Product Description
Thirty-two songs in one of our-best-selling folios! Includes: After the Gold Rush * Country Girl * Heart of Gold * Ohio * Old Man * Tell Me Why and lots of othe r great songs. With photos and lyric pages. ? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Niel Young Complete Music Volume II1969-1973
This is a must have 217 page paperback of pictures, lyrics, music in piano and guitar format, covering 32 hit songs from 1969-1973...in my opinion, his best music.The book measures 8.75" X 11.75".

All of theNeil Young Complete music books are great!
I've been a Neil Young fan going back to the Buffalo Springfield days. I was in my teens when Neil Young went solo and he was one of the biggest influences in my guitar playing, and music choices.

I've owned the first two books of these books since they where first published way back when, and still love them today.

I will occasionally forget some of Mr. Young's work, and I love going back to these books year after year.

If you're a Neil Young fan these books are golden, I love all of them and they do seem to be fairly accurate to learning his songs. Of course there are some things you need to know in his music to reproduce his sound accurately, but these books will give you a great start in his work.

I think that at least the first two Neil Young Complete Volumes belong in every Neil Young guitar playing fans. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Cantankerous and secretive, Neil Young has banished authors from hisinner sanctum--until now. In Shakey, Jimmy McDonough distills more than300 interviews (including guarded yet revealing interrogations of Young himself)into the definitive biography: the skyrocket success, willful disasters, healthhorrors and triumphs, stunning comebacks, and highly colorful scuffles withequally impossible characters like Stephen Stills, David Crosby, and theincompetent yet brilliant musicians of Crazy Horse. Young is not quite the noblesoul some thought--he's an astounding control freak. But he is never less thanfascinating. "As ruthless as I may seem to be," Young tells McDonough, "yougotta do what ya gotta do. Just like a f-----' vampire. Heh heh heh." --TimAppeloBook Description
Neil Young is one of rock and roll’s most important and enigmatic figures, a legend from the sixties who is still hugely influential today. He has never granted a writer access to his inner life – until now. Based on six years of interviews with more than three hundred of Young’s associates, and on more than fifty hours of interviews with Young himself, Shakey is a fascinating, prodigious account of the singer’s life and career. Jimmy McDonough follows Young from his childhood in Canada to his cofounding of Buffalo Springfield to the huge success of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to his comeback in the nineties. Filled with never-before-published words directly from the artist himself, Shakey is an essential addition to the top shelf of rock biographies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (113)

Bernard Shakey exposed . . .
This biography of a brilliant control freak with an inexorable sense of his own destiny is certainly well researched, the writing style a little bumpy, yet lively, and the narrative flow easy on the reader. Getting as much as he could out of his gregarious loner subject, it has to be acknowledged that Jimmy McDonough's job was mostly uphill. Young did after all greenlight this book, although it was accompanied with a shrug.

McDonough does capture the core and nuances of his subject pretty well, as well as other personalities like his manager, Stephen Stills, David Briggs, and D. Geffen. You really do get a decent sense of the man and all the ups and downs in his very intense life. Resilient and intrepid would be two appropriate adjectives for the life of Neil Young.

Since McDonough was anointed to do the personal interviews with Young, he uses the access to the enigmatic iconoclast well, an access that very few have known. He weaves these interviews throughout a detailed narrative, depicting Young's series of epileptic seizures; his relationship with his domineering mother; and mostly, his ambitions and hard driving focus underpinning his music. This book really does make you appreciate what this towering figure of rock music history is about. And Young comes across as the modest guy he really is. That others have misinterpreted him is only an indicator of his greatness.

In the ten years since this book was first published, Neil Young has already compiled enough living and episodes to fill another biography. It will be interesting to see how that one gets written up. It should be hoped that that book has a better copyeditor than this one did; there are very long poorly edited passages that detract from the narrative flow at times. And, since there are other flaws, such as McDonough's seemingly arrogant grandstanding on his self-appointed critical analysis of Young's work, a future book would do well to have a more distant personal involvement with the subject.

Yet, McDonough did make a determined effort to reveal an almost intractible mystery to the public; for this he has been successful and should be given alot of credit. He has produced a good book, considering the difficulty of his subject, and it is an entertaining read.

The Cloud Reckoner

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

Think of It As An 800-Page Newspaper Column
When I read any biography, I take it for granted that the author has a point of view and compensate accordingly. But reading "Shakey" is like playing a game of Hollywood Squares in which the discerning reader must constantly be asking if the characters quoted are telling the truth, making something up, or even capable of recognizing that there's a difference between those two things. There are so many layers of potential misdirection in this book, beginning with McDonough's obvious biases, and freefalling from there to include the biases of the people he interviewed, his freedom to select among those interviews for statements that support his opinions, and the notorious unreliability of memories on life support in the brains of long-time substance abusers, that it's absurd to take any of this book on face value. Even if many of the people he interviewed can recall accurately what they thought of a particular event that took place 30 years earlier, why should we think they were sober enough to comprehend what was going on in the first place?

At least one other reviewer compares McDonough's insertion of himself and his opinions to the celebrated school of Gonzo Journalism and the work of Hunter Thompson. Puh-leeze!That's like comparing McDonough to Hemingway on the strength of the fact that verbs can be found in both writers' sentences. McDonough's immature and condescending practice of spelling certain words the way Young pronounces them ("Innaresting" being the prime example) and of appending the grating "heh heh" to half of Young's comments (NOTE TO MCDONOUGH: "[laughs]" is the way confident writers do it) suggests to me that he either doesn't know any better, or doesn't know that writing biographical books calls for adjusting one's writing from the style appropriate foropinion-based columns and features - the writing forms that constitute the majority of his published output.Instead of insisting on making yourself an 800-page center of attention next time around, Jimmy, take some popular advice from your colleagues who write sports columns, and act like you've been there before [laughs].

Superb read...
I'm a 40-something former Canadian... Neil Young was part of my growing up, but a not a big part...colleague at work loaned my SHAKEY, and the obsession began... This is a fascinating read. Full of interesting historical anecdotes of the time. Neil's parents are very interesting aspects of media history in Canada (http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-74-1728-11881-11/that_was_then/people/scott_young). I learned more about the man that I probably ever wanted to know. But I listen to his music now more that ever. Tonight's the night...

Great bio, a bit too opinionated on the music
How could a Neil Young biography NOT be long and rambling and occasionally overblown?"Shakey" is all these things, but I don't see why anyone who knows anything about the man and his music would be surprised at that.

McDonough's research is exhaustive and he interviewed an impressive cast of people in and out of Young's life since his childhood, so the length is justified and perhaps even necessary.There is a lot to be learned about his pre-fame years in Canada and Los Angeles, about how he handled his celebrity once it arrived, and especially about how he arrived at the trademark, edgy and deliberately raggedy sound that defines his best work.Along the way, we also get at least a glimpse at curiosities like his fondness for cars and model trains, the motifs behind his stylistic changes over the years, and even what he might have been thinking with all those wonderfully awful 1980s albums.McDonough frequently breaks up the narrative with pages-long transcripts of his interviews with Young.These are sometimes unnecessarily long, but they are probably the clearest look any of us will ever get at the reclusive star.

McDonough also at least tries to offer some insight into what all those songs mean.The trouble with this is that he often strays from interpretation into expounding on his own opinions of the songs.More often than not, those opinions amount to little more than "the albums that didn't sell are a lot better than the ones you bought, and they're all no good compared to the unreleased recordings that I've heard and you less serious fans haven't."Okay, Jimmy, we get it.You don't like "Harvest."No need to beat the point into the ground every few pages.

As long as you can get past his fan-snob attitude about most of Young's released albums, though, it is a great look at a very enigmatic but important figure.Well done, for the most part.

