My son interviewed me the other day for a school project. The subject was 'what have you done in your life that you would consider the most meaningful' and my answer was getting active for political change, instead of merely talking about it. He wanted to articulate some of the differences between anti-war activism in the 60's and today. Of course there are a lot of differences; the social and political climate is completely different, as is the fact that the draft is not in effect. But one difference that I noted was the fact that there is not a definite 'protest music' movement like there was in the 60s. There is protest music being made, to be sure, but not a lot of people are hearing it, and many of the big-name artists that are doing protest music are the same ones who were doing it in the 60s, like Neil Young.
I think that we still haven't found our way as far as real protest is concerned - we are mostly falling back on what we did in the 60s - marches, sit-ins and other forms of civil disobedience. But I have a feeling that the public response to it is not what it was 40 years ago. It is still looked upon as something from the past, an outmoded and dated echo of the 'hippie days'. Something else needs to happen to engage the public, and I don't know what it is yet.
Be that as it may, I'm still hoping for a stronger presence for protest music. When I have time for a break from regular writing, I want to do some more protest music myself. Someone who has been doing wonderful protest songs for a few years now is my best girlfriend Paula Sorcé. She is someone who started doing this in the 60s and has never looked back, and she's my hero. The core of her band Just-Truckin' originated in the 60s and has re-formed again, and they are a classic Bay Area horn band a la Cold Blood. She has always written about what's important to her in a way that draws you in, with her strong, fierce, soulful vocals, burning horns and driving rhythm section.
I invite you to check out her latest, 'Trust You'. The video along with it is very cool also.
Her band's website is here if you'd like to hear more of Paula. My girl rocks!
Showing posts with label Neil Young. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neil Young. Show all posts
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Another New Video From Neil - 'Families'
Neil has another video from Living With War - this time it's the moving anthem "Families" that speaks to the true cost of this administration's callous decisions - our soldiers who are losing their lives in a useless war.
QuickTime
Windows Media
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Brand New Neil Young Video - 'After The Garden'
Neil Young has made a new video for the first song on "Living With War"- 'After the Garden'. It is a powerful indictment of Bush's eco-policy and makes a bold statement. More videos coming soon!
I'll put links to all the versions and you can take your pick.
Windows Media:
220
450
700
QuickTime:
220
450
700
Monday, May 08, 2006
My (Tiny) Pic in Rolling Stone!
Rolling Stone put out its 1000th issue last Friday, and my little bitty picture is in it! On the Rock n Roll page (I think it's 41 but I'm not sure) there is a picture of Neil Young with the choir. You can see me over Neil's left shoulder - about the 2nd person to the right (right looking at the picture, left of Neil).
Saturday, April 29, 2006
If You Want To Know
what the atmosphere of the choir session with Neil Young was like, listen to the end of "Let's Impeach The President". Hear the cheers and applause? Multiply by ten.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Got Neil's Link On Randi Rhodes Site
Just called the Randi Rhodes Show - she was talking about Neil Young's album, but didn't seem to be aware that you can hear it now. Called the show, and they put it on their front page!
Neil Young's "Living With War" Here Today!
Click album cover to hear the full record of Neil Young's "Living With War"
Saturday, April 22, 2006
To My Blog Friends - Asking For Blog Help Promoting "Living With War"
Hi Friends -
By now, you've heard plenty about the new Neil Young record. I'm trying to do what I can to get this out to a wide audience, and I've been in touch with folks from Reprise, who played the record last night for a group of people interested in getting this message out. What Neil wants to do is go through the Internet and the blogosphere. So if the idea of a record like this appeals to you and you'd like to be a part of it, you can.
Neil has a new blog, LivingWithWar.blogspot.com, as well as his official website, NeilYoung.com (Neil's Garage). The exciting news is that he's going to make the songs available for streaming (free!) on April 28th. Excerpts from my review are now on the LivingWith War blog.
What you can do, if you're interested, is - post about it; link to it; blogwhore it; send it on to friends in high places. Talk to people you know who don't blog; send them emails. Let me know where you're posting and I'll link to you here as well. If you'd care to recommend my diaries on Kos (I'm QueenIdella there) or My Left Wing (just plain old 'Alicia') that would help too.
Thanks!
Update - the review is posted front page on My Left Wing - thanks, eugene!
By now, you've heard plenty about the new Neil Young record. I'm trying to do what I can to get this out to a wide audience, and I've been in touch with folks from Reprise, who played the record last night for a group of people interested in getting this message out. What Neil wants to do is go through the Internet and the blogosphere. So if the idea of a record like this appeals to you and you'd like to be a part of it, you can.
Neil has a new blog, LivingWithWar.blogspot.com, as well as his official website, NeilYoung.com (Neil's Garage). The exciting news is that he's going to make the songs available for streaming (free!) on April 28th. Excerpts from my review are now on the LivingWith War blog.
What you can do, if you're interested, is - post about it; link to it; blogwhore it; send it on to friends in high places. Talk to people you know who don't blog; send them emails. Let me know where you're posting and I'll link to you here as well. If you'd care to recommend my diaries on Kos (I'm QueenIdella there) or My Left Wing (just plain old 'Alicia') that would help too.
Thanks!
Update - the review is posted front page on My Left Wing - thanks, eugene!
Is The Wave Of The Future An Old Hand From The Past? Neil Young Shows How It's Done - My Review of "Living With War"
Music today is at a crossroads.
With the digitization of music, the paradigm has changed completely. The old business model of selling a hard copy of music one piece at a time is no longer viable, and the struggle to find a suitable replacement has rocked the music business to its foundations. Do you hang on grimly to the old way, suing anyone who downloads your product and keep trying to shore up the crumbling structure? Do you jump on the digital bandwagon and embrace the downloading process, thereby creating a new relationship with the modern music consumer, but not seeing an immediate financial reward by doing so? Do you attempt a mixture of the two? How is the artist to be compensated in this new world? Or the writer, the producer? How do you manage royalties? And what about distribution if the method of distributing music has changed? Who is entitled to a piece of the music pie, anyway, and what percentage? If your role in the music production and distribution process has become obsolete, what do you do about it? And what is the purpose of commercial music in today's corporate-controlled climate?
These may not seem like questions to be addressed by an album review, but they lead into what Neil Young, a 40-year veteran of the music business, is doing with his new album "Living With War".
Neil Young is an artist who has always gone his own way. He filters his life journey through his music, and he constantly challenges the prevailing paradigm, whether it be political, cultural, or personal. For this he is both revered and reviled. His life and his art are one and the same in a way that very few artists can claim.
With his newest record, "Living With War", Neil Young shows the kids how it's done.
This album was recorded so quickly that even his record company was unaware of its existence. Young calls it 'metal folk protest', which is as good a way as any to describe it. Consisting of a 'power trio' (Young on Old Black, Rick Rosas on bass and Chad Cromwell on drums), Tommy Brea on trumpet, and a hundred-piece choir, the music is carefully constructed to serve the message. The 10-song record is meant to be heard from beginning to end in sequence. The driving, distorted guitar, bass and drums lay down a solid bed from which to launch the rocket-propelled vocals. The trumpet solos accentuate the military aspect of the songs. This is martial music, make no mistake - a war against war.
The choir was put together by the legendary Rosemary Butler, arguably the most famous backup singer in music history (and a formidable lead singer and producer in her own right), having sung with the likes of Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt, to name only a few. In a day she managed to round up 100 of LA's most respected session singers and assemble them the next morning at Capitol Records. I was fortunate enough to be included in that august company, and as we milled around the studio, greeting old friends and getting coffeed up in preparation for what looked like a long day ahead (we were booked from 10 in the morning till 10 at night), we had no idea what was in store for us. But as we sorted ourselves into sections ("Where are the altos? Are you going to sing soprano? Do we have enough baritones?"), the words to the first song, "After the Garden", flashed up on the video projection screen ("Don't need no shadow man - running the government - don't need no stinking war") and it instantly became more than just another session. We gasped as we realized that this was a protest record, and not just an ordinary one (if there is such a thing), but one that had the potential to galvanize the nation and give voice to those who have not been listened to in the 21st century.
