can’t believe how many of my all-time favourite albums have been picked up at sales. This was 99c cassette tape I picked up at Brashes again. I wasn’t all that familiar with Neil at the time but I’d heard some good things about stuff earlier than his blockbuster Harvest stuff which was all over the radio. I had my first car and I was driving up to a caravan park up near Bendigo. There were lots of families going up there for Easter, plus this youth group I was part of at the time.
Anyway, on the first night the young people as we were known, gathered together away from the rest and played the guitars, sang and then, as it quietened down and everyone was getting tired, I put this album on. After that, I think we never stopped playing it. It was the background music for everything.
It was a mixture of folky stuff and his classic guitar rockers that made it easily the best album he ever did. Harvest for me was overcooked.
It also fitted all my moods from the sadness of Birds to the joy of When You Dance. And it’s one of those albums with no clunkers.
Many years later I was at the Jump Club in Collingwood with my friend Jimmy. Halfway through the night, he came up the stairs to let me know he had just been talking to Neil Young and did I want to meet him. I wasn't surprised since Jimmy had already introduced me to both Joe Strummer and Ray Davies. He wasn't backward in coming forwards as Mum used to say. So I was introduced to Neil Young. I cannot remember much of the conversation but I did notice he was wearing platform thongs. I wish I could remember the band who was playing because he was quite digging their sound.
Neil invited us all to the show at Festival Hall the next night. Which was an amazing gig if only for Cinnamon Girl. And also for the fact that Neil actually spotted Jimmy in the crowd during one song and waved to him.
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