0:00:02 > 0:00:07This programme contains some strong language
0:00:07 > 0:00:09I only care about the music. It's sad.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Sometimes people are damaged by it,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15but if people understand me, they can understand what that is.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20# Back in the days of shock and awe
0:00:22 > 0:00:27# We came to liberate them all. #
0:00:27 > 0:00:30He's not trying to do what everybody else is trying to do,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33which is to have a hit and then keep pulling that handle.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37You know, he doesn't care about that. He doesn't!
0:00:37 > 0:00:41# Back in the days of shock and awe... #
0:00:41 > 0:00:45He's delightfully charming, wilfully erratic, and...
0:00:45 > 0:00:46wilful.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Yes, he's had a reputation for leaving people behind,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56but it was only a musical reason and not a personal reason.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18ADDRESSING CROWD: OK, let's go back!
0:01:36 > 0:01:39# When I was a young boy
0:01:41 > 0:01:43# My mama said to me
0:01:45 > 0:01:48# Your daddy's leaving home today
0:01:49 > 0:01:53# I think he's gone to stay
0:01:54 > 0:01:56# We packed up all our bags
0:01:57 > 0:02:00# And drove out to Winnipeg... #
0:02:05 > 0:02:08If you look at a map of North America,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11dead centre is the town Winnipeg.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Or Canada, it's dead centre.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15So it's the middle of everywhere,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17and it's the middle of nowhere.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Cos the nearest city of any consequence is three or four hundred miles.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24So when you're in Winnipeg, you're in Winnipeg.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29The winters are six or seven months long.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31So you grow up playing hockey,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34you played outside on the ice and it was 40 below zero.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37But when you've got to be 12, 13 or 14 and you're old enough to say
0:02:37 > 0:02:41"This is crazy, we don't wanna do this, let's start a band",
0:02:41 > 0:02:46then you'd go underground into your cellar or basement or old garage
0:02:46 > 0:02:48and play rock'n'roll for six or seven months.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50# Don't be denied
0:02:51 > 0:02:54# Don't be denied... #
0:02:54 > 0:02:56I think I just was different.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00I wasn't athletic, and I just wanted to play in my band,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03and I wanted to go and play on the weekends and write songs,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07and I used to draw pictures of stages
0:03:07 > 0:03:11and the way that the equipment would be set up to make a certain sound,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15what would be the best thing I want... I spent a lot of time researching that in school.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18I should have been doing other things.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20# Pretty soon I met a friend
0:03:22 > 0:03:24# He played guitar
0:03:26 > 0:03:30# We used to sit on the steps at school
0:03:30 > 0:03:34# And dream of being stars
0:03:35 > 0:03:37# We started a band
0:03:39 > 0:03:42# We played all night... #
0:03:42 > 0:03:45I always liked the primitive rock'n'roll.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48I mean, Link Wray, I don't know if you know who he is,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50he's a great guitar player...
0:03:50 > 0:03:55He was the...beginning of grunge.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Way before anybody, you know...
0:03:59 > 0:04:02MUSIC: "Rumble" by Link Wray & His Ray Men
0:04:10 > 0:04:17It was quite an influence from the Shadows, and the Ventures,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20and the Fireballs from Texas.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25There were these surf bands who played instrumentals that were really good.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30We were mostly an instrumental band at first, so we paid a lot of attention to that.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44I think our main first influence was definitely the Shadows.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Our bass player, Kenny Koblun, lived with an English family in Winnipeg,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51across from Churchill High School.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56But he received these beautiful British rock'n'roll records before the rest of Canada did,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00so we were able to copy them or imitate them and go and play at community clubs.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02And people thought they were ours.
0:05:06 > 0:05:12Later on, Neil started writing tunes, instrumental tunes which were surely as good as the Shadows!
0:05:21 > 0:05:23MUSIC: "The Sultan" by The Squires
0:05:31 > 0:05:33What a great song that is!
0:05:33 > 0:05:37What you're hearing is one of Neil's earliest compositions,
0:05:37 > 0:05:42called The Sultan, that The Squires recorded in the CKRC Studios,
0:05:42 > 0:05:46and when I think back to that, we were only 16 and we were damn good.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49I think we were better than we thought we were.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54Early vintage Neil driving guitar, a great rhythm guitar player in there,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58a super bass player and a groovy drummer!
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Doesn't get much better than that!
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- We were good, weren't we? - We were damn good!
0:06:05 > 0:06:08But we just kept morphing and changing.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13People would join, and then we'd go do gigs out of town,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16and then they'd quit because they didn't want to leave town.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21So eventually I got two guys that wanted to leave town
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and were ready to take a chance, and they weren't, you know...
0:06:25 > 0:06:27some of the guys I wanted to take, I couldn't take.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Because their parents would say "You're gonna screw up your life",
0:06:32 > 0:06:35and suddenly the thing would derail.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40Some good musicians who couldn't step out and take a chance that were left behind.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57# Back in the old folky days
0:06:59 > 0:07:03# The air was magic when we played... #
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I used to go to a folk club in Winnipeg where I used to live,
0:07:09 > 0:07:14and I used to check out the acts coming through town, and look at them...
0:07:14 > 0:07:20That's where I met Joni Mitchell, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
0:07:21 > 0:07:27Don McLean. Yeah, I met him. He had a Dodge van that he was living in,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31and I thought he was pretty good cos he'd changed it to "DOG".
0:07:31 > 0:07:34He took the letters out and it would just say "DOG" on the front,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36which I thought was good. I remember that about him.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40But, you know, I met a few people and they were travelling musicians.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42That was an influential thing.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46I figured that some day I'd be able to travel around and do that too.
0:07:46 > 0:07:47SLOW SURF-ROCK
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Well, I had a hearse then.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11We always used a hearse to carry around our equipment,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14cos it was like a giant station-wagon.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19It had rollers for the coffin in the back, so we just rolled our amps in and out.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22It was fantastic! It was like they built it for us!
