Time may fade away, but Neil Young hasn't

In 1972, Neil Young achieved his greatest commercial success with Harvest, a flavorful country rock album that still remains his sole #1 album and his most purchased album with over 4 milion copies sold in the US alone. (In England, it sold over 2 million copies.) Fresh off such a major success, Young embarked on his largest tour ever. Young also decided that a live album would be a good idea, so a mobile recording unit called "His Master's Wheels" tagged along.

The tour ended up being a complete nightmare. Young had recorded Harvest with a backing band dubbed The Stray Gators, but had also invited Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten to join the tour. Whitten was a promising young talent who had a crippling drug addiction. At one point during rehearsals, Whitten was so out of it that other band members had to place his hands on the guitar and try to shake him awake. Young became fed up and firedWhitten, sending him home with $50 and a plane ticket. Within hours of his dismissal, Whitten would die from a heroin overdose. Young felt responsible and guilty over Whitten's death, casting a dark pall over the upcoming tour. Young premiered a batch of new songs, which didn't sit well with audiences expecting a reprise of Harvest. Drummer Kenny Buttrey copped a major attitude over money, resulting in Young firing him mid-tour. Former Turtles and CSNY drummer Johnny Barbata flew in as a last-minute replacement, but things still didn't improve. Young's relationship with actress Carrie Snodgrass (Diary ofa Mad Housewife, The Fury) was starting to become very rocky. Young took to drinking excessively at times, wreaking havoc on his vocal cords and causing his voice to even disappear temporarily. David Crosby and Graham Nash accepted an invitation to join the tour, but soon butted heads with Jack Nitzsche, the pianist of the Stray Gators. Endless bickering over money and technical hassles soon broke out.

In 1973, Young compiled a live album of highlights from the tour from Hell, titled Time Fades Away. Comprised of all new songs, the album actually sold quite well, peaking at #22 on the Billboard charts and earning a Gold record certification from the RIAA a month after its' release. Unfortunately, the album was withdrawn per Young's request one year later. Young has been resistant towards any kind of reissue, so it remains the only Neil Young album to not be issued on CD. My guess is the bad memories still hurt him badly enough that he'd rather pretend it doesn't exist. Young himself dismissed the album in the liner notes for his 1977 compliation album Decade:



Time Fades Away. No songs from this album are included here. It was recorded on my biggest tour ever, 65 shows in 90 days. Money hassles among everyone concerned ruined this tour and record for me but I released it anyway so you folks could see what could happen if you lose it for a while. I was becoming more interested in an audio verite approach than satisfying the public demands for a repetition of Harvest.

For many, Time Fades Away is the Holy Grail of Neil Young albums. However, it is a widely bootlegged album and can be found if one roots around a little. Considering Young's constant resistance towards giving us ANY kind of official release, this may be the only route for those fans desperate to hear it. They should by all means seek this album out by any means necessary because the truth is, Time Fades Away is a masterpiece that serves as a perfect introduction to the time period known as "The Ditch". That was when Young's music became darker and more serious in tone, giving birth to the classic albums On the Beach and Tonight's The Night.

