, credited to Neil Young & the Bluenotes, employs a horn section that sounds more like a scrappy bar band than a tightly formed unit. Curiously enough, they miss many notes on the record, leaving many fans to wonder if the LP was a tribute or satire. It could go both ways.”

The title track “This Notes for You” won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Video of the Year.

Read more: http://ultimateclassicrock.com/neil-young-this-notes-for-you/

Tags: The Blue Notes, This Note's for You
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Crosby calls new CSN&Y album “unbelievable”

Britain’s best music magazine “Uncut” says David Crosby has been tweeting about a forthcoming album from CSN&Y.

CSNY have long been rumoured to be working on a live album  taken from their 1974 tour.

“We’re talking to Neil about the resolution he wants everything at. Because of  the world Neil is in, he wants it at the highest possible – which is always  advisable,” said Graham Nash.

Read more at: http://www.uncut.co.uk/david-crosby-describes-forthcoming-csny-live-album-as-unbelievable-news

Tags: 1974 Tour, CSN&Y, David Crosby, Uncut
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Could Neil have ended communism?

Neil Young is listed among musicians who were part of a U.S. plan to thwart communism.

According to the Telegraph, communications from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, published by  Wikileaks, suggested sending high profile rock and country music acts on tour, and also named artists Neil Young, Crosby Still & Nash and Carly Simon as potential performers to be approached.

Read more by Nick Allen in Los Angeles:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/bob-dylan/9983254/How-the-US-nearly-turned-to-Bob-Dylan-to-destroy-communism.html

Tags: Communism, CSN&Y, Telegraph
Posted in Neil-unsorted-MISC-trivia, News / Article | Comments Off on Could Neil have ended communism?