The best Neil Young story I'd never heard before...

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

How Graham Nash first heard Neil's 1972 album "Harvest"

Link

Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has a new book out, Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life and on his promo tour he talked with Terry Gross of NPR about Neil Young, a man Nash has called “the strangest of my friends.” Just what makes him strange? Nash explains in this awesome story:

The man is totally committed to the muse of music. And he’ll do anything for good music. And sometimes it’s very strange. I was at Neil’s ranch one day just south of San Francisco, and he has a beautiful lake with red-wing blackbirds. And he asked me if I wanted to hear his new album, “Harvest.” And I said sure, let’s go into the studio and listen.

Oh, no. That’s not what Neil had in mind. He said get into the rowboat.

I said get into the rowboat? He said, yeah, we’re going to go out into the middle of the lake. Now, I think he’s got a little cassette player with him or a little, you know, early digital format player. So I’m thinking I’m going to wear headphones and listen in the relative peace in the middle of Neil’s lake.

Oh, no. He has his entire house as the left speaker and his entire barn as the right speaker. And I heard “Harvest” coming out of these two incredibly large loud speakers louder than hell. It was unbelievable. Elliot Mazer, who produced Neil, produced “Harvest,” came down to the shore of the lake and he shouted out to Neil: How was that, Neil?

And I swear to god, Neil Young shouted back: More barn!

Absolutely amazing.   

[Elite]

That's fantastic!

[Zydar]

[Rattlehead]

That is awesome... 

[Sketchy]

More barn is always the only option.

[senecadawg2]

I love me some Neil Young, very cool little anecdote 

[Orbert]

I love that story.  When I saw the subject, I wondered if it was gonna be that one.

[Nel]

That is awesome. 

[El Barto]

Awesome, indeed.

And here's the barn in question. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2UXouI_11k

[ytserush]

I actually heard that interview on the car radio last week in between CDs!


I was going to hit the play button until I heard Neil Young being invoked.  Never heard that story before.

[Onno]

Brilliant!

[bout to crash]

That is pretty amazing!

I cannot verify this story but apparently, a former friend of mine grew up near Neil's nephew or some other younger family member and the kids would play together, and there was this guy who would come over wearing a conductor uniform and play with trains with them. My friend always called him Weird Neil, and he didn't know until he was an adult that this guy was Neil Young 

[Orbert]

That could be true.  Neil Young is a huge Lionel train fan (as am I).  He was their spokesperson for a while.

His two sons are disabled, and Neil pushed for the development of The Big Red Button.  It's literally a big red pushbutton that you can connect to any accessory (Lionel has hundreds of them) and it will activate it.  The boys have cerebral palsy, and don't have much mobility, but they can push The Big Red Button and sound the horn or make the coal car dump out or whatever.

[Jaq]

MORE BARN!

I love that story. 

[bout to crash]

That could be true.  Neil Young is a huge Lionel train fan (as am I).  He was their spokesperson for a while.

His two sons are disabled, and Neil pushed for the development of The Big Red Button.  It's literally a big red pushbutton that you can connect to any accessory (Lionel has hundreds of them) and it will activate it.  The boys have cerebral palsy, and don't have much mobility, but they can push The Big Red Button and sound the horn or make the coal car dump out or whatever.

Awesome!