The choice of a hundred voices for this record, like the use of a trumpet, had a symbolic purpose. According to the LA Times, Young said he enlisted that many back-up singers because he liked the metaphorical weight of having "100 voices from 100 lands." He could have easily hired 10 singers and had them double themselves ten times, but that was not what this record is about. To that same purpose, it was recorded on analog tape, not ProTools, so that we had to wait for the tape to rewind after each take, something that most of us had not done for a long time. Our mission? To sing along with Neil's pre-recorded vocal as closely as we could. There were no 'overdubs', no 'fixing it in the mix' - we had to do it until it was right.
But, as I listened to it last night at Reprise Records in preparation for this review, it was worth it. The effect was so emotionally compelling - Neil's distinctive, plain-spoken voice, echoed by a multitude, was like a beacon from a lighthouse in a storm. There is nothing ambiguous or generalized or euphemistic about this record. It names names. It points fingers. Most of the people in the room listening with me had not heard the record before, and I watched their faces as the impact of the lyrics sunk in. No one was unmoved.
When we began the session, Neil was in the control booth with his hat pulled down over his eyes, but as the enthusiasm of the choir became apparent, he came out into the big room with us - smiling, walking around, occasionally directing us himself, singing along. On top of a giant boom mike, he had draped a military jacket and camo hat. The choir was like a Maserati - powerful and responsive, giving whatever is asked for instantly. The hardest part was holding back, especially the gospel contingent, but in the end, we did what we came to do - serve the message.
Neil Young was hoping that the younger generation of musicians was going to pick up the torch of the 60's protest tradition. Thirty-six years ago he recorded 'Ohio' about the Kent State killings, and he wrote 'Southern Man' in response to racism. He has never hesitated to address the causes he feels strongly about, but after 35 years, he and many other people of the Woodstock generation figured that today's musicians in their 20s would be the ones to stand up and speak truth to power. Many of them have, individually, but as a movement it hasn't happened. And throughout his career, the records he has made and the positions he has taken stubbornly refuse to be categorized. He wrote 'Ohio', but he also wrote 'Let's Roll' after the 9/11 attacks to commemorate Flight 93, caught up, as was the rest of the country, in the fervor to avenge those innocent lives, and deal with those who perpetrated the attacks. This categorized him in many people's minds as a right-wing Republican, especially since he endorsed Ronald Reagan during the 80s.
But Neil Young merely calls it like he sees it, and is not beholden to any party or ideology. He has seen the country hijacked by criminals and is not afraid to come out and say it. In this, he is echoing what the people he meets say to him all over the country. He addresses our concerns - the fear of what will happen if we descend into total war; the love and loss of our children, both the ones we send to war and the ones who stay behind; the rampant corporatism and the mindless commercialism which lets it pillage unchecked; the longing for a real leader; the need for the unheard voices to be heard; the deep love for our country, for our freedom, and the sadness which comes from the harm being done to it in the name of military/industrial domination. One could call it "The Neos And The Damage Done".
So, here he is.
This record is both a throwback and the future. Young is going to make the songs available to listen to for free. Reuters reports that "starting April 28, fans can log onto Young's Web site, www.neilyoung.com, and listen to the 10-track collection in its entirety, free of charge, said Bill Bentley, a spokesman for Warner Music Group's Reprise Records." And Neil Young has both feet planted firmly in the future, bypassing the slower (and more expensive) traditional forms of promotion and going directly to the Internet to reach his audience. The message he has is so urgent that there is not a moment to waste, and the immediacy of the Internet is the perfect conduit. He has also started a blog, livingwithwar.blogspot.com, to keep his fans up to date in real time. This is the direction that music should be going in, I think - where the artist and the fan can be closer to one another, and actually co-create, in a way, for this record came about as a response to the conversations that Young has had with all kinds of Americans.
Music is in the middle of some serious growing pains right now, but as you will see with "Living With War", growing pains mean strength and maturity. We have a chance to come out of this stronger, better and more true, and Neil Young, music icon from the 60's, is leading the way.
With the digitization of music, the paradigm has changed completely. The old business model of selling a hard copy of music one piece at a time is no longer viable, and the struggle to find a suitable replacement has rocked the music business to its foundations. Do you hang on grimly to the old way, suing anyone who downloads your product and keep trying to shore up the crumbling structure? Do you jump on the digital bandwagon and embrace the downloading process, thereby creating a new relationship with the modern music consumer, but not seeing an immediate financial reward by doing so? Do you attempt a mixture of the two? How is the artist to be compensated in this new world? Or the writer, the producer? How do you manage royalties? And what about distribution if the method of distributing music has changed? Who is entitled to a piece of the music pie, anyway, and what percentage? If your role in the music production and distribution process has become obsolete, what do you do about it? And what is the purpose of commercial music in today's corporate-controlled climate?
