Friday Night Music--Neil Young Edition

When one looks at rock music over the last forty years, you are struck by the effect Neil Young has had on numerous groups. His influence can be heard in folk, rock and grunge and his ever-changing style will mean even further influence in years to come.

His career spans Buffalo-Springfield, CSN & Y and solo with Crazy Horse and the Stray Gators among others. He is the ultimate rebel who has never sold out once and continues to make the music he wants, not what anyone else directs him to.

I give you several phases of his career starting with "Out on the Weekend" live from a BBC production. This song was released in studio form on the epic Harvest album and in my opinion was overlooked with so many other gems:



Next we have Neil and one of those men he influenced immensely. Eddie Vedder and Neil at the 2006 Bridge School Benefit doing "Throw You Hatred Down" acoustic. The Bridge shows are generally the best concerts of the year:



Next we have "Alabama" from the aforementioned Harvest LP. This was a follow up to the excellent "Southern Man," a song that indicted the entire South for racist policies as perceived by the Canadian Young. Both songs were brutally straightforward and Young was taken on by Ronnie Van Zant and Lynyrd Skynyrd in "Sweet Home Alabama" (I hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don't need him around, anyhow...) that earned each respect from the other.



Next we have a song that always appealed to me as kid. Among the first albums my little bro and I ever owned was Rust Never Sleeps taken from the movie of the same name. It was a live performance at the old Cow Palace in Frisco and was the best live rock movie ever released. For some reason, this song struck my twelve-year old mind and remains one of my favorites to this day: Cortez the Killer:



Bonus: Joe Satriani and Grace Potter cover Cortez with a plethora of highly skilled musicians.

And finally, "Roll Another Number" just because it's Friday night: