Of the Outlaws, the Henry Paul Band and Blackhawk.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/henry-paul/id1316200737?i=1000727328886

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/afcfc11d-2816-4da8-a6f6-d0a7c2a6f9aa/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-henry-paul

What happened to free speech absolutism?

The bottom line here is Nexstar wants to buy Tegna for $6.2 billion and if they want the deal to go through…

That was the criticism of the Biden administration, it stifled free speech.

But any major dude will tell you, especially an attorney, that free speech is not guaranteed on a private platform, which Facebook, et al, are. They are not public institutions owned by the government and therefore you’re not entitled to spew anything you want on the services.

As for imploring social media sites to pull down Covid screeds that do not align with government policy…

We can debate the right choice in the future, but this was a unique situation, Covid…none of the populace had experienced a pandemic, and isn’t the first obligation of the federal government to protect its citizens?

Well, if you follow the RFK, Jr. b.s… Sure, RFK, Jr. is entitled to spew his anti-vaccine crap, as long as he doesn’t inflict this garbage upon the public at large.

As for the truth about vaccines…

The truth doesn’t matter. That’s the world we now live in. Where the President obfuscates and lies outright and his minions accept it. Hell, you don’t want to go against the orthodoxy on  Fox News, the training ground for Trump’s cabinet. There is one view and one view only. Is this the democracy we thought we were living in?

What the death of Charlie Kirk has taught us is that most people get their news online. The public has detached from the mainstream media nearly completely, at least the younger generations. Most of the older generations had never even heard of the guy! As for college students…

Generation Lab polled 1,030 students, and found out 94% had heard of Kirk. As for their opinion of his views… 70% said they “strongly disagree” or “somewhat disagree,” while only; 30% said they agreed. (This info is from Puck, the article is behind a paywall…)

So, we’ve got politicos who are not on social media telling us that Charlie Kirk was a hero to college students, and this might be true, but not the MAJORITY!

Let’s be clear, Charlie Kirk did not need to die. But in the wake of his death the right has come down on the left, talking about Antifa, saying the woke mob is organized and violent when even the Cato Institute said Republicans commit more political violence than Democrats.

But screw the truth, that’s irrelevant!

Meanwhile, if the President doesn’t like what you’re saying, he’ll sue you, and do his best to extract cash and commitments to his liking. Law firms? Colleges? Newspapers? Did you see Trump tell that ABC reporter to watch out, since his company settled with him for millions?

Actions have consequences. Rust never sleeps. And neither does Trump. Nothing appeases him, nothing goes away.

And he was duly elected, but…

If I have to listen to his crap, how come Jimmy Kimmel can’t blow back?

Once again, this illustrates that distribution is king. Doesn’t matter what the content is if you can’t see/hear it.

So did Jimmy Kimmel yell “fire” in a crowded movie theatre? Did he spew falsehoods about public personas with malicious aforethought? These are the only exceptions to free speech under the law, but if you don’t agree with Trump, the rules don’t apply.

Let me be clear here. I’m angry at this amping up of rhetoric by the right against the left, but what truly troubles me is THE CHILLING EFFECT!

To the point where if anybody e-mails me something anti-Trump they say not to use their name.

If you’re a musical act and you’re on stage… Better watch your words! You might be playing in a Live Nation venue, and they added Trump ally Richard Grenell to their board.

As for social media sites themselves… Did you see all the tech titans kissing the ass of Trump the other day? They’re going to protect their businesses first and foremost.

How do you lose a democracy?

Very slowly and then all at once.

Meanwhile, Trump has the Democratic brass tied in knots, afraid to say anything he doesn’t agree with for fear of the right wing machine.

At what point does the public stand up and say NO MAS!

Well, now there’s a precedent of the military in the streets, and if you rise up…Trump ain’t gonna think twice about sending troops to your burg, maybe even your house!

Bottom line is unlike cable TV, network television functions under the auspices of the FCC. So, Kimmel on ABC…

This is how far we’ve come, Jimmy Kimmel is a pariah, but Vladimir Putin? He’s to be trusted. and when he crosses the line it must be a mistake. Yeah, right.

But the last laugh is on America. Yup, under the rubric of America First, our country is cratering. India moved into the hands of Xi and Putin and will buy energy from Russia.

