Neil Young biography
takes dim view
of offstage persona
Neil Young got his nickname, “Shakey,” because of the physical ailments that led to onstage fainting spells and convulsions. But the name takes a broader meaning in Jimmy McDonough’s 788-page biography of the Woodside, Calif., singer-songwriter.
Young, the 56-year-old artist whose four-decade career ranks in the highest sphere of popular music, has been about as shaky and unpredictable as an earthquake in his dealings with those around him: band mates, managers, friends and wives.
“Neil’s not going to do what you think he’s going to do or what he said last week,” says one of Young’s tour managers, Bob Sterne, in the book. “It’s not a good place for the average person to be. The people who are looking for a paycheck don’t last long.”
What emerges in McDonough’s book is a portrait of an artist who is not only fanatical about his music, but who rarely compromises, even in a recording industry built around watering down the singular vision to make it palatable for the masses.
“Neil’s run by his art,” his longtime manager, Elliot Roberts, tells McDonough. “If Neil perceives he’s being jive, he can’t do it.”
Young has rolled over people around him with little regard, usually because they got in the way of his vision of the moment. Musicians who hoped to tie their fortunes to him found themselves dumped out on the highway.
— Brad Kava (KRT)
