I mentioned in my previous entry, Punk
is Dead, that you don’t need to sound pretty or particularly talented to be
an honest rock n’ roller.
No one demonstrates this better than Neil Young.
Don’t get me wrong, the guy can play guitar pretty well, but
this Canadian folkie isn’t going to win a singing contest any time soon.
His voice can best be described as… whiny, he isn’t pretty, and
he’s got a reputation for being insufferable to work with.
He’s made a career about playing the music he wants to play,
regardless weather it sounded awesome or completely sucked.
He’s the guy who
played guitar on Buffalo Springfield’s, For what it’s worth. If
you bothered to watch the video, he’s the Mutton Choppy dude in the yellow and
green sweater.
That’s the guy Kurt Cobain dubbed the Godfather of Grunge. Why? This might have something to
do with it.
Yes Young is considered one of the best “singer/songwriters,”
but he also encompasses everything it means to be a true, badass rock n’ roller.
Forget the booze and the boobs and the bullshit. He has never
been about loud guitars, heroin, and dying a young tragic death, Neil knows
this is all just window dressing.
In his damn near 50-year career, Young has demonstrated a destructive streak to
match the hardest of punk rockers, a lyrical depth comparable
to Paul Simon or Bob Dylan, and a dedication to the spirit of rock n’ roll
second to none.
I won’t even get into all the weird and varied ways he’s trying
to save the world, it would take too long and he wrote a book about it anyway.
(I’d link it, but I don’t get paid to endorse Amazon, steal a copy for all I
care.)
Neil Young knows rock is about shoving a grease-stained middle
finger the establishment’s nose, living life on the terms you set for yourself
and taking the consequences like a man.
Rock is alive and well, and will stay that way so long as people
remember the man with the whiny voice and mutton chops.
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