Vampire Blues
Not "perfect" (sure thing, rambling; sloppy prose at times; rushed notice given to Broken Arrow sessions) but, given the topic, some slick Mark Bego bio would have been unforgivable. How does an author "write" about an artist whose lyrics and music are so ineffable and intuitive, anyway? The best thing going on here are the QUOTES, and there's lots. Mcdonough got EVERYONE to talk - except (of course) Pegi Young and ("heh heh") Stephen Stills. Nevertheless, this IS the book revealing the crepuscular world of Crazy Horse - so, there. ... Read more

Product Description
Titles include: Alabama; Broken Arrow; Cinnamon Girl; Country Girl; Cowgirl in the Sand; Harvest Moon; Heart of Gold; Helpless; Like a Hurricane; Long My You Run; The Needle and the Damage Done; Old Man; On the Way Home; Only Love Can Break Your Heart; Southern Man; Sugar Mountain; Tell Me Why.Authentic Guitar Tab. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Best Neil Young guitar compilation period
As of now, this is the best place to start...still not all popular songs are included...but still the best to date

Songs are here in there entirety...if you want easy guitar stuff go elsewhere, this is to the actual recordings...

Some Crazy Horse songs are ment for two guitar players not one...but either way rhythem or lead is still great to use...

Acoustic songs are 100% correct...so are the eletric can't stress it enough...

Best place for any guitarest into Neil Young to start...also, the unplugged tab book is great as well...

5 starts....

DIfficult to follow
I found the tab in this book very hard to follow. I am a beginner guitar player, and Neil Young is always a good place to learn. However, the tab seems filled with unnecessary info that the make the bass notes hard to follow. Even simple songs that I knew like, "The Needle and The Damage Done", were brutal to follow. If you want an ABSOLUTE tab layout of the songs, with EVERY single minute noise, then get the book. Poor indeed, as far as I'm concerned. ... Read more

Product Description
All of Neil Young s greatest hits and most influential songs compiled in one amazing collection. Titles are: After the Gold Rush * Cinnamon Girl * Comes a Time * Cowgirl in the Sand * Down by the River * Harvest Moon * Heart of Gold * Helpless * Hey, Hey, My My (Into the Black) * Like a Hurricane * The Needle and the Damage Done * Ohio * Old Man * Only Love Can Break Your Heart * Rockin' in the Free World * Southern Man. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Avoid "tab" books from Alfred Publishing!
Was So loking forward to this book to learn Neil's songs.
Unfortunaley for me, and for anyone who buys this, Alfred publishing does not transcribe every song note for note the way the great Hal Leonard company does with their tba books.
Have already run into 2 spots where solos I wanted to learn are represented by chord names, and a note to "ad lib" the solo! I coulda done that without paying for this book!
Hal Leonard is the ONLY company you should trust for true tab. What a shame Alfred gets the Neil Young books! ... Read more

Product Description
Some of his greatest hits including Alabama * Cowgirl in the Sand * Helpless and many more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

lame!
The transcriptions in this book are horrid! It only has chords, no solos or anything. Do not buy this book! Your better off to check out tabs on the net. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fun, informative read of Young and his Harvest
This book does a good job of packing in a lot of informative bits, personal opinion, and musical history context -- I'm not sure it helped me re-discover an album I've liked for a long time -- but it is definitely an interesting, cheap and fun read.

The author does a good job of helping us understand Young's production techniques (or lack of them) and his attitude toward music making.I liked the musical context he gives us for country-rock and Young's contribution to it.Especially fresh was the author's attitude of the album as not being a superlative Young album.His critical take on the songs at the end of the book is not as enlightening as I had hoped -- it's really the first 50 pages of this 33.3 book that work for me.

The author should be credited for pulling in information like how often Young continues to play these songs in concert (context pertaining to Young's own ongoing attitude toward Harvest) and detailed information on the different CD (DVD-A) versions of the album and the merits and faults of each -- definitely helps one consider a new purchase of Harvest in the future.

