The lights turned on and the curtain fell down…

The first Crosby, Stills & Nash album was such a phenomenon, entered the consciousness of listeners to such a degree, that there was a huge hunger for more.  And there was more.  An album entitled "Retrospective", the greatest hits of Buffalo Springfield.

Beloved today, Buffalo Springfield was known at the time for their one infectious, haunting hit, "For What It’s Worth".  Hell, you’ve got to love an act that titles a track with words not in the lyrics…  And with Stills the star of CSN, people were thrilled to now know "Rock and Roll Woman", that was the track buyers of "Retrospective" gravitated to.  But in an era predating MP3s, never mind CDs and cassettes, you eventually ended up dropping the needle on the vinyl and listening to the side all the way through.  That’s how we discovered "Broken Arrow", hell, that’s how we discovered Neil Young.

Friday evening, Neil Young was feted at the annual MusiCares dinner, a clusterfuck that raises money for a good cause and features two hours of performances that…usually have some highlights and feature some distinct lowlights that allow one to go to the bathroom to do a year’s worth of business with the people you run into.

It’s just that Friday night’s performances were consistently subpar.  Until we got to Norah Jones.

Johnny Mellencamp rearranged "Down By The River", squeezing the driving essence right out of the song.

Ozomatli?  There’s a story there somewhere.  That’s what I think of when I listen to Canadian Neil Young’s songs, this Los Angeles Latino music.  Huh?

My beloved Jackson Browne was so busy looking at the teleprompter that I couldn’t forgive him for missing "Don’t Let It Bring You Down" by only a few inches.  I could have gotten up and sung every lyric of the classic from "After The Gold Rush".  Do you remember lying on your bed in your dorm room playing this song over and over again?  If not, you weren’t in college in the seventies.

Stephen Stills and Sheryl Crow performed "Long May You Run".  Funny, considering this is the album Stephen cut with Neil, booked a tour, and then got a telegram in Florida telling him that the dark-haired maestro decided to punt.  I don’t know about you, I live up to my commitments. It’s hard to forgive that shit.  Then again, the older you get, the more you need money, and the more you’ll overlook to get it.

Needless to say, Stills’ voice is now lacking.  But Lady Antebellum sang just fine, a high school assembly rendition of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", although this is much better than their own distinctly B-level material.

Then came Norah Jones.  On her guitar, her honeyed voice brought vitality to "Tell Me Why". Unlike those who came before, she added insight that was not in the original.  But she kept peeking at the teleprompter.

Which was a giant TV at the back of the hall, there for anybody to see.  Hell, at least Jack Black, the host, went off-script on a regular basis.  The acts?  They could barely perform the delineated lyrics.

Until Wilco.

When Wilco came on, the prompter went black.  And suddenly, they went into MR. SOUL!

I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.  Because how many high school days did I hear that classic intro to "Broken Arrow"?  This was a signal, from the midwest band to those in attendance who were truly Neil Young fans that music was a serious business, with history that needed to be studied and respected.

James Taylor fucked up "Heart Of Gold", I wish he hadn’t even come.  You don’t know the lyrics?  You could see him peeking up during the verses at the big TV, at first he seemed to be playing a different song.

But Wilco…

It was like you were in a theatre, and the band was giving it its all.  They’d rehearsed, they knew "Broken Arrow", they’d made it their own, their performance was a tour de force.  They nailed the twists and turns, got the dynamics just right, even did the OUTRO!

Wasn’t this supposed to be a tribute to Neil?  Weren’t we supposed to give him respect? Weren’t we supposed to tell him he mattered?

These songs were in the DNA of the audience, but the performers could barely go through the motions.

Except Wilco.

I loved "Being There".  Then they lost me.  Now I get it.  This is why their fans proselytize, go to the shows, because they play like they mean it, like music alone is enough, that it’s not about how you can sell out to major corporations so you can live a Wall Street lifestyle.

Yeah, I know that Jeff Tweedy made that deal.  But what I like more is the reaction of their fans. Don’t expect him to take commercial risks in the future…your audience believes in you, trusts you, you must respect that.

I saw the Buffalo Springfield.  In those days, there were no sponsors.  The Fortune 500 ran. Music was dangerous.  Neil Young knows the truth, that these companies themselves are dangerous.  And that an artist has to march forward and explore unencumbered.  Hell, he held up a sign during the show telling the performers to "Just do what you want to do.  Don’t listen to anyone else."

That’s the key.  To go on your own journey.  Not the one people want you to.  Hell, did you read all the negative reviews of "Catcher In The Rye" in the Salinger obits?  Even the "New York Times" panned it.  Unfortunately, the blowback contributed to Salinger’s pullback from society. We lost out, because the powers-that-be needed to tear him down, make him their size.

Thank god Neil Young never succumbed to this.  He’s the poster boy for doing it your own way. And that’s why CSN’s business blows up when he performs with them, and he can go out solo to great business and the rest of the players cannot.  Because we believe…  That Neil Young is giving his all.

Friday night Wilco gave their all.  And that’s why their fans believe in them just like oldsters believe in Mr. Young.  Punch the clock and people know.  Sing from the heart, take your music seriously and the audience knows.  Jeff Tweedy wasn’t distracted by looking at the teleprompter, the words were embedded deep inside, just like they are in us.