This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Friday, April 29, 2022

Yowzah! We've Almost Reached the End! ( #AtoZChallenge )

 Yowzah!  We've almost reached the end of another A to Z.  These last two posts will be short ones.   So let's get started.


#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter       Never had many albums under Y.   The only one I've gotten rid of is one by Steve Young and that was a pretty good one that maybe I should have kept.  You can probably guess which Y artist I did keep and I kept several of his albums.

Links to the music are included throughout the post if you want to hear the music.



Neil Young takes up a lot of space in my music collection.  Pictured are the vinyl Young albums that I still have.  Most of my Neil Young albums are found in my CDs and cassettes.
Rather than provide a bunch of links (most of you likely know his music and either like it or not) I'll offer the rarer selection of Time Fades Away (1973), a live album that Young himself disliked and allowed to go out of issue until it was put in a 2020 box set.  It's one of my favorite Neil Young albums.


        Are you a fan of the music of Neil Young?   Have Young's outspoken views recently affected your opinion of him?    Are there any Y albums that you would add to this list?












32 comments:

  1. Hey Arlee, was looking for the Y post on the A2Z site this morning...maybe I'm too early. You are right about Neil Young, he is one of those artists who people like or hate. Some of his songs I love and some of them I hate. I'm fond of Southern Man and Hey Hey My My. I got distracted by your post and listening to his songs. Now I have to go finish my post. Cheers,
    Barbie

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    1. Me too Barbie, so I guess the early doesn't always get the worm ;)

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    2. Barbie & Dino, thanks for that heads up about the A to Z Blog. I got totally confused about which letter I was supposed to be posting on. Now it's fixed!

      Almost done!

      Lee

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  2. Neil Young is a bit like the Stones for me, my older brother was really into them both so I know who they are and some of their songs, but neither are my cup of tea.

    Visiting from Facing The Mountain

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    1. Dino, they were artists of an era that may not be appreciated by those who came later. Both artists had a rough edgy sound that appealed to some and grated on others.

      Lee

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  3. Jamie here:
    I was wondering what you would come up for this one. Have you ever listened to Yes?

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    1. Jamie, I listened to a lot of Yes back in the day, but I never bought their albums myself at the time since just about everyone else I knew had something by them. Now I have a few Yes albums on CD and maybe on cassette.

      Lee

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    1. Alex, as I indicated in my previous comment, Yes was playing everywhere back then so I never felt compelled to buy any of their music. They are a favorite group of mine though.

      Lee

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  5. I'm not actively familar with Neil Young, that's probably because I'm too young ;-))) I know, however, Paul Young.
    Happy Friday!

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    1. I just realized the comment went through anonimously. Apologies. It's Tamara aka part-time working Hockey Mom
      https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.com/

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    2. Tamara, yes, this Blogger change has been playing havoc with commenters. Neil Young probably doesn't appeal as much to music listeners who came during the eighties and after. Actually a lot of people from my era don't like his music that much either. It's maybe an acquired taste or something that appeals to certain listeners. Hard to say though.

      Lee

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  6. I still listen to Yes. The Yardbirds paved the way for several talented artists. Yanni was good for long commutes from work back in the day. As for Neil Young, he was always just okay. Sadly, far too many talented people fall off their podiums by standing on a soapbox.

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    1. Diedre, The Yardbirds were like a training ground for rock and rollers. So many great artists have connections to them. Yanni is okay, but I just never got into his music--but I listened to a lot of other similar artists. I'll have to say that Neil Young was a biggie for me and I have been so dismayed by some of his stupid outlooks of recent years. He'd be better off just shutting up and playing his music.

      Lee

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  7. I'd love to add some Yes and Yardbirds albums to my vinyl collection. Regarding Neil Young, I'm not exactly a fan of his political virtue-signalling!

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    1. Carrie-Anne, Yes and Yardbirds are both classics that would round out a good music collection. I don't think I've ever actually owned any music by The Yardbirds in any format. I don't understand why established artists feel the need to shoot off their opinions when they severely divide their audiences. I guess if you have the money and success maybe you don't care as much as someone who is trying to build up an audience. But Young was always using his music platform to speak his opinions. I never paid much attention to most of it.

