Yet Another PSA... But Serious This Time

From left, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young and Pegi Young perform in the second half of the concert for the film Neil Young: Heart of Gold by Jonathan Demme. This photo was released to the press for promotional purposes by Paramount Classics and Paramount Home Entertainment.
(Image and caption from Wikipedia)

Ex-hippie alert… tomorrow night on PBS (check local listings, as they say… it’s on at 2030 hrs here in P-Ville):

Neil Young
Don't Be Denied

A resolutely private artist who seldom looks back, Neil Young has never before unfolded his career on camera. With unprecedented access to one of the world’s renowned music legends, American Masters presents Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied premiering nationally Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The film explores how Young’s unbending dedication to the muse has created an awe-inspiring body of work and bruised a few egos along the way.

Told in Young’s own words, the film weaves hours of exclusive interview, shot in New York and California, with previously unseen performance footage from the star’s own extensive collection. The documentary also features long-time collaborators Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Nils Lofgren and James Taylor.

“There’s no denying Neil Young as music’s most uncompromising rock royalty,” says Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer of American Masters, a six-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series. “He’s an irreverent poet with a rock and roll heart. His music embodies the arc of American experience, challenges authoritative views, defies industry pigeon-holing and continues to have an impact on musicians and fans worldwide.”

Charting Young’s musical journey from his suburban Canadian childhood to his Hollywood superstardom, an intimate camera captures the critical benchmarks and personal pitfalls of the godfather of grunge. In the late 60s, he achieved early acclaim with the short-lived yet influential psychedelic garage band, Buffalo Springfield, which launched his solo career. During this creative streak, he founded Crazy Horse and collaborated with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Adding fuel to his already rising success, these bands also shot to meteoric fame. The intensity of mega-stardom, mixed with frequent bouts of artistic differences, led to Young’s departure from both groups. He later explained his anti-star status, “I didn’t spend 10 years in the 60s and 70s creating something so I could be a prisoner of it … You know if you’re trying to stay in the favor of the public, you’re a loser – you’ll never get there.”

I dunno if you’ve ever watched any of PBS’ American Masters series, Gentle Reader, but I think they’re VERY well done and highly recommend any and all them. I’ve yet to see a clinker in any of the episodes I’ve watched… they’re phenomenal, each and every one. It’s with that in mind that I’ll be in front of my teevee tomorrow night, thankful there’s not a hockey game on at the same time.

Neil Young is a long-time favorite of mine, going all the way back to the ‘60s. A quick search reveals I’ve mentioned him and his music in seven different posts here at EIP, and here’s an excerpt from one such:

In the beginning…during our courtship… The Second Mrs. Pennington and I spent a lot of time at this little coffee shop not far from her apartment in Musashi-Koganei (a Tokyo suburb). Like most Tokyo coffee shops at the time, this one had a really excellent, state-of-the art stereo system and a huge collection of albums. Patrons were encouraged, and I mean encouraged…it was almost demanded…to let the owners know their preferences in music. It was customary for the shop to play an entire album side of whichever artist you requested. Early on…within hours, if not minutes…TSMP and I discovered we both had a mutual love and admiration for Neil Young. And the help at “our” coffee shop learned this pretty quickly, as well. From about our third or fourth visit it became standard procedure for the help to put Neil’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” (side one) on as soon as we walked in, no questions asked. With big smiles all around, especially from us.

Yup. Ol’ Neil’s very, very special to me… and a few million others.

―:☺:―

A host of Red Wings and Penguins crash the net for a failed goal shot attempt by Detroit's Johan Franzen during the final seconds of the third period of Game 6 between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals, Tuesday June 9, 2009 at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.
(ANDRE JACKSON/DFP)

The oh-so-brief hockey update: there will be a Game Seven this Friday night. The Beloved Wings lost to the Flightless Birds last night, 2-1. Broke my frickin’ heart, that did… and SN1’s, too. We were both rather despondent in our post-game telephone wrap-up. But it’s only a brief sort of heartbreak, yanno? I fully expect the Wings will be triumphant Friday. The loss last night only adds to the drama of the series, which has been one of the best Finals in recent memory.

Enough about that.