These may not seem like questions to be addressed by an album review, but they lead into what Neil Young, a 40-year veteran of the music business, is doing with his new album "Living With War".
Neil Young is an artist who has always gone his own way. He filters his life journey through his music, and he constantly challenges the prevailing paradigm, whether it be political, cultural, or personal. For this he is both revered and reviled. His life and his art are one and the same in a way that very few artists can claim.
With his newest record, "Living With War", Neil Young shows the kids how it's done.
This album was recorded so quickly that even his record company was unaware of its existence. Young calls it 'metal folk protest', which is as good a way as any to describe it. Consisting of a 'power trio' (Young on Old Black, Rick Rosas on bass and Chad Cromwell on drums), Tommy Brea on trumpet, and a hundred-piece choir, the music is carefully constructed to serve the message. The 10-song record is meant to be heard from beginning to end in sequence. The driving, distorted guitar, bass and drums lay down a solid bed from which to launch the rocket-propelled vocals. The trumpet solos accentuate the military aspect of the songs. This is martial music, make no mistake - a war against war.
The choir was put together by the legendary Rosemary Butler, arguably the most famous backup singer in music history (and a formidable lead singer and producer in her own right), having sung with the likes of Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt, to name only a few. In a day she managed to round up 100 of LA's most respected session singers and assemble them the next morning at Capitol Records. I was fortunate enough to be included in that august company, and as we milled around the studio, greeting old friends and getting coffeed up in preparation for what looked like a long day ahead (we were booked from 10 in the morning till 10 at night), we had no idea what was in store for us. But as we sorted ourselves into sections ("Where are the altos? Are you going to sing soprano? Do we have enough baritones?"), the words to the first song, "After the Garden", flashed up on the video projection screen ("Don't need no shadow man - running the government - don't need no stinking war") and it instantly became more than just another session. We gasped as we realized that this was a protest record, and not just an ordinary one (if there is such a thing), but one that had the potential to galvanize the nation and give voice to those who have not been listened to in the 21st century.
The choice of a hundred voices for this record, like the use of a trumpet, had a symbolic purpose. According to the LA Times, Young said he enlisted that many back-up singers because he liked the metaphorical weight of having "100 voices from 100 lands." He could have easily hired 10 singers and had them double themselves ten times, but that was not what this record is about. To that same purpose, it was recorded on analog tape, not ProTools, so that we had to wait for the tape to rewind after each take, something that most of us had not done for a long time. Our mission? To sing along with Neil's pre-recorded vocal as closely as we could. There were no 'overdubs', no 'fixing it in the mix' - we had to do it until it was right.
But, as I listened to it last night at Reprise Records in preparation for this review, it was worth it. The effect was so emotionally compelling - Neil's distinctive, plain-spoken voice, echoed by a multitude, was like a beacon from a lighthouse in a storm. There is nothing ambiguous or generalized or euphemistic about this record. It names names. It points fingers. Most of the people in the room listening with me had not heard the record before, and I watched their faces as the impact of the lyrics sunk in. No one was unmoved.
When we began the session, Neil was in the control booth with his hat pulled down over his eyes, but as the enthusiasm of the choir became apparent, he came out into the big room with us - smiling, walking around, occasionally directing us himself, singing along. On top of a giant boom mike, he had draped a military jacket and camo hat. The choir was like a Maserati - powerful and responsive, giving whatever is asked for instantly. The hardest part was holding back, especially the gospel contingent, but in the end, we did what we came to do - serve the message.
Neil Young was hoping that the younger generation of musicians was going to pick up the torch of the 60's protest tradition. Thirty-six years ago he recorded 'Ohio' about the Kent State killings, and he wrote 'Southern Man' in response to racism. He has never hesitated to address the causes he feels strongly about, but after 35 years, he and many other people of the Woodstock generation figured that today's musicians in their 20s would be the ones to stand up and speak truth to power. Many of them have, individually, but as a movement it hasn't happened. And throughout his career, the records he has made and the positions he has taken stubbornly refuse to be categorized. He wrote 'Ohio', but he also wrote 'Let's Roll' after the 9/11 attacks to commemorate Flight 93, caught up, as was the rest of the country, in the fervor to avenge those innocent lives, and deal with those who perpetrated the attacks. This categorized him in many people's minds as a right-wing Republican, especially since he endorsed Ronald Reagan during the 80s.
But Neil Young merely calls it like he sees it, and is not beholden to any party or ideology. He has seen the country hijacked by criminals and is not afraid to come out and say it. In this, he is echoing what the people he meets say to him all over the country. He addresses our concerns - the fear of what will happen if we descend into total war; the love and loss of our children, both the ones we send to war and the ones who stay behind; the rampant corporatism and the mindless commercialism which lets it pillage unchecked; the longing for a real leader; the need for the unheard voices to be heard; the deep love for our country, for our freedom, and the sadness which comes from the harm being done to it in the name of military/industrial domination. One could call it "The Neos And The Damage Done".
So, here he is.
This record is both a throwback and the future. Young is going to make the songs available to listen to for free. Reuters reports that "starting April 28, fans can log onto Young's Web site, www.neilyoung.com, and listen to the 10-track collection in its entirety, free of charge, said Bill Bentley, a spokesman for Warner Music Group's Reprise Records." And Neil Young has both feet planted firmly in the future, bypassing the slower (and more expensive) traditional forms of promotion and going directly to the Internet to reach his audience. The message he has is so urgent that there is not a moment to waste, and the immediacy of the Internet is the perfect conduit. He has also started a blog, livingwithwar.blogspot.com, to keep his fans up to date in real time. This is the direction that music should be going in, I think - where the artist and the fan can be closer to one another, and actually co-create, in a way, for this record came about as a response to the conversations that Young has had with all kinds of Americans.
Music is in the middle of some serious growing pains right now, but as you will see with "Living With War", growing pains mean strength and maturity. We have a chance to come out of this stronger, better and more true, and Neil Young, music icon from the 60's, is leading the way.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
A Review of "Living With War" By DownWithTyranny
Well, now that it has been confirmed by Neil Young himself that there is indeed a Neil Young anti-war record on the horizon, Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny and the Huffington Post (as well as an occasional denizen of Hooterville), who is the former president of Reprise records and who knows of what he speaks, has posted an excellent review of "Living With War" on both his blog and the Huffington Post. Anyone interested in a comprehensive heads' up on this record should check him out right away.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
This Week In Review - What I Learned From Neil Young
I have to say that I never expected my post about my Neil Young session to cause the flap that it did. or reach such a wide audience. The idea that I would ever be quoted in NewsMax is astonishing to me.
I started this blog mostly as an outlet for my frustration with the current Administration and a chance to learn to express myself in writing, not as a challenge to those who don't think as I do. Along the way I have made many friends from all over the world. I don't spend a lot of time trying to promote it, because that was not particularly my goal. I enjoy having a blog of the size that I can get to know each poster that stops by.
That changed, if only temporarily, when I wrote about my recording session with Neil Young. Make no mistake; I do not know him other that having spent one day on his beautiful record, and having one very brief conversation with him, along with 99 other singers. But, through his music, he has expressed his viewpoint throughout his life, and pissed off both the right and left at times. No one can 'claim him for their own' politically. I have a deep respect for that. For good or bad, he says his say. In fact, during the session there was a question of pitch on a particular note he sang, which the choir was being asked to sing in unison with. When asked what note he sang, he said, "I don't remember; but, whatever it was, I stand by it!" Everyone laughed, but there was a point there that I would do well to pay attention to.
I am not a confrontational or argumentative person by nature. I've seen the blogs that have 'flame wars' going on, and people insulting each other back and forth, but that was not my intent for this blog. My view is, if you don't like my point of view, pass on by. That's what I do. The reason for that is that it doesn't change anyone's mind.
I draw a distinction between the people I am furious at (this Administration) and the people who visit this blog. My writing and graphics on the subjects I feel strongly about can be pretty harsh, and some people are offended by it. My response to opinions I don't care for is to ignore them. And I've asked for courtesy in person-to-person discourse here. But Opus, who told me to 'thicken my skin or close my comments', has a point.
The reality is, that if I have a point of view that I believe in, I need to be able to withstand the 'slings and arrows', so to speak. What kind of activist do I expect to be if I can't deal with legitimate challenges, or accept the fact that by speaking out I will be a target for haters?
If I want to stand for something, I need to stand by something.
And I want to stand for peace.
So, thank you, Neil Young.
I started this blog mostly as an outlet for my frustration with the current Administration and a chance to learn to express myself in writing, not as a challenge to those who don't think as I do. Along the way I have made many friends from all over the world. I don't spend a lot of time trying to promote it, because that was not particularly my goal. I enjoy having a blog of the size that I can get to know each poster that stops by.
That changed, if only temporarily, when I wrote about my recording session with Neil Young. Make no mistake; I do not know him other that having spent one day on his beautiful record, and having one very brief conversation with him, along with 99 other singers. But, through his music, he has expressed his viewpoint throughout his life, and pissed off both the right and left at times. No one can 'claim him for their own' politically. I have a deep respect for that. For good or bad, he says his say. In fact, during the session there was a question of pitch on a particular note he sang, which the choir was being asked to sing in unison with. When asked what note he sang, he said, "I don't remember; but, whatever it was, I stand by it!" Everyone laughed, but there was a point there that I would do well to pay attention to.
I am not a confrontational or argumentative person by nature. I've seen the blogs that have 'flame wars' going on, and people insulting each other back and forth, but that was not my intent for this blog. My view is, if you don't like my point of view, pass on by. That's what I do. The reason for that is that it doesn't change anyone's mind.
I draw a distinction between the people I am furious at (this Administration) and the people who visit this blog. My writing and graphics on the subjects I feel strongly about can be pretty harsh, and some people are offended by it. My response to opinions I don't care for is to ignore them. And I've asked for courtesy in person-to-person discourse here. But Opus, who told me to 'thicken my skin or close my comments', has a point.
The reality is, that if I have a point of view that I believe in, I need to be able to withstand the 'slings and arrows', so to speak. What kind of activist do I expect to be if I can't deal with legitimate challenges, or accept the fact that by speaking out I will be a target for haters?
If I want to stand for something, I need to stand by something.
And I want to stand for peace.
So, thank you, Neil Young.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Wrong Turn?
Perhaps some of you more recent posters may have taken a wrong turn and ended up here. Perhaps you have not noticed that this is not a blog where we attack and insult the individuals who read and write here. I understand that many of you are not regular readers of Last Left Turn Before Hooterville. You may be here due to the mention of Neil Young, who some of you were happy to accuse me of 'betraying' or lying about (while lying to Capitol Records yourself) without the least knowledge of what you were talking about. Or maybe you were trolling for people with opposite views to trash.
However you ended up here, I think you may be in the wrong place. You are more than welcome to disagree with me. You are not welcome to insult me. There are some blogs where this is par for the course and a way to increase readership, but this is not one of them. You may want to think about taking your rapier wit and incisive analysis elsewhere if you cannot find your way to common courtesy. I have had right-wing readers here occasionally who have been able to express their views and disagreements in a way which encourages me to have a real dialogue, and I appreciate them.
This is an opinion blog. I don't go to other people's blogs and attack them personally if I don't agree with them. I have better things to do with my time. All I ask for here at my blog home is common decency. Would you enjoy a stranger coming into your home and strewing trash and filth all over your living room? I always appreciate my new visitors, and my views may not be your cup of tea, but insulting me or my readers is not the way to get me to change my views. In the future, you may want to take a detour around Hooterville.
And, if you've stumbled upon us for another reason and would like to visit - welcome to you!
However you ended up here, I think you may be in the wrong place. You are more than welcome to disagree with me. You are not welcome to insult me. There are some blogs where this is par for the course and a way to increase readership, but this is not one of them. You may want to think about taking your rapier wit and incisive analysis elsewhere if you cannot find your way to common courtesy. I have had right-wing readers here occasionally who have been able to express their views and disagreements in a way which encourages me to have a real dialogue, and I appreciate them.
This is an opinion blog. I don't go to other people's blogs and attack them personally if I don't agree with them. I have better things to do with my time. All I ask for here at my blog home is common decency. Would you enjoy a stranger coming into your home and strewing trash and filth all over your living room? I always appreciate my new visitors, and my views may not be your cup of tea, but insulting me or my readers is not the way to get me to change my views. In the future, you may want to take a detour around Hooterville.
And, if you've stumbled upon us for another reason and would like to visit - welcome to you!
Friday, April 07, 2006
I Am The Luckiest Girl In The World!
Yesterday, I had the most incredible musical experience of my life.
Have you, like me, been recalling the great protest songs of the sixties, and wondered where the new protest songs are?
Yesterday, I found out.
On Wednesday, I was at work when I got a call for a Neil Young session the next day. Needless to say, I was excited about it - Neil Young is one of my musical heroes. When my husband and I got to Capitol, we found 98 other singers, a collection of L.A.'s finest. All I knew was that we were singing on a new Neil Young record, but when the lyrics we were supposed to sing flashed on the giant screen, a roar went up from the choir. I'm not going to give the whole thing away, but the first line of one of the songs was "Let's impeach the President for lyin'!" Turns out the whole thing is a classic beautiful protest record. The session was like being at a 12-hour peace rally. Every time new lyrics would come up on the screen, there were cheers, tears and applause. It was a spiritual experience. I can't believe my good fortune at being a part of this.
It was also recorded on analog in the A room at Capitol Records, which they're talking about selling and turning into condos. No ProTools, no 'flying in', no Auto-Tune. Just real singing, and real songs, from a real artist. And to hire a hundred live singers? Incredible.
I got a chance to talk with Neil for a minute, and I told him that every word of every song expressed what I've been screaming about since 2000. I've never been at a recording session that was more like being at church. Heck, I've never been to a church that was more like a church than that session. We stood up for 12 hours (except for lunch and dinner) and I got a massive headache by the end, but I didn't care. It was worth the price of admission. We finished the session by singing an a capella version of "America the Beautiful" and there was not a dry eye in the house.
If I do nothing else for the rest of my life, I can say I was on that record. Whether it sells or not, it's the truth, and I got to be a part of that. What an honor; what a privilege.
Neil said it should be out in 6 to 8 weeks. I hope all of you get a chance to hear it.
Update: Attention to the disgruntled - I will be removing rude or insulting posts.
Have you, like me, been recalling the great protest songs of the sixties, and wondered where the new protest songs are?
Yesterday, I found out.
On Wednesday, I was at work when I got a call for a Neil Young session the next day. Needless to say, I was excited about it - Neil Young is one of my musical heroes. When my husband and I got to Capitol, we found 98 other singers, a collection of L.A.'s finest. All I knew was that we were singing on a new Neil Young record, but when the lyrics we were supposed to sing flashed on the giant screen, a roar went up from the choir. I'm not going to give the whole thing away, but the first line of one of the songs was "Let's impeach the President for lyin'!" Turns out the whole thing is a classic beautiful protest record. The session was like being at a 12-hour peace rally. Every time new lyrics would come up on the screen, there were cheers, tears and applause. It was a spiritual experience. I can't believe my good fortune at being a part of this.
It was also recorded on analog in the A room at Capitol Records, which they're talking about selling and turning into condos. No ProTools, no 'flying in', no Auto-Tune. Just real singing, and real songs, from a real artist. And to hire a hundred live singers? Incredible.
I got a chance to talk with Neil for a minute, and I told him that every word of every song expressed what I've been screaming about since 2000. I've never been at a recording session that was more like being at church. Heck, I've never been to a church that was more like a church than that session. We stood up for 12 hours (except for lunch and dinner) and I got a massive headache by the end, but I didn't care. It was worth the price of admission. We finished the session by singing an a capella version of "America the Beautiful" and there was not a dry eye in the house.
If I do nothing else for the rest of my life, I can say I was on that record. Whether it sells or not, it's the truth, and I got to be a part of that. What an honor; what a privilege.
Neil said it should be out in 6 to 8 weeks. I hope all of you get a chance to hear it.
Update: Attention to the disgruntled - I will be removing rude or insulting posts.
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