Spain refused to buy American military planes.

As for the tariffs? A lot of European companies have stopped shipping here.

The tariffs are killing our economy. But we’re supposed to wait and it will all work out. Exactly how does that work? After you extract your pound of flesh from your ALLIES, do you expect them to come running back into your arms?

As for the environment…. The “Financial Times” said air pollution has been determined to cause Lewy Body Dementia. But you can’t trust the mainstream press, right?

You don’t have to. That’s your choice.

You have the right to be ignorant. And you have the right to spew your ignorance. But if someone voices a contrary opinion…

Just when I’m overwhelmed with the autocratic actions by Trump and his minions and decide to disconnect, one more piece of straw is put on the camel’s back. At what point does said camel collapse?

As for all you Trumpers who are going to blow back, never mind cancel your subscriptions… I’m supposed to be afraid of you and your opinion?

But the truth here is you are not immune. Cuts in government, tariff policies, will hurt you. If you think Trump is looking out for the little guy…I wish you were smarter than that.

But you hate the libs! Hope that keeps you warm at night when you can’t afford oil for heat.

As for Kimmel, he’s now become a martyr. He’s a rallying cry for the left. Intelligent actors would have let sleeping dogs lie. How many people even saw Kimmel utter his words?

He averages 1.772 million viewers a night, in a nation of 340 million. Mr. Beast and a ton of influencers reach more. And they should be worried about saying anything that might piss off Trump.

Kimmel’s words would have been forgotten, but they had to pour gasoline on a tiny little fire that was nearly out.

This is not how you run a country.

And it’s not only Nexstar, the FCC has come down on Kimmel.

But I’ve got to ask, if Charlie Kirk can be a national hero, why not Jimmy Kimmel? Sure, he didn’t die, but the truth is if you say anti-Trump words you might need a bodyguard.

I’m taking a risk here. I lost three digits of subscribers when I wrote about Charlie Kirk and I’ll probably lose more after this.

But at some point you have to take a stand.

What about you?

1

Did I tell you I fell?

Happened about two months ago, right in the front yard. That’s where all the accidents happen, at home, because you’re there all the time. Kind of like seat belts, keep them on for short drives, that’s where you are the most, in your neighborhood, and you don’t want to be unprotected.

So…

The driveway is short and steep. Not THAT steep, but far from flat. and the mailbox is at the bottom. And I went down to get the mail one day and…

Nothing of note really comes anymore. They talk about limiting delivery to three days a week. Actually, if you’re my age, you’ll remember when mail came TWICE A DAY! Yup, hard to believe. And growing up getting mail was a thrill. But now? It’s just junk. Anything important comes via e-mail/the internet. And if you’re still getting paper bills…don’t. Because once a bill didn’t come and I went into arrears and…that’s another thing, you can’t depend on the mail. And they used to brag that everything first class was delivered within three days, from coast to coast…good luck with that today.

Anyway, I came up the driveway to the front walk, which has a bend in it, kind of like a kidney-shaped pool, the status symbol of the sixties, why make it straight?

And I don’t know if I was looking at the mail I’d gotten or just absentmindedly not paying attention, but my shoe…I stepped down with my left foot and half was on the concrete and half was in the small rocks adjacent to it.

Correcting for the turning of my ankle, falling to the left, I instinctively went to the right. And my right foot stepped on the concrete and then my left… I was bent over, but I was gonna save this. And then I didn’t.

Now living in ski country, going to college in Vermont, you learn how to recover from a slip on the ice. Kind of like learning how to drive in snow (although now with antilock brakes it’s so much easier). You don’t go down immediately. You learn how to go with the slip, stay somewhat erect, and ultimately regain your posture. It’s a skill. So today when I slip on the ice I usually recover.

But now I was on land.

So restating this, I rolled my left ankle, then thrust forward with my right foot, and then my left and…

I wasn’t gonna make it. I was gonna go down. I could see it in my brain before it happened. I was going to land on my right hand and it was going to break. There was no doubt in my mind. I’ve been hurt before.

So my pinkie and the outside of my right hand hit the concrete, but what I was not prepared for was what came next, my body twisted the other way and my head BANGED on the concrete.

Now I wasn’t so concerned about my hand.

Could this be the end, it was for Natasha Richardson, and she fell on the snow!

Needless to say I wasn’t wearing a helmet. My skull cracked down hard. And…

I lay there in a daze, moaning. Wondering if I was going to expire, whether I was on a quick trip to never never land.

I wanted attention. I figured Felice would come out and be freaked and give me some TLC. But she’d gone from the kitchen to the other side of the house and didn’t hear me. So…

How long was I going to lay there before I got up?

As for my hand… It hurt, but it was not broken. I know, because I’ve broken my hand before. But my HEAD?

At least it was daytime. You really don’t want to get a head injury at night. Because you think you’re okay, go to sleep and then you die.

And I’m dazed, if not completely confused, and I look in the mirror and see a nearly golf ball-sized bump at the junction of my forehead and my hair, but I know what day it is, who the president is, so I go to the freezer and get some ice, wrap it in a cloth, put it to my head and…

Sat there.

And then started to Google.

I know, I know. you can get in trouble Googling your injuries/illnesses. But I’ve got a system. Not only do I go to multiple sites, I’m looking for a threshold, a line that is crossed that means you need medical help. And it’s usually pretty clear. They were talking about disorientation and other maladies I did not have. And I know people who’ve had concussions…

2

So two days later, I had to meet Harry at République. I used to love to go there when it was Campanile, and have never had a meal equaling the old restaurant at the new one, but I’ve got to say, the food was FANTASTIC! Which is surprising when it’s such a large space, relatively speaking.

And I got there before Harry, so I decided to go to the bathroom, which is upstairs. You go about two-thirds of the way through the restaurant and the stairs are on the right and I take one step up, and then another and then…

It’s happening again. It’s palpable, obvious, I’m going to hit the deck once more.

Only this time it’s wood.

Diners don’t have a good viewpoint of the steps, but a few turned around and I got up, relatively quickly…no, I was down for a bit, positively stunned, and then I got up, checked for obvious injuries, and went up to the bathroom, where I checked myself over in more detail. I won’t say I was pain free, I was beaten up a bit, but not like when I fell in the front yard. But TWICE IN A WEEK?

I couldn’t believe it. I’ve always considered myself to be a good athlete, coordinated. How did this happen?

Well, I investigated on the way down. And it turned out the first two steps of the stairs were different sizes. So I’m attributing my fall to that. But I hadn’t fallen there before, and I was wearing New Balance sneakers and I’d love to tell you I could make sense of it all, put it all in a box and wrap it up tight with a bow, but I just put it in the back of my mind as I met Harry and we sat down for our meal. I was hurting a bit, but I saw no upside in telling him. And I wasn’t hurting that bad. And we hadn’t seen each other in nine months…

But I was really anxious about telling Felice. Twice in three days?

I kind of soft-pedaled it when I told her, but she both expressed concern and rolled her eyes. Was this the new normal?

3

Now I was positively stunned when we went to Colorado two weeks later and my hand still hurt. Like I said, I’ve been hurt before, broken multiple bones, I know when you need to go to the doctor, and this did not require medical attention. But how come I wasn’t fine? I mean in the old days, in a matter of days I’d be back in one piece. But this went on and on…my hand STILL hurts!

I mean it hurt typing after the injury, not so bad I couldn’t do it, and it really doesn’t bother me now, although when I just reached to the upper right corner of the keyboard I felt it, but when am I going to feel okay?

My mind thought back to that day at Vail, putting on my ski boot…

These Nordicas were stiff. The higher performance boots are. Getting them on when cold is impossible. But in this case, they weren’t that cold. But I’d been having trouble getting them on and I decided to use a lever, insert it in the boot to keep it open, so my leg could slide in. BIG MISTAKE!

Oh, believe me I winced. But injured? I was stunned. I was just putting my boot on.

I limped for a couple of days, which stunned me (but of course I still skied), but thought I’d be fine thereafter.

But two weeks later I was in Whistler and could barely get my boot on. I needed help.

And then hiking in the mountains, my foot kind of flopped. I couldn’t pull the toes on my right foot up.