The tour alternated between a Young solo set and a full band set. The album reflects that, alternating between solo and band tunes. The first side begins with the title track, an energetic country rock exercise. This track may have been recorded when Young lost his voice, since the liner notes credit steel pedal guitarist Ben Keith as the vocalist. Keith does an eerie imitation of Young, sounding so much like him that I kept wondering if the notes were in error. Next is a solo tune titled "Journey Through the Past", named after but not included in the film of the same name that was written and directed by Young. Young pounds on the piano and sings of regrets in such an earnest way that one can openly identify with. The harmonies of David Crosby and Graham Nash first pop up with "Yonder Lies the Sinner", a catchy tune that would have been at home on a CSNY album, had the quartet managed to stay together long enough without fighting. "LA" is  hardly a love letter to Los Angeles; with biting remarks about earthquakes, smog and crime, you wouldn't want to visit for long. Young overdubbed bass under the pseudonym Joe Yankee.  "Love in Mind" is the beginning of the Snodgrass-inspired tunes that would crop up throughout Young's next three or four studio albums; a mournful and haunting ballad performed solely by Young on piano. The second side contains only three songs. "Don't Be Denied" is the only song from this album that Young has bothered performing live lately. It's a great rocker with excellent guitar work and a killer hook. This should have been released as a single instead of the title track. Another Snodgrass-inspired ballad "The Bridge" is one of Young's very best piano-based songs. Using a drawbridge as a metaphor for a rocky relationship, Young's heartfelt performance is both inspirational and moving even in the smallest details. Crosby and Nash return for the rocking "Last Dance", an eight minute epic that is in the same league as other sprawling guitar epics as "Like a Hurricane", "Down by the River" and "Cortez the Killer", if only it could be heard by more people.

The bootleg CD often contains an extra track culled from various 45 RPM single releases of the title track. Some contain a live take of "Last Trip to Tulsa", a track from his solo debut album. Mine contains "Borrowed Tune", which later appeared on Tonight's the Night but premiered on the Time Fades Away tour.

By the way, Neil Young has announced that he plans to release a new live compilation titled Time Fades Away II, featuring performances with the original Stray Gators group intact before Buttrey was fired. How about a proper reissue of Time Fades Away too, Neil?

Always Proofread before Publishing

especially when the product in question is a children's book. If you don't, you'll end up with something like this book that is an ACTUAL kid's book that can be found for sale:

I can't help but wonder if this book was in the library inside Neverland Ranch.

2010's Ten Best Films And Something Extra

1. Shutter Island

The advance word on Martin Scorsese's film wasn't good. Paramount canceled the planned October 2009 release date (take a look at the poster above..it clearly states OCTOBER) and dumped it in February 2010 with little fanfare. Yet it found an audience that made the film Scorsese's highest grossing film to date. After watching the film, it is easy to see why. This is such an engrossing film that I felt like I was floating on clouds for days after seeing it. Here is the polar opposite of Inception- a movie that definitely plays around with your mind, but actually leads somewhere concrete towards the end. Scorsese is at the top of his form here, guiding the production with a firm grip. Leonardo DiCaprio gives his best performance to date and should have been nominated for the Oscar.

2. The American

A movie that divided the few people who saw it in theaters last September. Some found it spellbinding, others found it a chore to sit through. I'm in the former camp and I suspect that those who didn't like it were expecting a traditional actioner instead of an evocative moodpiece. George Clooney gave a fine, subdued and brilliant performance as a career assassin who finds himself in a game of who can he trust. There are some good action scenes, but not catered to those who find huge explosions thrilling. Think The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and The Ipcress File rather than James Bond, folks. 

3. The Fighter

David O. Russell rebounds from his previous picture, the dreadful I Heart Huckabees, with a great,  old-fashioned melodrama based upon the true story of Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a promising young boxer floundering on the boxing circuit. His half-brother Dicky Edlund (Christian Bale) re-enters Micky's life, complete with the albatross of drug addiction. Then there's Micky and Dicky's dominating mother (Melissa Leo), who favors the drug addict over the dutiful son and the proverbial diamond in the rough girlfriend of Micky (Amy Adams). The neat thing about Russell's film is how it seems like a collection of cliches, yet it doesn't feel like we've seen it all before.

 

4. The Kids Are All Right

Atonement for past failures seems to be a running theme in 2010 for some filmmakers. Lisa Cholodenko's last film was a real clunker (2002's Laurel Canyon), so it was great to see her rebound with her third feature. I found it refreshing to FINALLY see a movie in which same-sex parents aren't treated like a mere gimmick, but as a normal, functional unit that goes through the same ups and downs as everyone else. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore are perfect as the parental unit, whose kids go searching for their biological father (Mark Ruffalo- also terrific). Once Ruffalo enters the picture, the film goes off in some interesting and refreshingly different situations that one would expect from a dramatic comedy these days.