0:08:23 > 0:08:28They're big. Going 70 in a hearse is not exactly, you know,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32up and down hills and across country, it's not made for that,
0:08:32 > 0:08:36but it's a big car, it's got all the pieces in it, it should be able to do it.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47# Aurora! #
0:08:47 > 0:08:52I listened to Bob Dylan, and I think, he's got a great voice, you know.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56And he said, "Listen, I'm not a singer like Caruso,
0:08:56 > 0:09:01"I have my songs. I sing my songs." That made sense to me.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04So I figured I'd just sing and see what happens,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06I'll just keep doing this.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11And at one point I discovered that I could yell and play really loud.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14And that was fun, I liked that.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22And we were playing this club with a bunch of other bands,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and we were doing some song that I'd sort of half-written
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and kind of like Louie Louie and something else...
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Somehow I just spaced out playing the guitar for a really long time
0:09:36 > 0:09:41and then I started yelling, about the lyrics, throwing it at the audience.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45# I love the way she walks, I love the way she talks
0:09:45 > 0:09:48# I love the way she moves, she moves it... #
0:09:48 > 0:09:52When I was done, I was hanging out having a drink or whatever,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56and a guy from the other band came up to me and said,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59"Neil, what did you do? I've never heard you do that,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02"I've never heard anyone do that. What were you doing?"
0:10:02 > 0:10:04I said "I don't know."
0:10:04 > 0:10:08I was playing, and I just felt like I kept on playing,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11and just played one note for a long time,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14and then I bashed it, and then the band the band started doing that,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16and people started freaking out,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20then I started singing it a lot higher and a lot louder than I was singing it before,
0:10:20 > 0:10:25and a different melody... And it just changed. It all changed.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30I found another part of myself... It was just a discovery.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32# Farmer John
0:10:34 > 0:10:41# I'm in love with your daughter, ohhhhhh... #
0:10:41 > 0:10:43He was playing with The Squires,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45and I was playing with a folk group called The Company.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53He was doing exactly what I wanted to do, which was play folk songs on an electric guitar,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58and songs he'd written himself, and he was the funniest person I'd met in years.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Cos he didn't have a gig until the next weekend,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05so he stayed in Thunder Bay, and we played,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09and he took us to see Buffalo and things.
0:11:09 > 0:11:15And we lived on NW cheeseburgers and root beer. Very Canadian.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18# With the champagne eyes... #
0:11:20 > 0:11:24I went to Toronto, cos I figured if I could make it there, it would make a difference.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29And when I got to Toronto, I realised that if went to LA, it would make a difference.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36We drove down there, me and some friends of mine,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40and I insisted on driving all the way, I think, which was crazy,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44but I didn't trust anyone else, apparently.
0:11:46 > 0:11:52So I chose to go down where I could be new,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and do it in a new place, and see what happened.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00Would you be kind enough to act as spokesman, introduce yourself and let us know who else is involved.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03- Well, my name is Neil Young. - Right, Neil, how do you do?
0:12:03 > 0:12:05I'm lead guitar player. How do you do?
0:12:05 > 0:12:10This is Richie Furay. Good old Richie, from Yellow Springs, Ohio.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14- Big Dewey Martin, Buffalo Dew. - Hello, Dewey!
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Bruce Palmer, from Toronto, Canada...
0:12:16 > 0:12:20- Don't say anything... - Don't say anything! OK!
0:12:20 > 0:12:24- Steve Stills, from New Orleans. - Hello, Steve, nice to see ya.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27I look back on the Buffalo Springfield period very fondly.
0:12:27 > 0:12:34We were very young, it was my first band that made a real dent that I was part of,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38and I was part of it. It wasn't my band, but I was part of it.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41MUSIC: "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
0:12:42 > 0:12:46Bruce and I came to Los Angeles in an old hearse
0:12:46 > 0:12:49to try and, you know, make stars. We're gonna be stars.
0:12:49 > 0:12:55So we were just about to leave, and I saw him in a van going the other way on Sunset
0:12:55 > 0:12:59and he stopped me, and we stopped, and we all stopped, and then we started.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11# Oh, hello Mr Soul, I dropped by to pick up a reason
0:13:12 > 0:13:18# For the thought that I caught that my head is the event of the season
0:13:20 > 0:13:26# Why in crowds just a trace of my face could seem so pleasin'
0:13:27 > 0:13:33# I'll cop out to the change, but a stranger is putting the tease on... #
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Mr Soul I wrote in my little cabin in Laurel Canyon where I was living,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39and I wrote it on a newspaper, felt-tip marker I think.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43# I was down on a frown when the messenger brought me a letter... #
0:13:43 > 0:13:45..and covered the whole paper.
0:13:45 > 0:13:51I was getting ready to use it for a kitty litter,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54but then I wrote the song on it.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59Maybe that's what happened to it after that. I don't know what happened to it.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05# She said, you're strange, but don't change, and I let her... #
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Everything was intense at that time.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11We were just getting started, and making our first records,
0:14:11 > 0:14:16and feeling the first blush of some kind of success and notice,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19it was a very exciting time to be around.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23And there were a lot of inner things that were going on,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26we were expressing our innermost feelings through the music.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30And we kept splitting,
0:14:30 > 0:14:36at very important points... of Springfield.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40Right before we could go on the national television show,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44the Johnny Carson show. We were going to be the first band that ever been on.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48And he quit two days before we should leave.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51So we had to cancel that.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56My first job is to follow the musical course.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00It's always to the detriment of everything.
0:15:00 > 0:15:06Relationships, projects - they get derailed.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10There's gonna be a lot of collateral damage and you'll create a lot of things you wouldn't create
0:15:10 > 0:15:11if you didn't do that.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14I don't think he would ever have been...
0:15:14 > 0:15:17going on too long being constrained by a group.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22But I must say the timing was awful.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29# Know when you see him
0:15:29 > 0:15:33# Nothing can free him
0:15:33 > 0:15:39# Step aside, open wide
0:15:39 > 0:15:42# It's the loner
0:15:51 > 0:15:53# If you see him in the subway
0:15:53 > 0:15:57# He'll be down at the end of the car
0:16:00 > 0:16:04When I first played with them, they were called The Rockets.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06There were six of 'em.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09They were real primitive but they had a lot of soul.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13But there were too many of 'em for me.
0:16:14 > 0:16:22I loved the guys. They lived in Lower Canyon and I was playing with them when I was still in the Springfield.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27I didn't make any records with them but I jammed with them all the time.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29Crazy Horse.
0:16:29 > 0:16:36They are real and they don't really have anything other than er...
0:16:36 > 0:16:39soul.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41It's all coming from the soul.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54And something happens - there's a chemistry when I play with them.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57It frees me to go places I don't go with anyone else.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02It's just a matter of choosing the ride.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20David Briggs and I had made the first record
0:17:20 > 0:17:22and we made the second right away.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25It was completely different from the first record.
0:17:25 > 0:17:26I liked that.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30I felt good because we made a left turn and we were...
0:17:32 > 0:17:38Everything that was missing from the first record was in the second record.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40So one leads to another.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48I chose them from a group of guys
0:17:48 > 0:17:50and we got together and started making music.
0:17:51 > 0:17:57It's not the same as what happened with Crosby, Stills and Nash.
0:17:57 > 0:18:03I had my relationship with Stills from the Springfield which was great and we loved to play together.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06We were like brothers, we fought like brothers.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10We were great friends and he's still one of my best friends on earth.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14He ranks right up there with my very best friends.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18# What have you go to lose?
0:18:23 > 0:18:28# Tuesday mornin'... #
0:18:28 > 0:18:29So we had this sound.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32We made that first record at Wally Heider's here in Hollywood.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35We were extremely happy with it.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40OK, now then what do you do?
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Now you have to go live on the stage.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49There was nobody, either me or David, who could provide
0:18:49 > 0:18:55the poking, the stimulus, that Neil does when he plays electric guitar with Stevie
0:18:55 > 0:18:58which they'd been doing in the Buffalo Springfield for years.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00We thought about various people.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04We thought about Stevie Winwood. We thought about Jimmy
0:19:04 > 0:19:07because we were all friends then.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09But it was settled on Neil.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14# You take my hand I'll take your hand, babe
0:19:15 > 0:19:20# Together we may get away
0:19:20 > 0:19:21Neil's like a force of nature.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23It's like having the wind in your band.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27He's adding nitro-glycerin to the mix.
0:19:27 > 0:19:28He's pretty powerful.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32# It's impossible to make it today
0:19:32 > 0:19:34# Yeah... #
0:19:34 > 0:19:41And so I never really had the same feeling when I was with them as I did with Crazy Horse.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Crazy Horse was like a custom-made machine for me.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
0:19:48 > 0:19:52were four different individuals playing together.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57And it wasn't like a band.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11It's very personal with him.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15He's not very political in the sense of politics.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20He doesn't trust politicians very much.
0:20:22 > 0:20:28Bt if you show him that picture of the girl leaning over the kid in the pool of blood at Kent State
0:20:28 > 0:20:31then he writes Ohio.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34# Four dead in Ohio
0:20:34 > 0:20:37# Gotta get down to it... #
0:20:37 > 0:20:38It's very personal.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40I watched him do it.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43He was pissed and sad.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Clear this area immediately.
0:20:47 > 0:20:53# What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground
0:20:53 > 0:20:58# How can you run when you know?
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Well...
0:21:00 > 0:21:05Truth be known, I think Neil saw the success that I did with...
0:21:05 > 0:21:11for what it's worth you write a song that night and have it out the next day.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14And tried to replicate it and it almost did as well.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18But I thought the song needed one more verse.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20But then what do I know?
0:21:22 > 0:21:27The reaction to Crosby, Stills and Nash and Young was ridiculous.
0:21:27 > 0:21:33It was so over the top and we all became distracted by that.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37It was a showy thing.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Because we had no idea what we were doing!
0:21:41 > 0:21:45It's not because there's anything wrong in the band.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48What we were confronted with changed us.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53It changed us. The crowd. Adulation.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Roaring sound.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58It changed us.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03It just... With Crazy Horse it didn't change.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Nothing could change that.
0:22:13 > 0:22:21I remember one record toward the end of the Deja-Vu record where we were arguing.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23There were too many drugs involved.
0:22:23 > 0:22:29Stephen was staying up all night trying to mix, write and create.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34There was one point towards the end there where I'd started crying.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39And I said to all three of us, four... No, the three of them and me
0:22:39 > 0:22:41that we were blowing this.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44There wasn't nearly as much in-fighting as they like to talk about.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46It's like...
0:22:46 > 0:22:51Today it would be all over the news, all over the tabloids,
0:22:51 > 0:22:53the paps would be chasing us,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and I would be in jail for murder cos I'd shot one of them!
0:22:56 > 0:23:01Young guys, big egos, lots of money.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Very easy, very unstable, very easy for it to come unglued at any point.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12Well, I don't need that son of a bitch. I won't work with him.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14In my case, hard drugs
0:23:14 > 0:23:18were damaging me enormously at that point.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21It made it difficult for me to do a good job.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25Or to be a good brother to my brothers.
0:23:42 > 0:23:48# We've been through some things together
0:23:48 > 0:23:53# With trunks of memories still to come... #
0:23:55 > 0:24:02When I got to LA it was strange. I hitch-hiked out to Topanga.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Somehow I found Neil's home.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07He was going back into town.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12And being 17 and shy I made the mistake of not asking for a lift.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16He said, "Oh, I've gotta run. Come see me tomorrow."