That was 2019. Now it’s 2025. And I’ve still got a problem. It has to do with the nerve in my lower leg, about halfway up, on the side. It continues to get better, but SIX YEARS?? For a long while I couldn’t do anything approximating running, the foot can still be somewhat flat. Not that I need to run, but when I see other people doing it…

And then I fell again.

4

We were at Beaver Creek. Hiking from the saddle all the way across Birds of Prey and Grouse Mountain to the lake above the ski area. It was kind of cool. Especially when we stopped at the lake on the way down, after we’d hiked about fifteen minutes past it and then turned around, not knowing how far it was to the top, and we’d been going for quite a while by this point. But sitting by the small lake on the way down…

It started to hail. Which was beautiful and hilarious. Nature will surprise you. We took video. It was funny. These little ball bearings covering us.

Now we went up so far that it was too late to make it back to the saddle and take the Chondola down, so we decided to walk all the way to the bottom. Which is long, but not super-strenuous. Oh, there are rocks for a while, but after you go past the end of the Birds of Prey race course, past the Talons restaurant, you hit a road. I won’t say it’s smooth, after all it’s high in the mountains and it has to deal with frosts and freezes and all that snow, but…

We’re just strolling down. Telling tales of our lives and then…

I’m thrown forward, very quickly. I know I’m going down. Kinda face first. And I’m scared, but it is happening faster than it did in the front yard and then BAM! I employ both my hands and arms to break the fall, I don’t want to risk my head…not that I thought too much about it, it was mostly instinctual, but I FELL AGAIN??

This was just too much. I couldn’t believe it. This was not funny. How did this happen? I mean I was busy bullsh*tting, I can’t say that I was paying a lot of attention to where I was going/stepping, but this was a PAVED ROAD!

So we decided to investigate. Turned out there was a nub of asphalt. Not that big. Maybe half the size of a golf ball, and it turned out my boot got caught on it.

HUH?

I looked around, and there were no other nubs. Just this one.

Then again, this is the leg that has trouble, the right one, where I can’t lift my toes quite as high as I can with my right, but still…

I was pretty banged up.

5

So now…

My head is okay. The ice worked wonders, really took the swelling down. I was a bit out of it for two days or so, but when the internet told me it was all right to take Tylenol…the acetaminophen took the edge off.

But my right hand…I can still feel it.

How can this be?

I mean I feel fine. This was just the luck of the draw, right? I mean there was a ready explanation for each fall, right? Or was there….

And then the other day there was an entire article about oldsters falling in the Science section:

“Why Are More Older People Dying After Falls?”

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/health/falls-deaths-elderly-drugs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.k08.yGhf.O62hR4KZ5nCn&smid=url-share

The question is whether it is drugs. In my case, I don’t think so, but all boomers take drugs. And if you don’t…the joke is on you. They keep you alive. If you’re over 60 and you still think it’s healthier to take no medication…

Oh, I don’t want to argue with you. People are vociferous in their opinions these days. They’re right, you can’t convince them otherwise, and while they’re at it, YOU’RE AN IDIOT!

But, Ahmet Ertegun fell backstage at a Stones show and died.

And the article says more people may be dying from falls because we’re tracking them in a way we didn’t used to. It’s kind of like autism… Have things changed, is there more of it, or is it now just being diagnosed?

All I know is none of us is here forever. Something’s going to get us.

And it could happen when everything looks okay, when you think you’re doing fine, walking back from the mailbox.

But if I’m still here, why does it take so damn long to heal?

1

“Doesn’t mean that much to me

To mean that much to you”

Neil Young is beyond image. He’s lived so long, played so long, that it’s just him, sans trappings. As for his contemporaries…

They feel that they’ve got to convince the audience, overwhelm them, prove that they’ve still got it, are as important as they once were, still as meaningful, you should be wowed just to be in their presence.

But you’re not.

It’s creepy. So many have had plastic surgery. Because that’s the image they want to project, of them in their heyday, youthful, meaningful. They’re in stage outfits. And the production! The hi-def screens and the lasers, they’ve got to have the latest technology, to rationalize the ticket price if nothing else. It’s a veritable assault. By time it’s over you should feel worn out, like you’ve had the experience of a lifetime. But it’s nowhere close. It’s just old people playing old songs.