Recommended for anyone who is a music geek or a Young fan. ... Read more

Product Description
A survey of his long career--136 pages, lots of photos, and 35 rock 'n' roll greats: Cinnamon Girl * Harvest * Heart of Gold * Sugar Mountain * Southern Man * Ohio and many more. ? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fun for Beginning Guitar Players
Chords are easy enough and songs fun to play.Knowing so many of the songs makes it easy to figure them out on my guitar.Pure fun.

Jeff, the stay at home strummer

It's all here, if you can play the notes.
The songs in this book are dated from 1966 to 1976, though the book didn't appear until 1978.Neil Young has a long history in music, and it has been easy for other performers to pick up and do songs that have been scored as this book has, with a separate treble staff for the vocal parts, and chord charts for guitar chords throughout.A footnote at the beginning of "The Loner" explains how to make the guitar different, "Tune first and sixth strings to D (D A D G B D)" (p. 29) to play the chords in that song.This is not the same as "Sugar Mountain," "Tune all strings down one whole step to a D-based tuning."(p. 21).

I had an early video of his "Rust Never Sleeps" concert, in which Neil Young sat down by himself at a piano and played, note for note, the song "After the Gold Rush" as it appears on pages 54-57 of this book.The last page is mainly devoted to singing the line, "Flying Mother Nature's silver seed to a new home in the sun" twice, after "All in a dream, all in a dream the loading had begun."I realized that it would take a lot of preparation to get that far, but the time which I devoted to reaching that destination was some of the most worthwhile musical efforts that I have ever attempted.

There are 35 songs in NEIL YOUNG ~ DECADE.Fans of particular concerts, like WELD, might consider most of these songs very early in Neil Young's career.The book is copyright 1978, Weld didn't come along until 1991, and only includes "Cinnamon Girl," "Cortez the Killer," "Like a Hurricane," and "Tonight's the Night":only four of the 35 songs in this book.Fans of Buffalo Springfield might appreciate "Expecting To Fly," and people who sing harmony might see if matching the notes in the book is easier than trying to pick parts off the recorded version.The piano introduction for the song "Cinnamon Girl" has the kind of bass line that I find most interesting in the written music, jumping around slightly before it becomes the melody, and a vocal harmony is also provided.This book helped me learn how much is going on in music besides the melody.The complications for the song "Southern Man" take pages 58-61, while "Helpless" fits on pages 62-63 fine.I have a tendency to like songs called "I Believe in You," and the song on pages 64-66 asks the question like he is really worried about "Am I lying to you when I say that I believe in you?""Oh, oh" coincides with "la la la la" after that.

Then we get "Heart of Gold" on pages 71-73, "Ohio" on pages 74-75, "Old Man" on pages 78-81, "Harvest" on pages 90-94, "The Needle and the Damage Done" on pages 96-99, and I already mentioned some of the more recent numbers.The last song in the book is "Long May You Run" from 1976, suggested for Bright Country Style.You might have heard a few of the other songs in the book, but these are the ones I think you ought to play, if you want to learn something.I hope you can play them better than I can. ... Read more

Product Description
Alfred has expanded the Classic Album Editions series with the new matching folio to Neil Young's legendary record Harvest. The Harvest matching folio provides authentic guitar TAB for all the songs on the album. Titles: Out on the Weekend * Harvest * A Man Needs a Maid * Heart of Gold * Are You Ready for the Country? * Old Man * There's a World * Alabama * The Needle and the Damage Done * Words (Between the Lines of Age). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Childrens history books
I think that these books are a great way to get kids interested in the people who helped shape our country to what it is today, our freedom, power and our faith. It is simple, easy reading for about second-third grade beginning level. They are full of fun interesting things about the person. I think the whole set of these books should be in every library especially at elementary schools. I myself have enjoyed them and learned alot I didn't learn when I was in school.

Great book!
This book is great! The book has a lot of information about Neil Armstrong. You can learn a lot about airplanes! I felt like I was in the story. I think you will feel like you are in the story too!
I strongly recommed this book!

Simon. 7 years old.