0:24:16 > 0:24:20He drove away and I'm sitting at the top of this mountain.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Long story short, I would get out to Topanga every day
0:24:29 > 0:24:32and start getting to know Neil and David Briggs.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47# Well I dreamed I saw the knights in armour coming
0:24:47 > 0:24:52# Saying something about a queen
0:24:52 > 0:24:58# There were peasants singing and drummers drumming... #
0:24:59 > 0:25:03He had a beautiful patio overlooking incredible vistas and forests,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06mountains. It was very peaceful.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11And underneath, there was a nice, cosy recording studio,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14just a beautiful wood room where we all kinda...it was tight.
0:25:19 > 0:25:20Being in his home was...
0:25:20 > 0:25:25a very friendly, like, kind environment for us, emotionally.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31# Look at mother nature on the run
0:25:31 > 0:25:36# In the 1970s
0:25:37 > 0:25:41# I was lyin' in a burnt-out basement
0:25:42 > 0:25:46# With the full moon in my eye... #
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Well, we'd just been though the Kennedys,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52within a year or so of that,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55I think Woodstock had happened...
0:25:56 > 0:25:58So there was a... there was a period there,
0:25:58 > 0:26:03the '60s were almost over when After The Goldrush was made.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08So...there was a lot of momentum.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12But I just, you know, I was enjoying my music.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15I can remember stepping outside
0:26:15 > 0:26:19of my studio and standing down in the car park with my car,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23listening to the music coming down the hallway, the stairway,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25through the open door with the wind blowing,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29and listening to it and going, this is what I...I think I'm there,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31I think I'm done.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35# Old man sitting By the side of the road
0:26:35 > 0:26:39# With the lorries rolling by
0:26:39 > 0:26:42# Blue moon's sinking from the weight of the load
0:26:42 > 0:26:46# And the buildings scrap the sky
0:26:46 > 0:26:49# Cold wind ripping down the alley at dawn
0:26:49 > 0:26:52# And the morning paper flies
0:26:52 > 0:26:56# Dead man lying by the side of the road
0:26:56 > 0:26:59# With the daylight in his eyes
0:26:59 > 0:27:01# Don't let it bring you down
0:27:01 > 0:27:04# It's only castles burning
0:27:04 > 0:27:08# Find someone who's turning
0:27:08 > 0:27:13# And you will come around... #
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Well, from my experience, growing up in Topanga,
0:27:17 > 0:27:19cos I was 17 when I moved there,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21it was kind of a coming of age for me.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24David Briggs, Neil Young and all their circle of friends
0:27:24 > 0:27:28became my big brothers, big cousins, whatever.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32I learned as much from them, just like, you know,
0:27:32 > 0:27:37if you're like... in seventh grade hanging out with the high-school boys or something,
0:27:37 > 0:27:38it was that kind of thing.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40# ..Through the window in the rain
0:27:40 > 0:27:44# Can you hear the sirens moan
0:27:44 > 0:27:47# White cane lying in a gutter in the lane
0:27:47 > 0:27:50# If you're walking home alone
0:27:50 > 0:27:52# Don't let it bring you down
0:27:52 > 0:27:55# It's only castles burning
0:27:55 > 0:27:59# Find someone who's turning... #
0:27:59 > 0:28:04You know, it's very open and... open and expressive.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10I still try to be that way, but I'm not 21 or 22 or whatever I was at that time.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17It's like, Bob Dylan says, you know, he doesn't know who that was -
0:28:17 > 0:28:19who wrote Blowing In The Wind,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21he's not sure he knows where that person is.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23You know, that was a long time ago,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26and he's...you know. So that's how I feel. I look at it,
0:28:26 > 0:28:30and I go, "That was us," and it's proven that it was me,
0:28:30 > 0:28:36but I'm not sure that I could recreate that feeling.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39It has to do with...how old I was,
0:28:39 > 0:28:41what was happening in the world,
0:28:41 > 0:28:43what I'd just done, what I wanted to do next,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46who I was living with, who my friends were,
0:28:46 > 0:28:47what the weather was.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03Umm...I can't even remember if I enjoyed it.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08I was just experiencing it, and it was very intense.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11People saw something in me that I didn't see in me.
0:29:18 > 0:29:23But how many sensitive songs can you write before you're just writing sensitive songs?
0:29:23 > 0:29:26And then it's not sensitive, because it's not real.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29So...you can't live up to expectations.
0:29:33 > 0:29:38The producer of Crazy Horse felt like that was like a sell out record,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40you know, that I did this for everybody else,
0:29:40 > 0:29:42just did what everybody wanted.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46The fact is, nobody wanted it, I just did it because I was on tour,
0:29:46 > 0:29:48and I toured and I got to Nashville,
0:29:48 > 0:29:51and I met some people so I went in the studio
0:29:51 > 0:29:53and recorded the songs that I'd done.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Then I went home and I went to the ranch,
0:29:55 > 0:29:57and I recorded in the Barn.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01And then I went back to London and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03and that was Harvest, and I just kept on going.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08# ..If I was a junkman
0:30:08 > 0:30:12# Selling you cars
0:30:13 > 0:30:15# Washing your windows
0:30:15 > 0:30:19# And shining your stars
0:30:20 > 0:30:23# Thinking your mind was
0:30:23 > 0:30:26# My own in a dream
0:30:27 > 0:30:30# What would you wonder
0:30:30 > 0:30:32# And how would it seem?
