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Neil Young on Neil Young: Interviews and Encounters (19)
The life of rock’s most durable troubadour in his own words
Neil Young on Neil Interviews and Encounters is a revealing anthology of Young’s most significant, fascinating, and entertaining discussions, declarations, and dreams, chronicling fifty years of conversations, feature stories, and press conferences.
With many interviews widely available for the first time—including new transcriptions and first-time translations into English—the book spans Young’s words and ideas from 1967 his early days with Buffalo Springfield and 1970s Harvest -fueled celebrity apex, an artistic rebellion and 1980s commercial dip, and the unexpected 1990s revival as the Godfather of Grunge through to his multi-decade victory lap as a living legend.
Across the decades, Young’s own words tell the story as he perpetually reinvents himself as a master of music and film, a technology pioneer and innovator, and a bold political observer and strident environmental advocate.
Neil Young on Neil Interviews and Encounters is a revealing anthology of Young’s most significant, fascinating, and entertaining discussions, declarations, and dreams, chronicling fifty years of conversations, feature stories, and press conferences.
With many interviews widely available for the first time—including new transcriptions and first-time translations into English—the book spans Young’s words and ideas from 1967 his early days with Buffalo Springfield and 1970s Harvest -fueled celebrity apex, an artistic rebellion and 1980s commercial dip, and the unexpected 1990s revival as the Godfather of Grunge through to his multi-decade victory lap as a living legend.
Across the decades, Young’s own words tell the story as he perpetually reinvents himself as a master of music and film, a technology pioneer and innovator, and a bold political observer and strident environmental advocate.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published November 9, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 3, 2021
Just think of me as one you never figured...
Fully understanding Neil Young is like trying to put together the world's most perverse jigsaw puzzle. He has never recorded a hip hop album or an opera-- but that's not to say he doesn't have such work waiting in his archives. Neil has been the quintessential hippie folk singer and he has been proclaimed the godfather of grunge. He has programmed an electronic Kraftwerk offering and has slicked back his hair for a rockabilly romp. He has served up blues notes for us and has seen us dance again down old country ways. Neil penned one of the most famous protest songs with "Ohio" and he has led an "Impeach the President" drive against George W.-- yet he was an ardent supporter of Ronald Reagan's policies.
"Neil Young on Neil Young: Interviews and Encounters" presents a portrait of Neil by scrapbooking together decades of interviews. This is a tricky proposition as his cooperation with the press has varied wildly over the years and one never predict what Neil was going to appear. Here the sheer number of conversations helps draw out a more balanced picture. Thankfully, author Arthur Lizie has edited down a lot of the obsessions we have already heard enough of, such as the LincVolt hybrid car, PONO as the savior of sound, and what was this "Trans" craziness all about, anyway?
No, we can never fully understand Neil... just as we can never fully understand Dylan or a few other treasures walking this earth... but it sure is a fascinating pursuit. "Neil Young on Neil Young" is essential to anyone who has lowered the phonograph needle and savored, rejoiced, or even just gasped over what wonders Neil was serving up this time.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the Chicago Review Press for the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
Fully understanding Neil Young is like trying to put together the world's most perverse jigsaw puzzle. He has never recorded a hip hop album or an opera-- but that's not to say he doesn't have such work waiting in his archives. Neil has been the quintessential hippie folk singer and he has been proclaimed the godfather of grunge. He has programmed an electronic Kraftwerk offering and has slicked back his hair for a rockabilly romp. He has served up blues notes for us and has seen us dance again down old country ways. Neil penned one of the most famous protest songs with "Ohio" and he has led an "Impeach the President" drive against George W.-- yet he was an ardent supporter of Ronald Reagan's policies.
"Neil Young on Neil Young: Interviews and Encounters" presents a portrait of Neil by scrapbooking together decades of interviews. This is a tricky proposition as his cooperation with the press has varied wildly over the years and one never predict what Neil was going to appear. Here the sheer number of conversations helps draw out a more balanced picture. Thankfully, author Arthur Lizie has edited down a lot of the obsessions we have already heard enough of, such as the LincVolt hybrid car, PONO as the savior of sound, and what was this "Trans" craziness all about, anyway?
No, we can never fully understand Neil... just as we can never fully understand Dylan or a few other treasures walking this earth... but it sure is a fascinating pursuit. "Neil Young on Neil Young" is essential to anyone who has lowered the phonograph needle and savored, rejoiced, or even just gasped over what wonders Neil was serving up this time.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the Chicago Review Press for the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 31, 2022
This collection of interviews with Neil Young, chronologically arranged to cover his entire career, will give you a good sense of Young's personality and opinions on a wide variety of topics, although most fans will likely be drawn to his comments on musical subjects. Young has been doggedly determined throughout his career to play music his own way and with little consideration for following trends, repeating himself, or taking advice from music industry people or others who would have him follow a more conservative consistency, and this is evident throughout most of the interviews. Of course Young was fortunate to have some commercial success early in his career, which gave him the freedom to create the space from which he has operated ever since, and he built upon this by touring constantly and building a large audience who have followed him down many of the unusual paths he has trod. Despite what the book reveals, however, Young remains somewhat guarded and inscrutable in many ways. Much like he does in his curious memoir "Waging Heavy Peace," Young is often oblique and difficult to read, and he doesn't reveal much about his songwriting or recording process. But perhaps that mystery is all part of the charm. Certainly he has left a body of work that will be celebrated and taken up by musicians for many years to come. And as I write this review, he's just released another great new album with Crazy Horse ("Barn"). Long may he run......
July 11, 2025
The book compiles several interviews with Neil, starting from the Buffalo Springfield days and moving forward to the current day. In aggregate, I guess you get a pretty decent feel for Neil, although it gets a bit redundant after a while, and Arthur Lizie, the editor/assembler, feels endlessly compelled to offer his needless takes in his introduction to each installment. I DID enjoy his timeline of when albums were recorded and such, but I was less interested in knowing his least favorite album, for example. I think I crapped out a couple interviews before the end because it just didn't seem like I was getting much out of the interviews at that point.
May 31, 2022
An excellent collection of revealing interviews with the great Neil Young from throughout his career that shed a lot of light on an interesting and iconoclastic legend.
September 29, 2022
Interesting but biographies by nature seem self indulgent
November 10, 2024
Not really too big a fan of Neil's music...but he's an interesting guy (and that kept me turning the pages throughout). Discovered some surprising things too: he wrote the Nicolette Larson song "Lotta Love"; he has/had epilepsy, polio AND type 1 diabetes; and he was actually once in a band with Rick James(!).
Not too sure about some of the contributors though; a few of them all too obviously just liked hearing themselves talk. Then there was that editor--and one moment in particular: the incident of NY's "homophobic rant." When I got to it, I just let out a laugh (as I had a feeling I was going to). That was a "rant"? lol More like a rather grim joke. Yet somehow or other Arthur feels "shocked" everytime he rereads it (talk about your proverbial Snowflake...not to mention yet another example of the intolerance of so many of these self-professed "tolerant" types nowadays).
Not too sure about some of the contributors though; a few of them all too obviously just liked hearing themselves talk. Then there was that editor--and one moment in particular: the incident of NY's "homophobic rant." When I got to it, I just let out a laugh (as I had a feeling I was going to). That was a "rant"? lol More like a rather grim joke. Yet somehow or other Arthur feels "shocked" everytime he rereads it (talk about your proverbial Snowflake...not to mention yet another example of the intolerance of so many of these self-professed "tolerant" types nowadays).
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews