Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream

Brilliant book by a brilliant guy

I am a huge Neil Young fan. I own most of his music. About this book? There are bad books which you end up reading to the last chapter anyway. This is a bad book you wouldn't want to read at all (my first experience). Sorry Mr. Young, you should have treated your fans better with a good autobiography. I felt cheated as a reader. Period. Read Phil Collin's 'Not Dead Yet' or the Boss's 'Born to Run'. These are page turners.

Well packaged in new condition as advertised. Neil Young tells it how he sees it. Sometimes self-critical, sometimes glossing over the more extraordinary turn arounds (like leaving Stephen Stills mid-tour) or CSN +/-Y in the recording studio. But still, its a must have from NY himself.

I love this book. Written in the vein of how Neil really thinks and feels about life. Its a journey through "The Past" up to "Nowadays" and is a fascinating read. If you, the reviewer want literary genius forget it....if you want an account of what has actually taken place in Neil's life chronologically, then also forget that too. However if you want feelings and memories of things that have occurred and how Neil sees these events, in his own mind, then read this compelling autobiography. Yep it's true, Neil's memory may not be as accurate as the real timing of events but his feelings relayed here are in real time, up to date and true, in thought and words. The reading is compelling, totally absorbing and quite witty to boot. Neil can be so funny, but also, so matter of fact at the same time, so much so, that you can even get a laugh out of his narrations. It's like he's just messaging you back on a phone text or just making an "off the cuff" remark, like you just passed him in the supermarket aisle and asked "How you doing Neil?" and got an answer that you were not totally expecting. When you have loved and followed this guy for as long as his many lifetime fans have done, in particular all the "Rusties" then most of this book's facts are not surprising, but his thought processes and retelling of the events are!!! The reason why most of us love Neil is because he has not stuck to anyone's expectations of what should be imparted to his loyal following. Neil just does not question what bits of his life should be given out to the general public...and for most of his loyal fans, we all applaud his stance on this. I mean when one gives of themselves to others, then they are subject to ridicule and further questioning, which Neil will naturally not give a hoot about and even when he is pressed for a response, you are likely to get one of his "WTF" comebacks to; I mean this is his life, his memory and HEY if is doesn't exactly line up with your accuracy of what may have occurred, well that's not his problem, only yours...and GOD love the man, I totally agree with him. The book is told in the fashion of one of his songs, it starts off jumping all over the place, goes nowhere and yet it takes you on a journey of the soul and ends with a crescendo with the listener wanting more....yep it truly does this, and if it doesn't for you, then as Neil himself says, give the book to someone else to read..Hahaha! If you don't and keep reading you are likely to get very disappointed, if you wanted to hear snippets of Neil dishing out the dirt on someone and someone, then you will be wasting time looking for those "Words"! Personally I loved the book. It was Neil wearing his "Heart on a Sleeve" in regards to things that really matter to Neil and SHOULD matter to the rest of the world in general. Yep Neil has done his utmost to convey to anyone whom may care to listen, about the environment; issues such as fossil fuel and finding alternatives that are relevant to the 21st century. He has done his utmost to improve services for children with severe disabilities, like his son Ben Young. More recently he is on a mission to improve the sound we hear today through computerised technology. PONO may be the best new technologically advancement music needs even if you may not be able to afford it or can't wait long enough for the implementation to become available. In the book he certainly doesn't mind reiterating the fact many times over that "Sound" matters and as one of his fans, I agree wholeheartedly with what he is trying to achieve. The rest of the world will just have to catch up with Neil in his thought processes but for us fans, he is making a stand which we all applaud and hope that his endeavours will be successful. Neil himself realises that he out on a limb monetary wise, however he has his heart and soul into this project and hopes that we ordinary folk may eventually hear music the way it is originally recorded, in all its' glory...and I for one cannot wait for that day to occur! If I could digress here and borrow some of the words to the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth" and say.."Hey what's that sound, everybody look what's going down"...lol! In the book Neil relays his passion of things that matter to him, his family, his wife, his love of cars, trains sets and the quality of music. He is passionate and a willing believer that eventually the world may become a better place to live in, with projects like LincVolt (his car conversion from fossil fuel dependency to battery/generated electro power)and cleaner Greenhouse gas emissions, most of us would agree, that he has his work cut out for him but want him to succeed, despite the setbacks and disappointments he has been through. Neil talks about writing more books "cause that's what aging Rock Stars do to earn money" in order to survive in this cut throat world of technology. Especially, when people can download your songs for nothing, give back nothing to the creator, artist and instigator of such works there has to be another way of procuring some monetary gain and books seem like the next best things! I think personally, I would rather pay for another vinyl record or CD from Neil, either from himself or whomever he wishes to collaborate with at the time! I don't download from "world wide web" sites and still prefer to buy hard copies and pay for them, hoping that some royalties will eventually go back to the artist....unfortunately not everyone feels as I do! In closing I would like to say, if you are a Neil Young Fan then you will love this book and love the man, like he is one of your own off spring, warts and all. "Long May You Run" Neil and if you ever give up your day job, keep writing books!