0:30:34 > 0:30:37# Living in castles
0:30:37 > 0:30:40# A bit at a time
0:30:41 > 0:30:43# The king started laughing
0:30:43 > 0:30:47# And talking in rhyme
0:30:47 > 0:30:49# Singing words
0:30:51 > 0:30:53# Words
0:30:55 > 0:30:59# Between the lines of age
0:31:01 > 0:31:02# Words... #
0:31:04 > 0:31:08The next song is a song I wrote about an old man I know.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15Neil asked us to play on... on a couple of those Harvest
0:31:15 > 0:31:18songs - Old Man,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20and Heart Of Gold.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26And I sang on them and I played the banjo on Old Man.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29# Old man, look at my life
0:31:29 > 0:31:33# I'm a lot like you were... #
0:31:33 > 0:31:37That was my real introduction to Neil, those sessions.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42# ..I'm a lot like you were... #
0:31:42 > 0:31:45He's like a...a source, you know,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49it's like somebody struck a rock and water flowed out.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53You know, he's just...so prolific.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56# Old man, look at my life
0:31:56 > 0:31:59# 24 and there's so much more... #
0:31:59 > 0:32:02I really don't know where that comes from, I just see the pictures.
0:32:02 > 0:32:08I just see the pictures in my... just see the pictures in my eyes
0:32:08 > 0:32:11and I start...sometimes I can't get them to come, you know,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15but then if I just get high or something, if I just sit and wait,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18all of a sudden it comes, and it just comes gushing out.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20I've just gotta get to the right level.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22It's like having a mental orgasm.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29# Old man, take a look at my life
0:32:29 > 0:32:32# I'm a lot like you
0:32:33 > 0:32:38# I need someone to love me The whole day through
0:32:40 > 0:32:46# Ah, one look in my eyes And you can tell that's true... #
0:32:47 > 0:32:50So all of those other people I've been working with
0:32:50 > 0:32:51are going, "What happened?"
0:32:51 > 0:32:56And I'm...I'm not thinking about that, I'm thinking, "This is what's happening",
0:32:56 > 0:32:58I'm trying to stay on top of what's going on,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01and I'm recording and I'm mixing and I'm moving on.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06# ..Look in your eyes Run around the same old town
0:33:06 > 0:33:09# Does it mean that much to me
0:33:09 > 0:33:12# To mean that much to you... #
0:33:12 > 0:33:16Something to avoid repeating, is how I looked at it.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19I...I said, this is good, now everybody liked this,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22I could probably make another one, but I'd hate myself for it.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24I didn't want to make another one.
0:33:27 > 0:33:28- And you didn't?- No.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34It wasn't what people wanted - I made a record that nobody wanted and I put it out.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36And it didn't do nearly as well.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38So people thought that I'd failed.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43But I knew that I'd succeeded, because I succeeded in moving on.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47I wasn't dragged down by the success.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06# World is turning
0:34:10 > 0:34:13# I hope it don't turn away... #
0:34:22 > 0:34:25I remember doing that,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28we went out and bought all the furniture,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31went to a junkyard and bought the fin from the car,
0:34:31 > 0:34:37got the clothes...went down to the beach, put on the clothes,
0:34:37 > 0:34:38set up the furniture.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43# All my pictures are fall... #
0:34:43 > 0:34:46That was the tail fins of a '59 Cadillac
0:34:46 > 0:34:48we got in a junkyard - a nice yellow one.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51You know, got the newspaper, just happened to be the right one,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54something about Nixon resigning.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58# World is turning
0:35:00 > 0:35:03# I hope it don't turn away... #
0:35:05 > 0:35:06It was a sign of the times.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13# I need a crowd of people
0:35:17 > 0:35:21# But I can't face them day to day... #
0:35:24 > 0:35:29I played it for Crosby, and he said, "Don't sing about that.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31"That's not funny."
0:35:31 > 0:35:36# Well, we live in a trailer at the edge of town
0:35:38 > 0:35:42# You never see us Cos we don't come around
0:35:42 > 0:35:49# We've got 25 rifles Just to keep the population down... #
0:35:49 > 0:35:50It spooked people.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53They were spooky times.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56I knew Charlie Manson, so it spooked the hell out of me.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02- Are you sane? - Sane? That's relative.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05He wasn't what you'd call a song writer.
0:36:06 > 0:36:11He was like a song...spewer.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15# ..I won't attack you But I won't back you... #
0:36:15 > 0:36:20But he got turned down, got turned down by record companies.
0:36:20 > 0:36:21He got turned down by Reprise,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24and I remember I told them, I said, "This guy...
0:36:24 > 0:36:26"you know, he's good."
0:36:26 > 0:36:28It's just a little out of control.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32But when he got turned down, you know, that really pissed him off.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36He didn't take rejection well.
0:36:37 > 0:36:44# It was such a drag to hear him Whining all night long... #
0:36:47 > 0:36:50It was the ugly side of the Mahariji,
0:36:50 > 0:36:55you know, there's this one side of the nice flowers
0:36:55 > 0:36:57and white robes, and everything.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02You know. Something that looks a lot like it but just isn't it at all.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20# And feed them on your dreams
0:37:20 > 0:37:23# The one they picked
0:37:24 > 0:37:27# The one you'll know by
0:37:28 > 0:37:32# Don't you ever ask them why
0:37:32 > 0:37:35# If they told you, you would cry
0:37:35 > 0:37:39# So just look at them and sigh
0:37:44 > 0:37:47# And know they love you... #
0:37:47 > 0:37:50You know, you can only be that band for so long
0:37:50 > 0:37:53before you gotta be something else, I mean, you can't stick...
0:37:53 > 0:37:55you can't just do it again.
0:37:56 > 0:37:57It doesn't work.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Couldn't even if we'd wanted to. We couldn't.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04He doesn't leave it, he just puts it on hold,
0:38:04 > 0:38:08he cycles through different entities, one after another, to keep it fresh.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12There's part of me that doesn't like that part of him,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15because I know that people get hurt. I mean, if you...
0:38:15 > 0:38:19if you only earn a certain amount per year and you're going on a Neil Young tour
0:38:19 > 0:38:22and then the day before it gets cancelled,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26your life changes desperately, and that makes me uncomfortable.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29But, I have to admire Neil,
0:38:29 > 0:38:32for sticking so true to the music.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34I only care about the music.
0:38:40 > 0:38:41It's sad.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Sometimes people are damaged by it,
0:38:44 > 0:38:48but if people understand me they can understand...what that is.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51That when the music is finished with me, that I'll be back,
0:38:51 > 0:38:53if they can wait for me.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58But if you can't see that about me then you don't understand me, and there's no relationship anyway.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Oddly enough, I probably understood better than anyone
0:39:01 > 0:39:05and once we'd done Deja Vu a couple of times,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07I was ready to go do my own thing again too.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33You know, I've never been a heroin addict,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36I've never...experimented with heroin.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38But I've been close to heroin.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40And I've seen what it's done to people's lives
0:39:40 > 0:39:43and...and the results of experimenting with it,
0:39:43 > 0:39:45I've seen it kill people.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47So, you know, but it's a human thing.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51Some people just have to do things like that to survive,
0:39:51 > 0:39:52and sometimes it gets them.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Well, when we did Tonight's The Night...
0:39:56 > 0:40:00er...everyone was so upset about Danny's death
0:40:00 > 0:40:03and then subsequently Bruce Berry's,
0:40:03 > 0:40:05who was a well-known roadie
0:40:05 > 0:40:08in our circle that was out with Steven Stills.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13His brother owned Studio Instrument Rentals and that was where he worked,
0:40:13 > 0:40:16and everybody worked there, so we went there and made a record.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20We just made it in the middle of the night. We'd just drink tequila until we couldn't walk,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22and then start recording at one in the morning.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26And we had the truck there, and we put a hole in the wall
0:40:26 > 0:40:30to connect the truck with this rehearsal hall, and we...
0:40:30 > 0:40:34I wrote the songs there, and we just started going, you know.
0:40:34 > 0:40:35Just telling the story.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40# Bruce Berry was a working man
0:40:40 > 0:40:45# He used to load that Econoline van
0:40:46 > 0:40:50# A sparkle was in his eye
0:40:50 > 0:40:53# But his life was in his hands. #
0:40:53 > 0:40:54It was just shocking,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58cos he was kind of healthy, surfer, California guy, as Danny was.
0:40:58 > 0:41:03# He used to pick up my guitar. #
0:41:03 > 0:41:06Their spirit seemed to permeate everything we did on that record.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08# In a shaky voice
0:41:08 > 0:41:10# That was real as the day was long. #
0:41:10 > 0:41:15If two of my friends die... I'm sure there were lots of other people whose friends had died
0:41:15 > 0:41:19and a lot of worse things, people went to war and didn't come back,
0:41:19 > 0:41:21and went to Vietnam and came back, and half a body.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26All of these things happened to people, so I figured, "This happened to me. I'll write about it.
0:41:26 > 0:41:31"If I write about it from my heart, other people who had things happen to them will relate to this."
0:41:31 > 0:41:35# Early in the morning at the break of day
0:41:35 > 0:41:38# He used to sleep until the afternoon. #
0:41:38 > 0:41:41It's audio verite is the concept for Tonight's The Night,
0:41:41 > 0:41:46compared to cinema verite, it's like people are experimenting,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49they're going with it, they're not locked into...
0:41:49 > 0:41:51I mean, Godard was not locked into cutting,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54he didn't like cutting, he liked one long shot.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57And just let reality play out.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00# When I picked up the telephone
0:42:02 > 0:42:04# And heard that he'd died
0:42:04 > 0:42:07# Out on the mainline
0:42:07 > 0:42:10- # Tonight's the night - Tonight's the night
0:42:12 > 0:42:15- # Tonight's the night - Tonight's the night... #
0:42:15 > 0:42:19We were playing an album that he wanted to turn people on to
0:42:19 > 0:42:21that hadn't been released.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25He was an icon already in England. Everyone expected to hear his hits.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27And he played none of them.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29He played the record from beginning to end,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33starting with Tonight's The Night, finishing with Tonight's The Night,
0:42:33 > 0:42:37and the English audiences were really not OK with it.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40They started yelling a lot, they started booing,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43they started complaining, and whining every show.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46He'd get to the end of the night and he'd say,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50"All right. We're gonna play something you've all heard before."
0:42:50 > 0:42:53Everyone would go crazy, thinking it'd be Like A Hurricane
0:42:53 > 0:42:57or a Buffalo Springfield hit, and we'd play Tonight's The Night again.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00# Tonight's the night
0:43:01 > 0:43:04# Tonight's the night... #
0:43:08 > 0:43:11HE SINGS
0:43:17 > 0:43:21It really didn't mean anything to me. Just these were the new guys.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24They're rocking. They're doing it.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26Believing in it. They're living it.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28I don't care what they sound like.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31If that's where they're coming from, I'm behind 'em.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34That was a great time in music.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38And a lot of my compatriots and my peers felt threatened
0:43:38 > 0:43:39by these people.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42They didn't see themselves in them.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44But they didn't look deep enough.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47If they'd gone back, they could have seen themselves,
0:43:47 > 0:43:49and what these people were doing in them,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54and realised that this new generation of artists were reflecting the time
0:43:54 > 0:43:56that they grew up in, not the time we grew up in.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00So, their reflection was different. It made ours seem like old hat.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02And that's the way it goes.
0:44:02 > 0:44:03The next wave, you know.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06There's always another wave.
0:44:14 > 0:44:15Neil Young, when we met him,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18we just thought he was the grandfather of granola,
0:44:18 > 0:44:20and as soon as we talked to him,
0:44:20 > 0:44:24we realised all of our preconceptions were wrong.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26He was really far out.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32I mean, really loopy. Almost like a mad scientist.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35So, when he asked us to participate in the movie,
0:44:35 > 0:44:38and he said he wanted us to be nuclear waste workers,
0:44:38 > 0:44:42any resistance we had to saying yes was gone.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45# Everything is fucked up It's all coming down
0:44:45 > 0:44:49# And it takes one man how to sing our worries away... #
0:44:49 > 0:44:51At that point...
0:44:51 > 0:44:54they treated me like I was grandpa granola.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56I mean, I was the old timer.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00But once I found them, I got on right on to them.
