Time Fades Away Artwork

The artwork for the Release "Time Fades Away" Petition page has recently been updated and looks fantastic.

Jef, over at Sidestreet Records, has been very generous in redesigning the page and offering up lots of rare Neil Young artwork. Many thanks Jef!

And speaking of the petition, we crossed the 2,000 signature level last week.

More on the petition, observations on Fiona Apple fans petitioning for the release of the "Extraordinary Machine" album, and comment highlights on the Release "Time Fades Away" Petition page.

So if you haven't signed yet, what are you waiting for???

Randomly Blogged - Son Volt, Bruce Springsteen, Ian McNabb, Maria McKee, Jason Molina

Son Volt's New CD "Okemah and the Melody of Riot"

Bruce Springsteen on VH1's Storytellers

Ian McNabb and the Crazy Horse Influence

Maria McKee Covers "Barstool Blues"

Jason Molina and Magnolia Electric Co. and the influence of Crazy Horse on their sound

Neil Says "Thanks"

A letter has been posted on Neil Young's website where he thanks everyone for their support during his health recovery from surgery.

The letter reads in part:

"I just want to thank you for all the messages of love, support and faith that you have sent my way in the time after my intervention procedure and recovery. It has meant a lot to me to receive such support, not only from my wife Pegi, family, friends and business acquaintances, fellow musicians, music and filmmakers and artists, but also from the people who have enjoyed my work over the years. Your prayers and support have been a great source of strength to both Pegi and I, and our whole family during this time.

I am happy to tell you that the intervention was a complete success and our deepest gratitude goes out to all the fine doctors and medical professionals at New York Presbyterian Hospital for their efforts."

From Neil's sister Astrid Young's website (via Bad News Beat):

"I know you all know about my brother's mishap, and many have been sending their sincere best wishes, and we all thank you with love. He's feeling good, has everything under control, and is back in the saddle, having returned to Nashville to continue working on his new record. Sounds like it's going to be exciting: Spooner Oldham, Ben Keith, Carl Himmel, kind of reminiscent of Harvest Moon, eh? Neil's message to everyone: watch your blood pressure! (He even sent our brother Bob a blood pressure machine so he could keep on top of it!) Good luck, Neil, it's going to be the best record ever! Of course, i wish I was there, but I am very busy with my own brand of karmic healing right now."

More on the outpouring and global reaction to Neil Young's illness.

Greendale Songbook: Here's How to Win One

A songbook for Greendale is now available, The Neil Young & Crazy Horse Guitar Songbook Edition: Greendale. The new album-matching folio has note-for-note guitar transcriptions in tablature of all the songs on the album.

The songbook has reproductions of the album booklet art and complete lyrics.

There's all sorts of interesting stuff like finding out that "Be The Rain" is tuned in Double-drop D.


Warner Bros. Publications' asked if Thrasher's Wheat could giveaway a copy on the site in a contest. So Thrasher said sure.

So here's the "contest". Real simple. Send in something for posting on Thrasher's Wheat. We'll see what comes in and pick a winner of The Neil Young & Crazy Horse Guitar Songbook edition: Greendale.

Maybe a Greendale concert memory? Or a Neil song story?

Here's something posted recently that's really nice: Neil Young's Winnipeg Hometown.

E-mail your Neil Young posting to thrasher ATSIGN thrasherswheat DOT org

Thrasher will take contest submissions until May 1.

So just be the rain!

More on Neil's Young Greendale.

Randomly Blogged - Drive-By Truckers, Gov't Mule, Lucinda Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis

Well, things have been pretty crazy lately here around Thrasher's Wheat International Headquarters (which is basically a corner of my basement, where the above photo of the Rolling Stone cover was taken.)

Over the past several weeks we've had:

- The Pretenders Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Neil Young,
- ASCAP Founders Award to Neil Young,
- Canada's Juno Awards in Winnipeg, and
- the stunning news that Neil had brain surgery for an aneurysm.

The news on Neil's health generated virtually unprecedented levels of traffic here at Thrasher's Wheat and an outpouring from fans around the world.

Many visitors left get well wishes in the open thread. Heartfelt comments like these:

Neil,
As one of the few true living legends left in rock, the news scared me big time. So relieved the news is looking good and here's looking towards us all enjoying more of the Young genius in the future, whichever direction you take us next time.

Keep on rocking and just being Neil.

Barstool

---

Neil,
So glad to hear everything is going to be OK.

I found your music with a girl in 1972. I still have your music and that girl and both mean more then anything to me.

I have always wanted to see you play live, got close a couple of times but missed. Please get better and play somewhere close to Kansas.

Don't be Denied my friend.

Larry, somewhere in Kansas

---

Dear Neil,
The entire congregation of the Church of the Incarnation in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, (outside of Albuquerque) has been praying for you. Get well soon, old man!

Sharon in Rio Rancho

---

Hey Neil:
As a neighbor of yours on the coastside, and a brain aneurysm rupture survivor, and as an all time rocking fan, I wish you well. If you're on the web and interested there are a whole bunch of us at the Brain Aneurysm Connection who are wishing you well.

Terri

In other Neil Young News items:

- Drive-By Truckers Wish Neil Well from the Stage

- FrankB (~feel no evil~) reports on Rust that Gov't Mule encored on Sunday with "Rocking In The Free World" in Hamburg, Germany.

- Lucinda Williams discusses her favorite live Neil Young albums.

- Maroon 5 encores a cover of Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" in Toronto.

- Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: One of Five Supergroups That Actually Worked.

- Jason Molina and the Magnolia Electric Co. latest CD 'What Comes After the Blues,' sounds a lot like Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

- Jimmy Buffett, closed a recent San Jose concert with a final encore dedicated to Neil Young. Buffett performed "A Pirate Looks at Forty", a song about lost youth.

- Rumors continue to circulate on Neil's trip to Nashville between his diagnosis after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony and the surgery. There have been indications that Neil and Jerry Lee Lewis hooked up in the studio - possibly with Spooner Oldham and Ben Keith - and cut as many as eight tracks. Some believe the sound to be Harvest/Harvest Moon-like. Others feel that Jerry Lee Lewis' influence will yield a cross between the Shocking Pinks' "Everybody's Rockin'" and International Harvesters' "Old Ways" sound.

Fair & balanced Neil news.

Thrasher's Wheat reports. You decide...

Rust Radio Rocks & Roels

Another great weekend on Rust Radio helping us recover from our collective heart attacks last weekend.

A bunch of nice crispy Neil Young concerts are being streamed.

A great show from Rotterdam, 7/24/01, on the European tour with Crazy Horse.

Also, featured is the Gorge, WA, 9/9/00 concert with a sublimely beautiful version of "Razor Love".

Listeners can also vote on upcoming concert playlists. Other upcoming shows scheduled for play this weekend based on votes include 1992-03-22 at Upper Darby, PA and 1969-08-26 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in Los Angeles, CA. Very cool! Talk about listener supported radio?!

And when we're not listening to Rust Radio here at Thrasher's Wheat, we enjoy tuning into Mansion On The Hill, which regularly features Neil and Neil-influenced music.

Have a nice weekend! Thanks Roel for the Rock & Roll! Also, thanks to Rust Radio for the link to the Release "Time Fades Away" Petition. Obviously, another great weekend so Don't Be Denied!

NOTE: Rust Radio normally operates only on weekends.

k. d. lang Sings "Helpless" for Neil at Junos

k.d. lang sings "Helpless" at Junos - Getty Images photo by Donald Weber

During last night's broadcast of the Canadian Juno Awards ceremony, k. d. lang sang "Helpless" for Neil Young, who is recovering from brain surgery.

Before performing the song, according to the Vancouver Sun, lang said:

"If there is a beacon or a bastion of an artist who has maintained his integrity and his uncompromising vision and purity . . . it is Neil Young.

So Neil, I sing this for you. Heal fast my friend."

(k.d. covered Young's "After The Goldrush" on her last album 'Hymns of the 49th Parallel'.)

Meanwhile, Neil is recuperating in New York City and watched the show at the nearby Canadian consulate.

John Brunton, executive producer of the Juno telecast, said he had spoken to someone at the consulate who reported that Young was visibly moved by the tribute. From Toronto Sun, Brunton said:

"He actually teared up and thought it was one of the most beatufil things.

And he went to the piano -- there's a piano in the house -- and between commercial breaks, he was playing the piano. He watched the entire show. He thought the show was fantastic."

More good news on Neil's recovery from ABC News which reports that Neil is now out of hospital and expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery in New York for a potentially fatal brain aneurism, his publicist says.

Agent Bob Merlis says:

"He's out of the hospital and recuperating in New York. Afterwards, Young plans to go to Nashville to finish some recording work."

Well, that's our Neil. It's all about the music.

More on Neil Young's surgery, health and worldwide reaction. Also, drop Neil a get well note.

Neil Young Suffers Brain Aneurysm: Long May You Run!

2005 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony photo by Julie Jacobson

Sadly, this is not a cruel April Fool's Day joke.

Thrasher could only wish this was just a prank but it appears to be true that Neil has had a brain aneurysm and is now recovering. As news reports started filtering out yesterday, I could only stare in disbelief and not wanting to believe and awaiting word that this was some sort of sick humor virus gone amuck.

However, all major media (over 250 citations), are now reporting that Neil's health is recovering after brain surgery. Young's vision became blurry while attending the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies and had a checkup which discovered a brain aneurysm. Though he remains hospitalized, Young is expected to make a full recovery.

(See continuous real-time news updates on Neil's health which appear here in right sidebar of major Neil Young news feeds. --> )

However, he will not perform Sunday at the Canadian Grammys Awards program Junos.

The good news is that doctors expect Young to make a full recovery from a brain aneurysm. Young said in a statement:

"I'm really disappointed that I won't be able to make it to Winnipeg for the Junos as I had hoped. I grew up there and was really looking forward to the show as well as spending some time with my old friends and family.

Thanks to my doctors, I'm feeling a lot better now so I hope I can get a rain check."

Agent Bob Merlis said in a statement:

"The procedure corrected the problem and has been characterized as a complete success with a total recovery. And resumption of normal activities by the 59-year-old rock legend is predicted for the near future."

A neurologist gave Young an MRI scan, discovered the aneurysm and scheduled the procedure for this week. Young traveled to Nashville for recording work before returning to New York for the procedure.

"He is now resting comfortably and has made a full recovery, but we strongly recommend that he not travel for several days," said Dr. Pierre Gobin with the New York-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Fellow Winnipeg rocker Randy Bachman talked to Young on the phone yesterday and the Montreal Gazette reports that Young told Bachman:

"I'm OK. I could probably come and be carried on stage and play but I don't want anybody to feel sorry for me."

"I want to come back. I owe Winnipeg a gig and I owe the Junos a gig."

Needless to say, this has thrown the Juno organizers into scramble mode. Juno organizers plan to send Neil a "love letter" during Sunday's televised award show. Executive Producer John Brunton said:

"We have all pow-wowed together and I think we've come up with a beautiful love letter for Neil Young from all of us in Winnipeg and all of us at the show. It's very fitting."

Brunton added that Neil planned to play original material for the program.

"He didn't really want to do a vintage song. He wanted to bring new music to the table and show everybody that he's on the cutting edge."

Reaction has poured in from around the globe. Naturally, the Rusties are in a virtual meltdown over the news.

On Yahoo! Groups:Rust John posts:

"My first rection was that it was a very poor taste April Fool's joke .....when it became clear it was for real, I felt sick, but now it looks as though all will be well. Thank God for that."

Doc Don optimistically posts on Yahoo! Groups: Rust

"Cerebral aneurysms are fairly common, but most are well below the one centimeter size that puts them at risk to rupture.

I suspect Neil will do great."

Dave posts on Rust:

Neil,
You're in our thoughts and prayers.

Get well and have a speedy recovery because we all need you fit and well.

All the best from the UK Rusties.

Triniman posts on Blogcritics:

"I can't think to too many musicians who have been as respected, as prolific and most importantly, as relevant for as long as Neil Young. He has a lot of contemporaries but no one would describe Young as a dinosaur or a 'has been'."

Emma posted on Rust:

"Because of my passion for Neil and his music I suppose I always think of him as immortal. It has shocked me big time.

Take it easy now Neil for a while. Have a good rest and really hope you feel fit and well real soon."

At the Junos, word of Neil's illness "spread like a wildfire" and the Winnipeg Sun reports on the reaction of attendee radio producer Bruce Ladan:

"I feel sick. The foundation of this year's Junos show has been, in a sense, pulled out from under us; however, Neil's health is of the utmost concern and I'm sure everyone in Winnipeg wishes him the best."

Thoughts and prayers to Neil and his family.

Long May You Run!

Comment below and wish Neil well.

UPDATE April 5, 2005 - k. d. lang Sings "Helpless" for Neil Young at Juno Awards

BIGFOOT-RARE 1972 Neil Young Harvest PROMO LP on eBay

How about this mega rare promo Harvest LP on eBay?

Even has the rare promo sticker listing Neil's hit single "A Horse With No Name"! Cool, love that song.

Man, gotta run and put in a bid on this one....