Neil Armstrong : Young Flyer
I had to read this book for a book report, and it was very full of good information.It was easy to read, and I finished it quickly ... Read more

Product Description
Includes: The Old Laughing Lady * World on a String * Like a Hurricane * The Needle and the Damage Done * Helpless * Harvest Moon * Transformer Man * Unknown Legend * Look Out for My Love * Long * May you Run * From Hank to Hendrix. ? ... Read more

Product Description
From one of the most influential singer-songwriters of our time comes sixty-five songs from eight albums, including Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) * Love Is a Rose * Long May You Run * Comes a Time * Let It Shine * Lotta Love. Two hundred thirty-two pages of great material. ? ... Read more

Product Description
Lots of photos and 28 great songs such as Cinnamon Girl * Sugar Mountain * Mr. Soul * I Am a Child * Down by the River and many others. ? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent book
This is a great anthology of Neil Young's early years, including stuff from Buffalo Springfield and some obscure but tuneful songs from that band.I found the chords to be right on target for one of my favorites, Flying on the Ground, a beautiful song with unusual chord voicings that would not be apparent to the average guitar player.The chord charts for that song alone make this book worth the price. ... Read more

Book Description
Neil Young's musical evolution has been as versatile as rock itself: pioneering country-rocker with Buffalo Springfield; seminal folk-rocker with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; gentle acoustic guitarist; crashing hard rock electric guitarist; grunge prototype; and good-times rock 'n' roller. This cerebral singer/songwriter has penned unforgettable melodies, harmonies and lyrics, portraying plaintive sadness, lilting warmth and ragged anguish with his unmistakable tenor voice. Offering detailed analyses of this idiosyncratic musician's songs and the stories behind them, this book examines all of Young's key albums from 1967 to 2000, including such milestones as After the Gold Rush, Harvest, Tonight's the Night, Rust Never Sleeps, Harvest Moon, Silver and Gold and many others. An essential companion to one of the most important of all rock repertoires. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

This book is terrible...
Not only is this book full of typos, its full of blatantly false information, most notable is the assertion that Neil stopped playing "Hey Hey My My" after Kurt Cobain quoted it in suicide note.I have personally seen him play that song at least 5 times since then and before this book was published.I have also read several interviews in which Neil dicounted the stories that he stopped playing it.There are numerous other errors that any serious Neil fan would clearly pick up on.Did the author do any research? Or did he just write on what he thought his personal knowledge was.

Secondly, alot of the stories or assertions behind the meanings of songs, seem to be just speculation, such as perhaps it means this or perhaps it means this.It would be better if the author actually delved into the circumstances under which the song was written.

I also don't like the clear personal bias and thoughts from the author.Instead of reading like a volume of information it reads like one mans opinions of the quality and meanings of Neil Young songs.

If it weren't for the full colour glossy photos (which someone else pointed out are sometimes reversed showing Neil playing guitar left handed!) this book wouldnt be worth the 3.99 I paid for it from the bargain bin at my local bookstore.

Just Okay
First of all, did anyone proof read this book?There are typos on almost every page.Also, a thesaurus would have come in handy.If I had to read the words "Canon" or "Pastiche" one more time I would have had to gouge my eyes out.Also, the pictures are inverted, showing Neil and others playing guitar left handed.The information in this book is interesting, but it's all rehashed from other sources.Skip this one and buy "Shakey".

Some personal bias, but otherwise a great book
I give this book four stars instead of five because the author tends to write off entire albums as [bad] not bother giving the songs adequate review space, especially "Re-Ac-Tor" and "Hawks and Doves," which I think are two of Young's best albums.In fact, the author doesn't like much of anything Young did in the 80s, except "This Note's For You," and this is largely due to his own personal biases (sp?) against the content and genres of the albums.Other than that, this is a adequately insightful book about Neil Young's songs, and I do enjoy it.Anyone who's interested in how his songs came to be written should get this book without hesitation; just be prepared for some of your favorite albums to take a beating. ... Read more