0:45:00 > 0:45:01I was fascinated with them.
0:45:01 > 0:45:02Where?
0:45:02 > 0:45:05Neil came to the studio and...
0:45:05 > 0:45:06we all agreed we'd jam.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09He wanted us to jam on this song he had.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11So, he showed us the song, and we started jamming.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13The cameras started rolling.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15- Devo jamming? - Devo jamming.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37Of course, right away,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41we go for this really angular, bizarre inorganic rhythm,
0:45:41 > 0:45:43and Neil's just like...
0:45:44 > 0:45:49..playing like Neil Young rock and roll lead over the top of it,
0:45:49 > 0:45:52and boogie boy's in his playpen with a synthesiser
0:45:52 > 0:45:56just making a cacophony of noise.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00And it went on and on.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28A t-shirt campaign that Mark and I did back in Ohio...
0:46:29 > 0:46:32..for RustOleum.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34Rust never sleeps.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38We screamed these logos, these t-shirts.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41And we gave Neil one.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43It's a paranoia thing. Rust never sleeps,
0:46:43 > 0:46:47like, you know, there's always germs, there's always decay,
0:46:47 > 0:46:49there's always something trying to get you,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51death is knocking at the door, right?
0:47:04 > 0:47:07When we put that out, we put it out as a single,
0:47:07 > 0:47:11the radio stations called back, saying there was something wrong with it.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13They said, "It's distorted, give us another one.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16"We really like the song, but it's so distorted."
0:47:16 > 0:47:20We told them that's it, that's what it is. It's distorted.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22# Hey hey my my. #
0:47:24 > 0:47:26The message is distorted.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30# Rock and roll can never die
0:47:33 > 0:47:37# There's more to the pictures
0:47:38 > 0:47:40# Than meets the eye
0:47:42 > 0:47:44# Hey hey
0:47:44 > 0:47:46# My my. #
0:48:00 > 0:48:03'Er, new bands that interest me.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06'I like to listen to Flock Of Seagulls
0:48:06 > 0:48:08'and what's that group, Human League.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12'They've got this thing... All that stuff with the drum computers
0:48:12 > 0:48:15'and synthetic things, that's what I like.'
0:48:15 > 0:48:17The '80s were really good.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21The '80s were artistically very strong for me,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24because I knew...
0:48:24 > 0:48:26I knew no boundaries and I was experimenting
0:48:26 > 0:48:28with everything I could come across,
0:48:28 > 0:48:33sometimes with great success, sometimes with terrible results.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35But nonetheless, I was able to do this,
0:48:35 > 0:48:39and I was able to realise that I wasn't in a box.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43And I wanted to really establish that, you know.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52What I loved about Trans in typical Neil fashion,
0:48:52 > 0:48:55he had the first Synclavier synthesisers
0:48:55 > 0:48:59and, you know, we'd do computer age and I'd be singing in this voice he'd call Sylvia,
0:48:59 > 0:49:03this high female voice would be coming out of my mouth.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09HE SINGS IN HIGH-PITCHED VOICE
0:49:17 > 0:49:20It was very ground-breaking stuff with computers,
0:49:20 > 0:49:21mixed with old school.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34At that time, people were judging me based on the style of music
0:49:34 > 0:49:35I was doing...
0:49:35 > 0:49:40They were criticising me for not being genuine,
0:49:40 > 0:49:44because I was changing my style so much and people couldn't comprehend
0:49:44 > 0:49:49that you could believe what you were doing if you didn't do the same thing over and over again.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06And they said, "Neil, you've got to make a rock and roll record.
0:50:06 > 0:50:07"You just have to."
0:50:07 > 0:50:10And I said, "Do you know what rock and roll is?"
0:50:12 > 0:50:16And there was kind of a silence and I tried to figure out what it was.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18So, I thought in my mind,
0:50:18 > 0:50:21"Well, rock and roll, what the hell is rock and roll?"
0:50:21 > 0:50:23You know, let's go back in time
0:50:23 > 0:50:26to when rock and roll started and see what it is.
0:50:26 > 0:50:31# No matter where I go I never hear my record on the radio
0:50:31 > 0:50:33# It goes like this... #
0:50:33 > 0:50:37Originally, it was like rockabilly and then it
0:50:37 > 0:50:40kind of transferred into this thing called rock and roll.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43But I think they wanted me to make a hard rock record.
0:50:43 > 0:50:44But they didn't ask for that.
0:50:44 > 0:50:49And if you're going to tell me to do something and yell at me and sue me,
0:50:49 > 0:50:51then you'd better tell me to do exactly what you want
0:50:51 > 0:50:54or you might get exactly what you ask for.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19# Ain't singin' for Pepsi
0:51:19 > 0:51:23# Ain't singin' for Coke
0:51:23 > 0:51:29# I don't sing for nobody Makes me look like a joke
0:51:30 > 0:51:32# This note's for you... #
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Neil will not have it.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37He simply won't have it.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40He won't take a sponsor and do that.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42# Ain't singing for Miller... #
0:51:42 > 0:51:44You look at Elvis Presley,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47we got two good years and then occasionally some great stuff,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49a lot of it great because it's camp.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53But really, they just did their best to shackle him,
0:51:53 > 0:51:57you know, bury him under two inches of acrylic or something.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00Neil is known as the ethical one, you know,
0:52:00 > 0:52:05the one who won't let business, erm... Kill him.