Im zweiten Anlauf hat es doch noch geklappt und Neil Percival Young hat seine Autobiographie geschrieben, womit er in die Fußstapfen seines Vaters gestiegen ist, des Schriftstellers Scott Young. Den ersten Biographie-Anlauf Shakey: Neil Young's Biography und vor allem "Sixty to zero" von Johnny Rogan Neil Young: Zero to Sixty wird dieses Buch nicht ersetzen, beide Titel sind unbedingt empfehlenswert! In "Ein Hippie-Traum" kommt erstmal der Unternehmer Neil Young zu Wort, wirbt mal wieder für Verbesserungen an den Tonträgern, für sauberere Autos und spricht über den Niedergang von Lionel, die inzwischen ihre Modelleisenbahnen nicht mehr in den USA, sondern in China produzieren. Mit seiner Begeisterung für Lionel hatte es Neil ja sogar zu einem Zitat in der TV-Serie The Sopranos gebracht. Bald kommt das neue Album von Neil Young & Crazy Horse Psychedelic Pill . Getourt wird vorerst in Nordamerika. Ein super Weihnachtsgeschenk wäre Teil 2 der Archives, aber bislang ist nichts in Sicht. Dafür kündigt Young "Homegrown" sowie weitere Projekte, wie etwa einen Roman an und ein Buch namens "Cars & Dogs". Letzteres ist vielleicht eher als Scherz gemeint. Warum es in diesem Buch immer wieder schwarze Seiten gibt, habe ich nicht verstanden. Schön wäre ein Lesebändchen gewesen! Ich habe sie nicht gezählt, aber bei dem geschätzten zwei Dutzend Fotos sind echte Schätze dabei! Sehr willkommen wären ein Inhaltsverzeichnis und ein Register, da Young recht sprunghaft erzählt, wird es schwer gezielt etwas nachzuschlagen! Bei den Fotos fehlt leider die Klageschrift von Geffen für den Vorwurf "nicht Neil-Young-typische Musik aufzunehmen" - das würde ich mir so gerne rahmen! Die Mutter, die seine Musik so sehr förderte wird ebenso gelobt wie der Vater. Zum Sterben sei er noch nicht bereit, schreibt Young. Die Demenz seines Vaters und erste Anzeichen von Veränderungen in seinem Gehirn trieben den Kanadier offenbar dazu nun endlich seine Autobiographie zu veröffentlichen. Ohne Alkohol und Gras könne er sich nun auch viel besser konzentrieren, verrät er. Geschrieben ist das Buch dennoch eher wie seine Songs: Raus damit! Nicht ewig feilen, sondern den Moment einfangen! Es gibt lobende Wort für Stephen Stills, den er als seinen Bruder bezeichnet, manchmal wird es technisch und Young schwärmt von den Freuden etwas zu erschaffen. Viele Weggefährten sind bereits verstorben, das macht ihn nachdenklich. Überraschend offen wird über den Konsum von harten Drogen gesprochen. Immer und immer wieder wird der Verlust von Briggs bedauert, ein wesentlicher Mann im Schaffen Youngs. Die Kapitel in diesem Buch sind kurz gehalten, manche tragen eine Überschrift: Etwa Ronald Reagan oder Religion. In ihrem Buch hatte Astrid Young geschrieben, dass der Unterschied zwischen ihr und ihrem Bruder der wäre, dass sie in der realen Welt lebe. Neil bekennt in "Waging Heavy Peace", dass er sich schon mal als Auserwählten betrachtete, der die Welt mit seinen Schöpfungen beglücken sollte. Ironie nicht erkennbar und damit auch ein guter Hinweis darauf, wie sehr einen Ruhm, Erfolg und Aufmerksamkeit dazu bringen können in eine Scheinwelt zu entgleiten. Der Kenner findet sich in diesem Buch in den verschiedensten Songs von Neil Young wieder, wenn es um Mort geht, hört man fast schon "Long may you run" im Ohr, "Harvest" erscheint nach dieser Lektüre ebenso wie "Tonight's the night" nicht unbedingt in neuem Licht, aber die Bindung wird durch Youngs Worte noch enger. Interessanterweise hat die US-Ausgabe geringfügig mehr Seiten als die deutsche Übersetzung, was aber eher dem Layout als dem Inhalt geschuldet ist. Es gibt auch hier kein nützliches Register oder Inhaltsverzeichnis. Das Cover der US-Ausgabe glänzt und das Buch ist etwas größer und, das würde Neil gefallen, es wurde in den USA gedruckt! Die Sprunghaftigkeit, die Neil in diesem Buch an den Tag legt, mag nicht jedem zusagen. Sicherlich ist es nicht weltbewegend zu erfahren, dass er von seiner elektrischen Zahnbürste fasziniert ist. Profanes reiht sich hier an wichtige Details aus seinem Leben. Er selbst kommentiert das durchaus selbstironisch. Ein Neil Young verweigert sich eben nicht nur bei der kommerziellen Rockmusik, sondern auch beim Bücherschreiben! Zweifellos die Sensation für Neil Young Fans: Der Meister spricht zu uns! Unbedingt lesen! Weitere Bücher zum Thema: die Biographie von Scott Young Neil and Me und Schwester Astrid Young Being Young . 502 Seiten, Hardcover mit Schutzumschlag, s/w-Fotos, Blue Rider Press 2012

Reading Neil's words instead of listening to them has been an extraordinary experience. His book is like a long long LP with right pauses and highs and lows related to his caleidoscope life and love for human beings as well as for music. The result is the image of a man who has never been afraid of anything and that has always been coherent with himself. An inspiring book for those who are searching good reasons to live.

Ecriture simple (trop ?),j'imaginais peu ses passions pour les voitures, les trains et les planches en bois, ainsi que ses problèmes de santé. Plaisant, mais mieux vaut écouter ses vieux disques quand il chantait encore juste.