Latest news with #MicahNelson
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Neil Young Plays Rare Full-Band ‘Ambulance Blues' With The Chrome Hearts
Neil Young treated fans in Groningen, Netherlands, to a once-in-a-generation moment during his Love Earth Tour on July 1, performing a full-band version of 'Ambulance Blues' for only the third time in his six-decade career. The performance took place at Drafbaan Stadspark, where Young was joined by his current touring outfit, the Chrome Hearts, featuring guitarist Micah Nelson (aka Particle Kid), bassist Corey McCormick, drummer Anthony Logerfo, and longtime collaborator Spooner Oldham on organ. More from Billboard Debbie Harry on Image Expectations in Music: 'I Wanted to Work' Wallows Recall Morrissey Walking Out of Their Show: 'That's the Perfect Morrissey Story' Bob Vylan Axed From Radar, Kave Fest After Glastonbury Backlash 'I haven't played this in like 100 years,' Young told the crowd as he stepped into the spotlight. What followed was an eight-minute rendition of the On the Beach deep cut, a song revered by fans for its raw lyrics reflecting cultural malaise and change: 'You're all just pissin' in the wind.' Originally released as the closing track of Young's 1974 album On the Beach — part of his so-called 'Ditch Trilogy' alongside Time Fades Away and Tonight's the Night — 'Ambulance Blues' has almost exclusively appeared in stripped-back solo acoustic performances. Its full-band treatment is exceptionally rare, previously documented only at the 1998 Bridge School Benefit with R.E.M. and during a private 2016 show in Paris with Promise of the Real. The Groningen show was the sixth date of Young's European run, which has seen him lean heavily on classics. The setlist included fan favorites like 'Cinnamon Girl,' 'Harvest Moon,' 'Like a Hurricane,' 'Old Man,' and a poignant solo acoustic 'The Needle and the Damage Done.' In recent performances, Young has revived several deep cuts. The rock legend also revisited one of the most personal songs in his extensive catalog during a special benefit concert on May 23, delivering the first live performance of 'My Boy' in more than four decadesWhile the May set featured classics like 'Heart of Gold,' 'Comes a Time' and 'Sugar Mountain,' it was the mid-show performance of 'My Boy' that drew audible emotion from the crowd. Originally released on 1985's Old Ways, the banjo-led ballad is a tribute to Young's eldest son, Zeke. The song had not been performed live since the 1983 Solo Trans tour. Young's European leg continues July 3 with a stop at Berlin's Waldbühne, followed by two additional European shows before heading back to North America for a 15-date run stretching through Sept. 15. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Times
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The 10 best Neil Young songs from Heart of Gold to Harvest Moon
N eil Young may be a famously mercurial figure who is prone to subjecting audiences to an hour's worth of sustained guitar noise should the mood take him, but he's also nothing if not competitive. That's why I predict the 79-year-old will be blasting out the classics on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night, if only to show young pretenders like the 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo how it's done. Besides, he has got a hot new band called the Chrome Hearts to put through their paces, featuring Willie Nelson's son Micah on guitar and Spooner Oldham, a legendary session ace from the Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama who has played with everyone from Aretha Franklin to Bob Dylan, on Farfisa organ. Here is a dream setlist for what will be, should Neil play ball, the highlight of Glastonbury 2025. • Follow our live coverage of Glastonbury 2025 The opening piano chords to this gentle plea for environmental care, which takes the forms of dreams from the past, present and future, would make for the ideal start to Young's set. Wait for everyone to sing along to, 'Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 21st century.' Probably Young's most famous song, Heart of Gold is a beautifully simple singalong that captures the most romantic and hopeful aspects of the hippy dream; perfect for Glastonbury, in other words. After Springsteen, it is Neil Young's turn to give Donald Trump a blasting from a foreign country. The heavy Rockin' in the Free World would be the best song for it: not only did Young ban Trump from using the rock anthem in his rallies, but it is also an indictment of societal decay under a Republican president (George Bush Sr, but the words still work). After getting the crowd riled up, it's