July 11, 2023. Neil did a small tour of the left coast, promising to play a lot of rare and deep tracks, with few hits. Yes, he did Like A Hurricane but it was on the pump organ. Yes, there was Heart Of Gold but it was solo. There was a touch of Buffalo Springfield too. And yes, Four Strong Winds was folky as usual, but most of the rest of the set was more obscure.
Here’s the set list:
It was Southern California in the 60s and 70s. It was a great time and place for music. Until it wasn’t anymore. So many great artists came out of this fertile slice of space and time. Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, The Eagles, Crosby Stills & Nash, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, The Byrds, Warren Zevon, Buffalo Springfield, Tom Waits, JD Souther, Judee Sill, Lowell George (Little Feat), Gram Parsons, The Mamas and The Papas, and more. It was a hotbed for artistic expression and creativity, though it was eventually headed for a very sobering meet up with commercialism, drugs, ego, greed, and corporate rock. This is a very interesting history, meticulously researched, and filled with hundreds of candid quotes and insights. I like a lot of the music, and I thought I knew about it, but I learned a lot from this book. [continued]