And then there’s Neil Young.

He seemed to be having fun.

Let’s be clear, he doesn’t need the money. He made that Hipgnosis deal, never mind the cash he’s already got. As for losing that money to his ex-wife… She died and probably left it to his children, so that kind of equalizes the equation. In any event, he’s got a ton of bread.

But what are you gonna do with all that money? Do you need a plane? How many houses can you buy, never mind needing to manage them.

So at the end of the day, you’re a musician.

Let’s be clear, so many are not, especially of the younger generation. They’re two dimensional constructs made to front the work of behind the scenes writers and producers. Did you see who’s headlining Coachella? Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G? A big time concert promoter told me he was gonna retire because he was sick of presenting music he didn’t like. I give Paul Tollett credit for changing with the ages, forgetting the old acts that he used to hire to headline, but these acts? The attendees are not going so much to see them as to show off, shoot selfies of their outfits. There’s not much there. It’s showbiz, but more pre-Beatles than anything else.

So Neil Young shows up on stage in the clothing he wears off stage. This was a thing back when he broke through in 1970. But his contemporaries, they started showing up in tuxes at awards shows, wearing dignified clothing on stage. I can’t remember ever seeing Neil in a tux, he’s stayed true to himself when so many have not.

2

So the Chrome Hearts are the best band Neil’s played with since Crazy Horse. No one is hogging the spotlight, everybody’s just doing their job, however, bass player Corey McCormick was really into it, in a way the oldsters never are. He’s bouncing on stage, singing into the mic, he was in the moment, the audience was secondary, he had the music in him.

And Micah Nelson never showed off. Towards the very end he had the spotlight upon him, and he threw off a solo, but otherwise he blended in, which is the goal of a band, right?

As for drummer Anthony LoGerfo… Most drummers are demonstrating their physicality, oftentimes showing off. This guy was so relaxed it was almost like he was playing at a bar mitzvah. I mean it’s the music that counts, right? It is show business, but he’s not the star, he’s just doing his job, simply.

And on keys Spooner Oldham. Reminded me of seeing Chris Spedding playing with Bryan Ferry. A legend as a sideman, amazing!

But that’s all in support of Neil. Not that he’s hogging the spotlight. He barely talks to the audience. Except when someone down front said happy birthday and he said IT’S NOT MY BIRTHDAY! This was not HELLO CLEVELAND!

The focus was on the music.

The opener was “Ambulance Blues.” The last song from 1974’s “On the Beach,” the first record after the live album “Time Fades Away,” which pushed all the soft rock fans of “Harvest” away. Neil continued to make good albums thereafter, but he wasn’t truly up front and center again until 1979’s “Rust Never Sleeps,” with “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue).” And he sang it last night, but the funny thing is rock and roll has died. Not only in terms of dominance, but in terms of pushing the art form forward.

But if I told you I could hum “Ambulance Blues” before last night I’d be lying, even though I bought “On the Beach” when it came out. “Walk On”? Certainly. But not this.

But Neil’s keeping the show interesting to him. A little of this, a little of that. He’s got a giant catalog. And some were hits, but once you enter this century, none of these old acts have hits. Does that mean you should ignore less familiar work if it’s good? NO!

Like “Sun Green.” That’s why I wanted to go, to hear this track from “Greendale,” which I loved. And he played “Be the Rain” from that project too. These songs I know well.

But song #2 was “Cowgirl in the Sand.” I can’t say I bought Neil’s solo debut when it came out, but I did purchase “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.” Everybody likes “Cinnamon Girl,” which is great, the outro is amazing, but the best songs on that album are the side closers, “Down by the River” and “Cowgirl in the Sand.” And at some shows Neil has played the former, but at this one he played the latter. You know, with the verses and then the extended solos… This show was not for the faint of heart. If you don’t like loud and noisy, this was not for you. Not every song, but when the number called for it… Neil would pick out notes on his black Les Paul and it was like being in the garage, in that there was no need to get it exactly right, but more to make a glorious sound all together, to be in the moment and feel the music. And there was one additional instrumental section beyond the recorded take before a final hosanna.

And that’s one thing I noticed, how different the experience was listening to these live takes as opposed to the records, which I’ve played ad infinitum. No matter how well they were recorded, they sound different. They’re set in amber, they’re encapsulated, whereas the live versions were truly alive, they breathed, you could feel the humanity within. There are no hard drives, this is all done without a net.

With no production, the music is enough.

3

“Southern Man”?

Check.

“Ohio”?

I wondered if he would change the lyrics, make them contemporary, but it was still Nixon coming.

“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” was never my favorite on “After the Gold Rush,” but it was less sing-songy and more heartfelt here.

And sure, everybody loved “Like a Hurricane,” which sounds like a hurricane, and “Hey Hey, My My,” but some of the biggest applause came after the performance of “Big Crime.”

“No more great again

No more great again

Got big crime in DC at the White House”

Neil’s not afraid.

“Don’t need no fascist rules

Don’t want no fascist schools

Don’t want soldiers walking on our streets”

In a world where everybody with something to lose, a company, a job, is kissing Trump’s ass, Neil sees no need to. And isn’t that the role of the artist, to speak truth to power? We need that now more than ever. And Neil’s fans were on his side. Not that he cared if he pissed a Trumper off.

But the highlight was “Old Man.”

4

“Old man, look at my life

I’m a lot like you were”

The second most famous song on “Harvest,” which dominated the airwaves in the winter and spring of 1972.

Sure, the hit was the mellow “Heart of Gold,” but the other track that stood out was “Old Man,” in an era where the music was for the young people, who believed they ruled.

This was an era where the old people didn’t want to be young. I mean no one wants to die, but believe me, our parents weren’t envying our lifestyles, donning our clothing and listening to our music, no way.

“Old man, look at my life

Twenty four and there’s so much more”

TWENTY FOUR??? Neil is now seventy nine. And how old are you? Most of his original fans are septuagenarians. How in the hell did he write this, record so much great material at twenty four? He was wise beyond his years.

Then again, Neil said the last time he played the Hollywood Bowl was in the sixties, with Stephen and Buffalo Springfield.

So much time has passed, how did we become the old men?

And it was mostly old people in attendance, a lot of gray hair. They stuck with Neil, they were not casual fans, this was a pilgrimage.

“I’ve been first and last

Look at how the time goes past”

It was about winning. That was the culture of the boomers. Sure, it was kumbaya around the campfire, but you wanted to stick out, leave your mark, be a champion.

And now it’s all irrelevant.

All that time has gone past. Can we have some perspective?

For a lot of people, no. They’re the ones going to the show to live the days of yore, subjected to a calcified performance by people stuck in an era long past.

Last night’s show definitely existed in the present.

And it really wasn’t about a show, it wasn’t about what you saw, but what you heard. It really wasn’t that much different from the seventies.

I won’t quite say Neil’s stuck there as much as he never sold out, never forsook his values, he stayed true to himself when almost none of his contemporaries did. And that makes him a revelation.

Neil Young is not warm and fuzzy. What you see is what you get. At this point he’s not worried about satiating you, he’s not playing to the audience, hell, a lot of the time he was playing to the other band members, but he’s comfortable in his skin and his work and knows enough people are interested that he doesn’t have to grovel for ticket sales. This is what he does and it resonates.

So…

How much longer will he be able to do this?

Today Dave Mason retired. And Robert Redford died. The endless road does not go on forever.

And what is a life about. Think about this, Neil Young devoted his entire life to making music. That’s his mark. And unlike so many he never stopped making albums, wasn’t worried about commercial acceptance, he’s an artist and artists produce.

So…

There were some hits and some deep cuts, you didn’t feel like you were getting a set show, you knew not only that another night would feature different songs, but even the same songs would sound a little different.

The music was alive. That’s the magic of the concert experience, which can never be replicated by a stream.

This was not a finale, but just another stop on an endless road. He’s on his journey and so are we. Last night we connected at the Hollywood Bowl, we’ll reconnect in the future, down the line. With new stories and new songs. The same but different, like life itself.

So roll another number for the road.

That’s what Neil and the Chrome Hearts did before they left the stage last night.

I hope you did too.

It’s all about keepin’ on. With your eyes open. Never forgetting the past, but continuing to think and grow.