Neil Young: on the road again
p2pnet news | Music:- Four decades following his departure from Canada, Neil Young’s ties to his homeland remain quite visible.
‘Borrowed Tunes Two,’ a two-CD musical tribute to Young, produced by Mike Roth of Big Bold Sun Music, is being released October 16. The same day Young releases “Chrome Dreams II” followed by an 8-week North American tour which sees him returning to Massey Hall in Toronto November 26-27.
Distributed by Universal Music in Canada, ‘Borrowed Tunes Two’ features Canadian artists performing their favourite Neil Young song. Selected tracks will be featured on Sirius Canada’s Iceberg channel 95.
The first ‘Borrowed Tunes’ was a two-CD, 36-track album in 1994, co-produced by Roth and Gary Furniss. It raised over $200,000 for charity and included such Canadian acts as Jann Arden, the Waltons, Colin Linden, Crash Vegas, Junkhouse, Randy Bachman, and Art Bergman.
‘Borrowed Tunes Two,’ like its predecessor, graphically shows that, as well as being a great singer and guitarist, Young is also one of rock’s most important composers. He’s written a phenomenal number of perfect songs and even his lesser songs have an unmistakably magical quality.
While the album captures the plaintiveness and haunting emotionality of Young’s music, it also stands on it own: An obvious perspective of his music from a new generation of original Canadian acts.
Says Roth, the former head of A& R for Sony Music Canada, ‘When I was in grade 8 my mother (who was a teacher at Lawrence Park Collegiate) brought home an LP of a student who had attended Lawrence Park very briefly before leaving to make a career in music.
‘She seemed to think he was a genius, I gave it a quick listen and told her I didn’t like his voice and went back to my Beatles’ records. One day I picked it up again and I haven’t stopped listening since. To say it changed my life would be an understatement.
‘The LP was ‘After the Goldrush’ by Neil Young. ‘Making Borrowed Tunes’ in 1994 and now ‘Making Borrowed Tunes Two’ have been great experiences for me.
Seeing how Neil’s music has touched so many great Canadian artists has been astonishing. As well, his songs have stood the test of time and have become part of the Canadian landscape.’
Profits of “Borrowed Tunes Two’ are being donated to the Bridge School, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, California; and the Safehaven Project for Community Living in Toronto.
Soon after his birth in November, 1978, Neil and Pegi Young’s son Ben was diagnosed as having cerebral palsy.
For the couple, it was an appalling coincidence; Neil’s oldest song Zeke, from an earlier relationship, had been born with a mild form of cerebral palsy.
The Bridge School was founded in 1986 by Pegi, and Jim Forderer, another parent of a child with severe speech and physical impairments, and Dr. Marilyn Buzolich.
The Safehaven Project for Community Living provides respite and day programs for Ontario children and young adults facing severe physical, mental and health challenges.
The parent-run charitable organization operates four residential homes, and one respite care home.
Larry LeBlanc
[Journalist/broadcaster/historian Larry LeBlanc has been a leading figure in Canadian music for four decades. To be added to this email list write: LJLE @ aol dot com.]
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