Book Description
This unique, best-selling series features quotes gathered over the years from family, friends, and the artists themselves giving the reader a personal insight into their music and world. Fully illustrated throughout with black and white photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Disappointing
"In His Own Words" is nothing but a compilationof previously published quotes lifted from old magazines, liner notes and the like. To even a diehard Young fan this book is a major disappointment. Unless youare a collector who simply wants any Neil related material available Iwould advise against purchasing this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Pete Long's book Ghosts On The Road - Neil Young In Concert was first published to great acclaim in 1996 and an update has been long overdue. This new paperback edition, with over 520 pages, expands details of Neil Youngs concert appearances through to the end of 2006 as well as revising and updating many previous chapters. Neil Young started performing in 1961 and has continued to do so ever since. The book contains chapters, each with a concise introduction, relating to his concerts from those earliest days onwards - itineraries and set lists relating to The Squires, Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, CSN&Y, The Santa Monica Flyers, The Ducks, Transband, The International Harvesters, The Bluenotes, The Restless, The Lost Dogs, Pearl Jam, The Echos, Friends & Relatives and more are all included. There are details of over 1900 appearances and the book includes over 1400 set lists. While the basic size, layout and style remain unchanged from the 1996 edition there is a wealth of extra detail and appendices include song charts for all major tours, official and unofficial live releases, and details of the musicians involved. The front cover features a beautiful, previously unpublished, colour photograph by the celebrated photographer Joel Bernstein. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Bible for CSN&YFans
The most up to date book of concerts done by Neil with and without CSN.Very accurate, (had both encores from 7/13/74, I was there!) and some new facts even I didn't know. Great coverage of the 2000, 2002, and 2006 tours. This is a book of facts rather then another picture book.It is very easy to read and look things up. ... Read more

Book Description
15 of Neil Young's classics arranged for easy piano, including: After the Goldrush * Cinnamon Girl * Harvest Moon * Heart of Gold * Hey Hey, My My * Old Man * Rockin' in the Free World * and more. ... Read more

Book Description
As a writer in Wired magazine puts it, Neil Young is a "folk-country-grunge dinosaur [who has been] reborn (again) as an Internet-friendly, biodiesel-driven, multimedia machine." In Neil Young and the Poetics of Energy, William Echard stages an encounter between Young's challenging and ever-changing work and current theories of musical meaning—an encounter from which both emerge transformed.

Echard roots his discussion in an extensive review of writings from the rock press as well as his own engagement as a fan and critical theorist. How is it that Neil Young is both a perpetual outsider and critic of rock culture, and also one of its most central icons? And what are the unique properties that have lent his work such expressive force? Echard delves into concepts of musical persona, space, and energy, and in the process illuminates the complex interplay between experience, musical sound, social actors, genres, styles, and traditions.

Readers interested primarily in Neil Young, or rock music in general, will find a new way to think and talk about the subject, and readers interested primarily in musical or cultural theory will find a new way to articulate and apply some of the most exciting current perspectives on meaning, music, and subjectivity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not rock criticism, but a good academic study of a rock musician
Like Susan Fast's Led Zep book, Echard's book about Neil Young is a book by a college professor that is published by an academic publisher. It's an academic study. There are lots of footnotes.

So I hate to see this book criticized by reviewers for being what it is, an academic study. It is not for everyone. It is not INTENDED for everyone.

Once you realize that it defends highly original ideas about how guitar solos are meaningful artistic gestures, you can appreciate it for what it tries to be (semiotic analysis) and not what you might hope it is (rock criticism). And it's damn fine semiotic analysis.

I don't give it five stars because it doesn't give equal time to all phases of Neil Young's career.

A Fabulous Book
I'm a student at Carleton University in Ottawa Ontario where Dr. Echard teaches and I have to say that this book is an excellent tool for students of musical theory.I understand the reservations that others have for the book's readability as it does convey many of Dr. Echard's more upper level theories about culture and music.But having taken several clases with him I can say that he is an amazing speaker and a well-informed doctoral scholar but he is definately an intellectual and the more elaborate theories will go over the heads of most.I would recommend this book to those who wish to have a greater understanding of cultural theory moreso than those wishing to read a general biography of Neil Young.

