Podcast: Well I used to drive a cab you know

Here at Thrasher's Wheat, we have a lot of respect for Bob Lefsetz. Mainly because Lefsetz was one of the few critics who got Greendale and passionately defended Young's artistic vision of Greendale.

So when Lefsetz speaks, Thrasher listens.

And here's the Lefsetz Letter on a Neil Young podcast with "The Last Trip To Tulsa":

I guess we love Neil Young because he seems to be beholden to no one. After all, it was HE who wrote "This Note’s For You", not Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton or even Keith Richards. He may be a prickly bastard, but he’s the last guy who hasn’t sold out. And therefore we can believe in him.

Listening to this very first record will inform you of how it used to be. When music was the highest art form. And people were exploring. And marketing was secondary to music. Neil sat in the studio and laid down his truth. To hear this record is like staying up all night with a guy you just met. Who you might never ever see again. But the experience left an indelible mark, you can’t forget it.

Neil Young is winter music. For when the landscape is bleak. When you’re in your own mind. When you’re contemplating. His records are the opposite of what’s purveyed in the mainstream today. Can you imagine Neil at a Hollywood hotspot? You know Neil didn’t have a lot of friends in high school, and still doesn’t. Oh, he’s not a loner, he’s got just enough. And just enough is all you need.

It’s records like this that built this music business edifice. Its caretakers have fucked up the store royally, but thank god we still have Dead Sea Scrolls like Neil Young’s debut to experience, to remind us what it’s all about."

Bob Lefsetz podcast on Neil Young from RhinoCasts.



More on Neil Young's first solo album.