 

5. The Tillman Story

Pat Tillman was an NFL athlete who decided to quit pro football and join the army to fight in the War on Terror for the country he desperately loved. His death on April 22, 2004 during an exercise led to a firestorm. Filmmaker Amir Ben-Lev digs deeply to try and uncover the truth about Tillman's death and the subsequent exploitation by the Bush Administration. This was the best documentary of 2010: not only do we get to good insight into Tillman himself, but we also get a fair and balanced, warts-and-all look at the events that unspooled after his untimely death and the shameful selling of a soldier for political gain. There are many reasons why George W. Bush was the worst President in America's history- this movie tells us one of those reasons in depth. 

6. The Neil Young Trunk Show

Rock legend Neil Young and director Jonathan Demme first teamed up for a concert film five years ago: Heart of Gold. Focusing on his unique brand of country rock, the movie was so outstanding  that it placed second on my Ten Best list for 2006. It was also a surprise box office and home video success, so a sequel was inevitable. That sequel, titled The Neil Young Trunk Show, concentrated on pure Young style rock music. Filmed during his tour in support of his 2007 album Chrome Dreams II, this film is a different film in a different style: while Heart of Gold was sunny and bright, Trunk Show is appropriately gritty and in-your-face. Young and his band are in top form throughout. The highlights include a 25 minute version of "No Hidden Path" that is spellbinding and never boring; definitive takes of Young classics "Like a Hurricane" and "Cinnamon Girl" among others and even a few new songs. Trunk Show has yet to be released on DVD, but hopefully that will be rectified sometime this year.

 

7. Secretariat

In 2003, we had an extraordinary biopic about the legendary racing horse Seabiscuit. Seven years later, Hollywood gave us another extraordinary biopic about another legendary racing horse: the 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Randall Wallace's film accomplishes the same feat Gary Ross did with Seabiscuit: balancing the excitement of horse racing along with a highly involving story about the people behind the horse. Diane Lane stars as Penny Chenery, a woman who inherits her father's horse stables, only to be stymied by the rampant misogyny and sexism within the male dominated racing world. It's an inspirational movie that is perfect for the entire family and remains engrossing even with repeat viewings. 

 

8. Blue Valentine

The anatomy of a marriage in freefall is the subject of this daring and harrowing drama. Derek Cianfrance's debut feature stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in the two best acting performances I saw in all of 2010. Cianfrance's film reminded me a lot of Sergio Leone's masterpiece Once Upon a Time in America and Harold Pinter's underseen film Betrayed (both 1984), especially since in all three films, time is fractured and scenes play out of conventional order. Like those other dramas, this one is enriched by the fractured time, making scenes that would play happily in chronological order, have a deeper meaning and darker tone. Williams was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar (but sadly will not win) while the Academy overlooked Gosling's low-key acting in favor of Jeff Bridges' pathetic overacting in the overrated True Grit.


 

9. Hereafter

Clint Eastwood makes his return to my Ten Best list for the first time in four years with this striking and most unusual film. Death is the subject that links three distinctive and different stories together, but the script by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) refreshingly doesn't wallow in the usual depression or cliches most death-centric movies usually do. Eastwood shows once again why he is one of the most interesting directors working today. Eastwood skillfully weaves these stories together without having to resort to phony gimmickry as some other directors would be tempted to do. Eastwood takes his time, using a very languid pace. His handling of actors is exceptional as always. I also applaud his use of special effects: he uses just enough to augment and enrich Morgan's story and doesn't let the effects overwhelm everything else.

10. Red 

Admittedly, here was a movie I wasn't expecting much from. Despite a name cast that included Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Ernest Borgnine, the reviews were practically withering. It was based on a DC Comics graphic novel that was not only unread by myself but practically unheard of. To my surprise, I loved it. It's a subversely hilarious black comedy mixed with mind-boggling action to create the best pure entertainment experience of 2010. I have a feeling that this film will be held in higher regard twenty years from now- just as some other superhero/comic book adaptations (Richard Donner's Superman films, the Tim Burton Batmans) have lately.



Something Extra

George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead

Despite receiving some of the most singularly wrongheaded reviews, Romero once again delivers a brilliant zombie movie that puts to shame every other pretender. The beauty of Romero's zombie films is that each one is different from the previous installment, reflective of the time it was made in. For his latest twist, Romero plants his zombies into a Western milieu, targeting his unique brand of social commentary against the phenomenon known as in-fighting between family over a senseless issue. Some have cried that the film isn't scary, but Romero's zombie movies are often more substantial than the typical frightfest and there ARE moments of sheer terror present, not to mention plenty of gore.


Pleasant Surprises

  

She's Out of My League

Critics constantly bitch that romantic comedies tend to emphasize hunky perfect Alpha males instead of a regular Joe. Hilarious how when Hollywood finally gives us a rom-com featuring a regular guy, they trash it and wonder why Hollywood didn't give them the Alpha male instead.  She's Out of My League is no masterpiece, but it is a smart and funny comedy with a likable male lead (Jay Baruchel from Tropic Thunder) and a smoking hot Alice Eve as the She of the title. Definitely worth watching.

Knucklehead

The Godfather and I actually went to the Quad Cinema in Union Square to see this film during its' three day limited engagement. We attended figuring it was going to be one of those movies that turns out to be so bad and so funny. We were both pleasantly surprised at this sunny and very funny comedy starring pro wrestler The Big Show (Paul Wight) as a giant, klutzy orphan who attempts to save his home by becoming an MMA fighter. I know it sounds awful, but believe me when I tell you it isn't a bad film at all. There are some big laughs (especially a synagogue doubling as a makeshift arena, replete with fans waving giant Stars of David to cheer on their fighter of choice). A fairly big name cast (Mark Feuerstein, Dennis Farina, Wendie Malick and Melora Hardin) lend good support to Wight, who could actually have a future in the movies on the basis of this debut feature.

The Wolfman

This remake of the 1941 Lon Chaney, Jr. classic turned out to be a great monster movie in its' own right. Benicio Del Toro is excellent as Lawrence Talbot, an actor who returns home after his brother is killed by a beast, only to end up afflicted himself. The Unrated Director's Cut restores 24 minutes of footage that was edited by Universal to avoid a two hour plus running time. The added footage enriches the film, adding back many character moments that help explain important actions left unexplained in the theatrical edit. There is blood and gore, but director Joe Johnston wisely confines his bloody effects to a few select scenes. What Johnston doesn't skimp on is atmosphere and dread, both of which heavily contribute to the scare factor of the film. A must-see for all.

Restoration of the Year: The Complete Metropolis

Fritz Lang's 1927 silent feature is one of those undisputed masterpieces. However, his complete director's cut  was considered lost, thanks to a myriad number of shorter versions created over the years. A 2001 restoration reconstructed the film to a seemingly uncut 120 minutes. However, it turned out to be incomplete after the discovery of 16mm negatives that contained an additional 27 minutes of footage. After careful restoration, the missing scenes were restored as best as possible and reintegrated back into the film. The result is a great film that has become even greater. The restored footage is easy to spot- it is still rough looking. But it is great to have the complete film at long last.  

The Stinkers of 2010

2010 was not a good year for the movies. I must admit that I skipped many movies that looked like junk, preferring to use my time in more constructive avenues. So that meant, no Friedberg/Seltzer (Vampires Suck), no M. Night Shyamalan (The Last Airbender, Devil), no Saw, nothing with Miley Cyrus and other teenybopper heroes and few of the reboots and remakes. But there was no shortage of dreck for the Stinkers list, as you'll see from these ten selections below (and I do mean BELOW!)

