We Have A Winner!

"This is from last night? I can hardly tell what decade this
is from!"
Tony & Neil - Seattle, WA, March 9, 1999

We have a winner of the "Made in Manitoba" book contest!

After some tough deliberations by the judges, Thrasher's Wheat is pleased to announce that Tony Stack submitted the winning entry with his "classic Neil funny" story.

But before we get to Tony's story, a little background on our contest for an autographed copy of acclaimed rock historian John Einarson's book titled Made in Manitoba: A Musical Legacy. Last year, we reviewed author Einarson's book and found it to be a fascinating chronicle of Manitoba, Canadian artists like Randy Bachman and the Guess Who. So with Canada's Juno Awards coming up tonight (Sunday, April 2 - more here and here) it seems like a nice time to announce our winner.

Now onto to Tony's story regarding the photo above.

When Neil did his solo acoustic tour in the Spring of 1999, we traveled up to Seattle to see his two shows at the Paramount.

We bought the Gold Circle tickets for each show which included a "meet and greet" after the concert.

On the first night was got the lay of the land, all the Gold Circle ticket holders were ushered into a downstairs lobby. After a few minutes Neil arrived and signed autographs and took photos with fans as he walked through the room.

The first night I got my picture taken with Neil. During the next day, we went and got the photos developed at a one-hour place and took the photo back the next night to have him sign it.

When I handed the photo to Neil, I said " Would you sign this photo from last night?"

Neil replied, "This is from last night? I can hardly tell what decade this is from!"

Congratulations Tony!

And thanks John and Bill for the autographed book to give away! Also, many thanks to all of the other contestant entries. Many, many great Neil Young stories that -- sadly -- we are unable to recognize at this time.

Maybe we can do another contest sometime? Maybe give away Neil's entire CD catalog? Or how about a contest for all of the volumes of The Neil Young Archives Box Set? Nah, that would mean that Neil would have to actually release The Archives. That'll be the day....

More on the previous contest for a copy of The Greendale Songbook which Steve Cross won for his wonderful Don't Spook The Horse Quest tale.