time to bring them down with one of Young's most beautiful songs. An acoustic tribute to the groundsman at his Broken Arrow ranch in California, this plea for understanding across the generations takes on new resonance now that Young is no longer young. • How to watch Glastonbury 2025 live on TV: BBC schedule and stage times Another beauty, this one about a salmon swimming upstream to find the one he loves. Only Young could imbue a line like, 'My belly's scraping on the rocks, I still think someone really cares,' with so much tenderness. Young has been known to stretch this crunchy classic well over the 20-minute mark. Hopefully at Glastonbury he'll keep his tribute to the archetypal flower child to a more manageable length. This is a sad acoustic lament for Danny Whitten, the former member of Young's backing band Crazy Horse who died of a heroin overdose after its release. A more suitable warning of drug use at Glastonbury would be The Nitrous Oxide Balloon and the Damage Done, but it doesn't quite have the same ring. A fan favourite, this lonely ballad about the 17th-century Native American is a masterpiece of surrealism. Young describes a massacre, dreams of going back in time to sleep with Pocahontas, then imagines spending an evening by the fire with her and Marlon Brando. Held together by a glorious melody, it is one of Young's more obscure gems. • It's the ultimate Glasto face-off! Do you see Neil Young, Doechii or Charli XCX? This tribute to enduring love is one of Young's most romantic songs and has been covered countless times. Weather conditions permitting, it should cause an outbreak of tender moments between couples before the Pyramid Stage. Young at his most rocking, telling the story of a man who shoots his lover after catching her cheating on him. Driven by a killer riff and a groove that could (and has been known to) go on for ever, this is a rough masterpiece.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Neil Young Takes Direct Aim at Tesla on New Single ‘Let's Roll Again'
Six days after previewing the song at the semi-annual Light Up The Blues charity show, Neil Young has officially released 'Let's Roll Again' from his upcoming LP Talkin' To the Trees, which arrives June 13. It may sound like a sequel to his 2002 September 11 song 'Let's Roll,' but it's actually a plea for auto manufacturers to act responsibly and create more electric vehicles. 'C'mon Ford, C'mon GM,' he sings. 'C'mon Chrysler, let's roll again/Build somethin' useful, people need/Build us a safe way for us to be/Build us somethin' won't kill our kids.' More from Rolling Stone Watch Neil Young Jam With Stephen Stills, Break Out Stunning Deep Cuts at Light Up the Blues A Neil Young Tribute With a Heart of Gold Trump Admin 'Tried Every Trick' to Scuttle Neil Young's U.S. Citizenship, Daryl Hannah Says This doesn't, however, mean he wants people to support Elon Musk and buy Teslas. 'If yer a fascist/Then get a Tesla,' he sings. 'If it's electric, it doesn't matter.' (Two decades back, Young created his own electric vehicle, Lincvolt. The saga is chronicled on his 2009 LP Fork in the Road.) Talkin' To The Trees is Young's first album with his new band, the Chrome Hearts, which includes guitarist Micah Nelson, organist Spooner Oldham, bassist Corey McCormick, and drummer Anthony Logerfo. (The band is essentially Promise of the Real minus Lukas Nelson, with Oldham added in.) In January, Young shared the Talkin' To The Trees album cut 'Big Change.' Neil Young assembled the Chrome Hearts last year after unspecified health matters forced him to call off a tour with Crazy Horse last summer at the halfway point. They played their first show of the year at Light Up The Blues on April 26. The set included not just the live debut of 'Let's Roll Again,' but also the first performance of 'Ordinary People' since 1988. They recorded Talkin' To The Trees late last year at Shangri-La studios in Malibu, California, with producer Lou Adler. Young's longtime associate John Hanlon served as the engineer. 'In my humble opinion, this is shaping up to be a completely unique and soulfully introspective album of songs,' Hanlon wrote earlier this year on the Neil Young Archives, 'that run the gamut from a palette of beautiful acoustic style pastels to in-your-face loud, irreverent rock 'n roll paint splatter on the canvas in the vein of a Jackson Pollack painting.' Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts kick off a world tour June 18 at Dalhalla, Rättvik, Sweden. The U.S. leg begins August 8 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and wraps up September 15 in Los Angeles. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
