It seems like hardly a day goes by on RUST that I do not see some sort of little act of goodwill by a fellow RUSTie. Either an answer to a question, helping out a new Neil tape trader, running a tape tree or some other non- flammage type behavior.
All of this got me to wonderin' where all of these random acts of kindness are coming from in this crazy, violence filled world. It then struck me that maybe the origins of this collegial atmosphere and esprit de corps may be a direct influence of the Man himself and his music - either consciously or subconsciously.
Without going into too much psycho-analysis, it seems the tone of RUST is a direct reflection of the music and messages of Neil. Not that I track the Guns-N-Roses or Metallic lists closely, but from what I understand, the tone and spirit are worlds apart from that here on RUST. Other lists do not seem to have the cooperative spirit among fans. I get the impression that the main objective of some of the fans of other music groups is to see how much they can horde for themselves or assume a "my collection's bigger than yours" mentality.
Anyway, I was just going through the list of benefit concerts that Neil has played and the diversity of causes struck me. Of course, the two primary beneficiaries of Neil's generosity have been the Bridge School Benefit Concerts and Farm AID. The Bridge School concerts began in 1987 and are to benefit the school Neil and Peggy began for their son Ben who has cerebral palsy. The Farm Aid concerts began in 1985 and benefit the small American family farm.
Neil has performed annually at both the Bridge and Farm AID shows and has raised considerable sums for these causes. The performances at these two annual benefits are well documented.
But what about the other benefits and causes of the charitable Mr. Young?
Here is a listing of Neil benefit concerts I have compiled. I welcome any additions, corrections, or comments.
DATE BENEFIT - LOCATION -
3/23/75 S.N.A.C.K. Benefit, Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA w/ Bob Dylan & The Band
3/82 Mike Bloomfield Benefit, The Ritz, NYC, NY
2/85 Tears Are Not Enough - Canadian Artists Band AID video, benefit African famine victims
7/13/85 Live AID w/CSNY - Philadelphia, PA
2/6/86 Greenpeace Benefit - Arlington Theater, Santa Barbara, CA w/ CSNY
2/24/86 Vietnam Vets Benefit Forum, Los Angeles, CA w/ G. Nash
4/5/86 Greenpeace Benefit - Auckland, New Zealand
6/28/86 Get Tough on Toxics Benefit, Long Beach Arena, CA
6/28/87 Shakin' All Over - Winnipeg Band Reunion - benefited the Variety Club of Manitoba - charity for handicapped children
8/16/87 Saragaso Tornado Benefit, Manor Downs, Austin, TX
11/12/88 Hungerthon - Palace Theater, Los Angeles, CA w/ CSNY
12/88 Friends of Parents Helping Parents - Santa Clara, CA
11/26/89 Earthquake Aid - Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA
3/31/90 Dallas Taylor Benefit - Santa Monica, CA benefit former CSNY drummer
4/16/90 Nelson Mandella Benefit, Wembley Stadium, London
11/1/91 Bill Graham Tribute w/ CSNY, San Francisco, CA
4/1/92 Walden Woods Benefit - Los Angeles, CA
3/1/93 Children's Health Benefit, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA, CA w/ Simon & Garfunkel,
4/1/93 Save Old Growth Forests - Portland, OR
A Neil Young Archives