      Lee

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  8. I haven't heard him but now I am tempted to learn more. Google here I come!

    Dropping by via A-Z challenge from momandideas.com

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    1. Mom, Neil Young has been on the music scene for going on 60 years so I'm surprised you haven't heard of him. I'd say you've probably heard some of his songs and just didn't realize they were by him.

      Lee

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  9. Back in my LP era, I owned at least 5 Neil Young albums, and a good friend of mine owned the 'Harvest' album, so I didn't even need to purchase that one.

    The LP I probably played the most was 'Tonight's The Night' (1975). I'll always love his song 'Sugar Mountain'. But as my musical tastes drastically changed over the years and I made the transition to compact discs, Neil didn't make the cut for me, as I never repurchased any of his releases on CD.

    I have heard of some of his recent rantings in the political / medical arena and, to be honest, I can't say that any of it really surprised me.

    Zappa tomorrow?

    ~ D-FensDogG

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    1. STMcC, Neil Young did write some excellent songs, but his opinions suck. Now I have a hard time listening to his music because I think about his idiotic rantings. The guy has become old and crotchety. He should change his name to Neil OldandGrumpy.

      Can you believe I never owned any Zappa on vinyl? And I loved his music! I have it on CD but not vinyl. But I was surprised to come up with a few Z artists.

      Lee

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  10. Haven't heard Young's Old and Grumpy rantings - he always was a favorite artist back to CSNY
    yevhen

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    1. Moonie, some of Neil's causes are well-intended I think, but he goes a bit overboard with some others. He always has though. I've enjoyed his music since 1969 or so and still do.

      Lee

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  11. Craig yet again.

    Neil Young was pretty good for a while, but started losing it with Crazy Horse.

    Jesse Colin Young took his place for me. He started the Youngbloods and had a nice solo career.

    Yes dented a big section of my brain with that progressive symphony sound.

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    1. Craig, Neil and Crazy Horse went off on some wild tangents, but that was partly what I liked. Neil wasn't afraid to experiment which threw off some of his fans, but I like it when an artist heads into new territories.

      Jesse and the Youngbloods were always a favorite of mine though I never got any of their music other than one of his solo albums on cassette.

      Yes was phenomenal and I still enjoy that prog sound of theirs.

      Lee

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  12. Never been a fan of Neil Young. I have liked the Youngbloods and the Young Rascals, though.

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    1. John H, I like Neil as well as the other two choices. However Neil Young probably has the strongest most enduring catalog of songs. Hardly hear the Rascals anymore and I got rid of my greatest hits vinyl album by them although I might have a copy on CD.

      Lee

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  13. I like Neil Young. I have a few of his recordings on both vinyl and c.d., although my favorite is when he was going through his rockabilly faze and did the album "Everybody Rockin", which had a couple of top 100 radio hits. I believe it was the only album he did with Geffen records, and if I recall, he said in an interview he was disappointed by the lack of support he got from Geffen records with this particular recording.

    I don't mind his politics, although if he really cared, he could've spoke up about the horrible royalties that Spotify pays artists (0.003 per stream if I recall correctly).

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    1. GB, I had the rockabilly album on cassette. I can still remember buying it in Odessa TX and somehow it all seemed appropriate.

      :Lee

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  14. Jamie again--
    I'll admit I have some of Neil Young's albums on Cd, though I have not listened in years. And just last summer, I read his memoir.

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    1. Jamie, I'd like to have a copy of his memoir. But then it would be just one more book in all my clutter.

      Lee

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  15. I enjoy Neil Young's work, I have seen him a few times in concert

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    1. Mike, I saw Neil in Kansas City back in the mid to late 80s. It was the most expensive concert I had attended to that time, but pretty cheap by today's prices. I still like his music, but he can be annoying with his outlooks on the world.

      Lee

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Lee