0:52:05 > 0:52:09So what I wanted to do then was genres,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12styles, become different people,
0:52:12 > 0:52:16become different personalities, become different art types.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19# Don't need no cash Don't want no money
0:52:20 > 0:52:22# Ain't got no stash
0:52:23 > 0:52:25# This note's for you... #
0:52:25 > 0:52:28I saw my albums as pictures in a gallery,
0:52:28 > 0:52:32it didn't make any difference what happened to them then,
0:52:32 > 0:52:35it's how they're viewed in 30 or 40 years that I was thinking of.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41# Come a little bit closer
0:52:41 > 0:52:44# Hear what I have to say
0:52:53 > 0:52:56# Just like children sleeping
0:52:58 > 0:53:01# We could dream this night away
0:53:09 > 0:53:10# Ooh
0:53:10 > 0:53:12# But there's a full moon... #
0:53:12 > 0:53:15So you've gotta just realise that you're gonna go up and down
0:53:15 > 0:53:17and waves are gonna keep coming -
0:53:17 > 0:53:20every once and a while, you're visible to the world,
0:53:20 > 0:53:22and other times you're in a trough, nobody cares.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25Everyone's looking at the whitecaps, you know.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27They don't see ya.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31# We know where the music's playing
0:53:31 > 0:53:35# Let's go out And feel the night... #
0:53:35 > 0:53:38But then you come up again. Writing something -
0:53:38 > 0:53:41where the hell did they come from? I thought they were gone.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44That's the way I look at it - there's nothing you can do about it
0:53:44 > 0:53:47except just hang in there and keep on going.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03# When you get weak
0:54:03 > 0:54:07# And you need to test your will
0:54:12 > 0:54:15# When life's complete
0:54:15 > 0:54:19# But there's something missing still... #
0:54:19 > 0:54:22I don't play with Crazy Horse all the time.
0:54:23 > 0:54:24You can't wear it out.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28You know, it's like, you can't constantly be doing everything.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31You have to give it a rest - it's like planting stuff.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34You gotta let the field rest for a year.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37# ..And change your mind
0:54:37 > 0:54:42# Don't let another day go by
0:54:46 > 0:54:53# Without the magic touch
0:54:53 > 0:54:58# Distracting you... #
0:54:58 > 0:55:00I'm brutal.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02I only do it for the music.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06If the music is saying to do one thing, the people are secondary,
0:55:06 > 0:55:08you just have to do what you have to do.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12And if you're always like that, people begin to trust that,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14they realise it's not a personal thing.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Thank you, that's all I can say. Could never do this without you guys.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22For some reason I feel very emotional about this night...
0:55:22 > 0:55:24That's OK. We truly believe in your music
0:55:24 > 0:55:27and that's what we're doing here.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32When he looked in the mirror and said, you know,
0:55:32 > 0:55:37I'm waiting for the new Bob Dylan to be writing all these anti-war songs
0:55:37 > 0:55:40and stir the people up, it wasn't happening for Neil.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43No-one was filling that role. So he looked at himself in the mirror
0:55:43 > 0:55:45and said, "I guess I have to do it."
0:55:48 > 0:55:51So it was thing outpouring of rage,
0:55:51 > 0:55:56and trying to wake people up to the fact of what was going on.
0:55:56 > 0:56:01The songs I wrote about the war in Iraq, my last album,
0:56:01 > 0:56:03that's a whole other thing.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07That stands in a complete other place from everything else I've ever done.
0:56:15 > 0:56:20# Let's impeach the President for lying
0:56:23 > 0:56:29# And sending our country into war... #
0:56:30 > 0:56:33A melody that everybody already knows,
0:56:33 > 0:56:35that's how you get in their head.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37They got the melody and you got the words.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40You put the words to the melody and they start whistling and go,
0:56:40 > 0:56:43"I know that" and they start singing the words or whatever.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46It makes it easy for people to sing the same thing over again
0:56:46 > 0:56:49and some of the melodies are not good melodies,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52they're not friendly melodies and they don't make you feel good.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55But they do the job, they get the message across.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59Some of them are meant... to piss people off.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01# Flip...
0:57:01 > 0:57:03"Osama Bin Laden is a prime suspect..."
0:57:03 > 0:57:04# Flop...
0:57:07 > 0:57:08# Flip...
0:57:08 > 0:57:10"I want him to know I want justice."
0:57:10 > 0:57:12# Flop... #
0:57:12 > 0:57:14That was the worst concert I've ever been to.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16We came here to hear the songs
0:57:16 > 0:57:19that they sang with great singers and a great band,
0:57:19 > 0:57:22but to do this political stuff and that's all they're here for
0:57:22 > 0:57:24is a political rally, that's bullshit.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26I'm hoping a lot of those people in there
0:57:26 > 0:57:29screaming and yelling in anger against Bush are faking it,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32because if not, our country's in a lot of trouble.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34"War is my last choice."
0:57:37 > 0:57:40"..Smoke 'em out. Bring 'em on."
0:57:40 > 0:57:41This whole concert was great
0:57:41 > 0:57:44until he's got that song just now on there.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48He can suck my dick, the son of a bitch.
0:57:48 > 0:57:52I'd like to knock his fucking teeth out, that's what I'd like to do.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54Because he's a stupid son of a bitch.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57No, he's delightfully charming,
0:57:57 > 0:57:59wilfully erratic,
0:57:59 > 0:58:03and...wilful.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06Even though I know there'll be disappointments,
0:58:06 > 0:58:08I still trust him more than anybody.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Is it a case of you just not being denied?
0:58:13 > 0:58:17No, it's just a case of following the musical course,
0:58:17 > 0:58:19whatever it is.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24I just want to do that, that's always been good to me,
0:58:24 > 0:58:28I try to take care of it, I respect it. It's a gift,
0:58:28 > 0:58:32If it shows up, I ignore everything else and go with it.
0:58:33 > 0:58:36- That's... That's it.- People love you for that as well, equally?
0:58:36 > 0:58:38Well, not everybody does, but I...!
0:58:39 > 0:58:40Some people do!
0:58:40 > 0:58:44But the main thing is, it enables me to keep on doing what I do.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47But I'm getting to be a real blow-hard now, you know,
0:58:47 > 0:58:50so you're asking me these questions, I'm starting to not like myself!
0:59:26 > 0:59:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:29 > 0:59:32E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk