A touching story about an exchange between Neil Young & Pete Seeger at 2013 Farm Aid turned up in the editorial section of the New York Times.
It was the last time the 94-year old troubadour of Americana performed on stage.
Written by NYT editorial writer Jesse Wegman, who attended the benefit concert, and exchange between Young & Ochs involved the deaths of musicians Phil Ochs and Curt Cobain. Seeger told Young of the night in 1976, he was with Ochs before he hanged himself.
Wegman writes:
On Tuesday morning, the day after Pete Seeger died, Mr. Young told me the story that Pete had told to him: Pete had been in New York City and was late for the train home to Beacon, an hour up the Hudson River. Ochs, a good friend and fellow folk singer, was in trouble. He’d been depressed and drinking for a long time, and he reached out to Pete.
“Phil really wanted to talk,” Mr. Young recalled. Pete had to choose between staying in the city another night or getting home. He chose the train.
“Pete remembered shaking hands with him, and when he said goodbye to him for the last time,” Mr. Young said. “He regretted not talking to him.”
For 37 years, the decision to leave that night ate at Pete. “ ‘I wish I’d done something more to stop that from happening,’ ” Mr. Young recalled him saying shortly before he took the stage.
Neil, having a similar experience dealing with Kurt Cobain’s death, gave Seeger this advice:
“Don’t try to take it with you. Leave it where it happened. I felt similar to how Pete felt for a while. But there’s nothing — you can’t carry it with you.”
Farm Aid is known historically for collaborations and one-time performances in an intimate setting. This year, Farm Aid had all of those qualities, and even included a major surprise. Pete Seeger, now 94, made an appearance at Saratoga Springs’ Performing Arts Center to perform two songs, “If I Had a Hammer” and “This Land Is Your Land” before a sold out crowd. Flanked by Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp, Seeger encouraged all to help him sing, as he admitted he didn’t have much voice left. No one in the building seemed to care, as Seeger received one of the few standing ovations of the evening.
Neil Young
2013-09-21
Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
Farm Aid 2013
Solo
01. This Land Is Your Land (guests with Pete Seeger; backing vocals)
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02. Blowin' In The Wind (Bob Dylan song; acoustic guitar)
03. Early Morning Rain (Gordon Lightfoot song; acoustic guitar)
04. Old Man (acoustic guitar)
05. Heart Of Gold (acoustic guitar)
06. Since I Met You Baby (Ivory Joe Hunter song; piano, harmonica)
07. Reason to Believe (Tim Hardin song; pump organ)
08. Changes (Phil Ochs song; acoustic guitar)
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09. Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die (guests with Willie Nelson)
10. I Saw The Light (guests with Willie Nelson; harmonica)
Neil also played with Pegi Young and the Survivors
during their entire set.
“I\'d rather walk a new kind of thing
Than talking about these things” by --Neil Young
Neil Young on Tour
Sugar Mountain setlists
Tom Hambleton provides BNB with setlists, thankfully. His website is the most comprehensive searchable archives on the Internets about anything Neil Young related setlists. Goto Sugar Mountain.
A touching story about an exchange between Neil Young & Pete Seeger at 2013 Farm Aid turned up in the editorial section of the New York Times.
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