If you liked this book, you will also love...
The following titles:

1. MY BATHS IN CALGON
2. HOW TO KEEP YOUR TENURE WITHOUT HAVING TO DO ANYTHING INTELLIGENT
3. TOUCH ME OH SO TENDERLY
4. HOW TO MISEXPRESS THE INEXPRESSIBLE AND GET PAID FOR IT
5. POETRY, FEELINGS, WARMNESS, AND YOU
6. WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR PhD
7. SAY IT LIKE YOU DON'T MEAN IT
8. WHY IT'S BETTER TO BE COOL THAN SMART WHILE ALL THE WHILE IMAGINING THAT YOU'RE BOTH
9. THE SECRET GARDEN
10. THE LONG SUMMER OF PRETENDING TO HAVE FEELINGS
11. 101 WAYS TO BETRAY THAT YOU'RE A GUILTY INTELLECTUAL
12. HOW TO CONFUSE "I LIKE IT" WITH "I SHOULD WRITE ABOUT IT"

Way too in-depth, wordy, and subjective for me....
I bought this book because the title and subject matter appeared to be really interesting. Well, I didn't think about how hard it would be to convey the "meanings" and "energy" of the poetics of Neil Young. I have a Communications Theory degree, and this book is almost worse than some of the textbooks I had to read. It is very well referenced though, so I guess if you felt like looking a bunch of other stuff up just so you could understand what he's talking about, then you might like this one. My guess is that once you understood the syntax the author uses, you'd probably wonder why the hell he took so long to say something simple.My only recommendation of this book would be to someone who is highly educated in musical meanings, theory, etc. and is enough of a Neil Young freak to allow themselves the time to read and understand this stuff. Otherwise, get yourself a Bukowski book so you can actually read and possibly understand the "energy" inherent in good poetry.

briljant
I amhalfway , it's not easy but how the writer goes in depth with
some Neil Youngissues .............it ' s amazing andvery profound !

It'seven more difficultas english is not my mother language!

So i am gonna read it three times atleast!

The book I was waiting for: neil young and the Poetics of Energy !!!
That'sa study , not a book, andI love it !

Enjoy,

Marc ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

great condition
we got this book as a gift for a huge neil young fan, and he was very happy with it. it was in great condition.

Excellent reasearch by the author.very detailed
This may be the only book you'll ever need on Neil Young.Then again, there is always more to Neil than we know...

For an entirely different but excellent analysis of Neil Young's music and personality, read"Neil Young and The Poetics of Energy" by WILLIAM ECHARD

neil young zero to sixty
this is the best and most complete and accurate book about Neil that you will ever read. Why buy the others as i have read all and this is the only book,if you really want to know about shakey neil......

released music only
This might be a pleasing read-along for the casual collector. Rogan provides short blurbs for each song, including a littlebackground information on each, and quotes from (unsourced) interviews. Many Neil Young fans could write this book in a weekend alone with a stereo and a pot of coffee.

As a "Guide" though, this book is not "Complete". Neil Young has a few unreleased albums (like "Chrome Dreams", which went as far as an acetate) and unrecorded tunes (like "No One Seems To Know"). Rogan's book doesn't cover these. Heavyweight collectors will also be dissatisfied with lack of information on various releases. Not to mention, if I may be so gauche, bootlegs.

And realisticly you can buy a dozen record guides (and read dozens more online) that include writeups of Young's available albums.

Comprehensive look at the music
This book covers all of Neil's commercially releasesd music from Buffalo Springfield through Mirror Ball. Nothing earth shattering here and the book focuses entirely on the music and is NOT a biography but it is a nicelittle book.

It is notso much something to sit down and read as it is areference guide. It would be a great reference guide for someone who isstill looking to complete a Neil Young collection. Every song Neil released in that period (1966-1995)is listed and briefly reviewed. The book isorganized chronologically by date of album (CD) release and has an indexwhich makes it handy. ... Read more