National Un-friend Day

Last month, late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel suggested that a national day of observation should be taken to de-clutter ones Facebook accounts of friends who one doesn't talk to or want to communicate with. Dubbed National Un-friend Day, November 17th was designated as the day this event would take place.

However, suppose you WERE recently un-friended? And found that you weren't upset or depressed? Does such a feeling qualify for celebrating National Un-friend Day? Well, I'm here to say YES!

Last month, I was un-friended by someone who used to be a close friend. Things hadn't been going too well over the last year or so and it all came to a head early Wednesday morning on October 13, 2010. I woke up and logged on to check any messages when I received this one from the soon-to-be ex-friend:

You are an insensitive douchebag who cares more about being clever and getting validation than people's feelings. I hope your passive-aggressive rant on your status thread was worth losing a friendship over. I'm done being hurt by you. Just be a man and tell me directly. If you can't understand, with everything I'm going through, why it would upset me for you to knock something that has been there for me a hell of a lot more than you have, especially over the past few months, then you certainly don't know me at all, and my life will be better off without you in it. I certainly wouldn't want you to "grovel," but you're a stubborn ass, and you're going to be very lonely because of that. Stop pushing away the people who know you and care about you. I'm sick of it. I'm glad Glee was worth losing me. You couldn't have just bit your tongue? You're not as funny or clever as you think. As your friend (on the way out), you should know that. I can't deal with seeing your statuses about me, so I'm de-friending you. You enjoy your 15 minutes and the attention your "stand" is getting you. I'm so fucking sick of being hurt by you for the sake of your "comedy." Grow the fuck up. You think you're so much better than everyone else, and it's obvious. Thanks for ruining my morning. I'm done with you. And I won't be groveling or apologizing either. 

The event that caused this outburst: a status message I made in which I said I'd rather listen to Yoko Ono's Greatest Hits instead of watching 1 minute of Glee. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the winner of the 2010 Zelda Fitzgerald Emotional Maturity Award.

If she was expecting me to beg for forgiveness, little did she know that upon receiving her de-friending rant, I calmly arose from my seat, flipped out a binder of CD-Rs I have and yanked out a CD titled The Free Mix. It was the same disc I created and played when I was let go from my tumultuous tenure at DVD Verdict. It starts with Cream's "I Feel Free", seques into Chicago's "Free" and concludes with The Beatles' "Free as a Bird". Because that is what I felt. Free. Free from having to put up with her hissyfits, depressing outbursts and other assorted attention seeking devices.

This wasn't the first time she took one of my remarks personally. She was always trying to find some kind of hidden meaning in everything I wrote on FB. Once she thought a wrestling update was somehow about her. Unless her name is John Cena or Wade Barrett, it wasn't. 

I take issue with calling me a douchebag. A douchebag is a very useful item. She should have been more creative and thought of something worthless to insult me with, such as a hemorrhoid or Pauly Shore. 
I find it hilarious how she believes I seek validation. If it was validation I seeked, I certainly wouldn't be doing so on Facebook or even this blog. What I write here, FB or anywhere else is primarily for my own satisfaction. I've grown beyond the point of needing nurturing approval, unlike the ex-friend in question, who begged people to read her Dark Knight review to the point of nauseousness. Yeah, I'M the one who needs validation!

She claims I'm going to be very lonely, but she should be the last person to talk about loneliness. She constantly lamented about being lonely herself! While I am single, it is by choice. With her, it is by default. I remember one conversation in which she mentioned that her then-boyfriend said she was "driving him fucking insane". Back then, I thought he was a rude jerk. Now, I feel nothing but sympathy for the guy. If she could get on my nerves 700 miles away, I can't imagine what it's like for those who have to spend more than 5 minutes with her in the same vicinity! And at least, my parents don't show open contempt towards me! I have a small circle of good friends both in and out of New York and solid family ties, too, so am I lonely? Not at all.

I never thought I was better than anyone else before, but now that I think about it, I am better than you, ex-friend! At least I don't spend every waking moment of my life tweeting away on Twitter and doing nothing. I also don't stay up all night and sleep all day either. And at least I'm actually working on a novel and successfully putting it down on paper, unlike you who is always talking about the books floating around in your brain but are too lazy to pick up a fucking pencil and actually write!

No one else has ever complained about my comedy bits. In fact, the only person who ever bitched was you, ex-friend! By the way, you don't have to thank me for ruining your morning since you do a perfectly respectable job of ruining your own mornings! Thank you for un-friending me since it was the best early Christmas gift I could ever get. Goodbye, farewell and good riddance!

Unintentionally Funny Items for Sale

Sometimes for fun, I sift through the popular bidding site eBay to see what truly strange, unintentionally funny stuff can be found for sale within the various wares offered. Here are three such items I found.

Sesame Street was extremely popular once upon a time. So, naturally, the imitators would come out in droves to fool a few unsuspecting suckers out there and pass off an inferior product as the genuine article. Tons of Sesame Street cover albums were released in the 1970s and early 80s, but the strangest one may be this 1980 Peter Pan Records effort titled Irwin Sings Sesame Street Hits:

I do not know what's funnier: the flamboyantly gay duck flittering down the street, the green thing residing in the trash can in a lame attempt to echo Oscar the Grouch and Kermit the Frog or the fact that the cover illustrator's name is George PEED. On who, what or where George peed, I do not want to know.

With Michael Jackson's death, lots of unique Jackson related merchandise has popped up for sale on-line, none stranger than this album for children titled The Happy Hamsters Sing Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits:

I don't believe the people who cooked up this idea and executed this album were aware that the word hamster also happens to be a derogatory term for black people.(I still think some people are in the dark in regards to hamster being derogatory; a popular commercial from 2010 substitutes hamsters for urban black youth).

Speaking of Michael Jackson, this next item could have been served at Neverland Ranch. It isn't just entertainment items that one can purchase off eBay. Now one can buy food and snacks too. However, even food can be unintentionally funny, such as this item that is extremely popular in England:

To soon be followed up by that other popular desert, Zigzagged Pussy.

The Rev. Al and Charlie Show

About 11 years ago, the NY Daily News published a story about the wonderful time when the Rev. Al Sharpton and his cronies accused NYPD officer Steven Pagones of raping and kidnapping chronic liar Tawana Brawley. They included a photo of Sharpton and Brawley, circa 1987. Sharpton's hair looked strange, which made my mother laugh out loud and shout "He has Patty Duke's hair-do from The Patty Duke Show!"

During the summer, a new digital TV network titled THIS debuted. A co-venture between WPIX NY and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a mix of vintage TV shows and movies from the MGM library have been airing, including The Patty Duke Show. I had been trying to come up with a spoof of the Patty Duke Show Theme Song, using a pair of Sharpton twins. It never went anywhere, mainly because Sharpton doesn't have a twin. Finally, my mother suggested that perhaps corrupt NY House Rep. Charles Rangel could work as the second twin. After all, both he and Sharpton are crooked and corrupt! It all came together after that suggestion, so now I'm excited to present the theme song to a potential new sitcom about two crooked creeps I detest.

THE REV. AL AND CHARLIE SHOW THEME SONG (sung to the beat of the Patty Duke Show theme song)

Rev. Al's been arrested everywhere
from P.R. to Times Square
But Charlie's always beat the rap
from Washington to Harlem fair
What a crazy pair!

Cause their NITWITS! 
Corruptable nitwits all the time!
One pair of corrupt scumbags
Crooked in every way!

Rev. Al adores an argument
accusing people of racist quips
Charlie hoards that rent control
Ethics charges make him lose it all
What a crooked pair!

Cause their NITWITS!
Corruptable nitwits all the time!
They cheat a lot, they bitch a lot,
They never pay the IRS
Nitwits in every way!

They're NITWITS..two of a kind!