Special Deluxe: A Memoir of Life & Cars by Neil Young

Author:Neil Young [Young, Neil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-10-14T00:00:00+00:00

Ain’t singin’ for Pepsi

Ain’t singin’ for Coke

I don’t sing for nobody

Makes me look like a joke

This note’s for you.

—“THIS NOTE’S FOR YOU”

Ironically, although the video was banned by MTV, it also won the MTV Video of the Year in 1988 in a vote by actual viewers. It was brilliant management of a bad situation by Elliot Roberts. Some may not believe it, but I know I would never have gotten anywhere without Elliot, who is absolutely the best friend and manager ever. Friend first. He and Pegi are my best friends now.

• • •

I RETURNED to my Canadian home in 1987 for a Kelvin High School reunion as well as for a celebration of the Winnipeg music scene called “Shakin’ All Over,” in honor of the Guess Who’s first big hit. I jammed with Randy Bachman and a bunch of other guys, and we celebrated our unique musical beginnings and the time when the community clubs were rockin’ every weekend with local bands. After hanging out and playing with Randy, the Squires got together and jammed late into the night for a small crowd of beer-drinking Canadians at a little club on Main Street called the Blue Note Café. All the original members got up on the tiny stage and played together one more time. A local blues harp player, Ben Darvill, got up and jammed with us as well. He was really hot. The only thing missing was Mort parked outside.

Wog got behind the wheel of Pocahontas, my tour bus, and the Bluenotes continued traveling through the country for months, playing old auditoriums and clubs, promoting the This Note’s for You LP, and recording Bluenote Café. This was a great time, with the music flowing and the big band playing night after night.

When we got back to California, a lawyer for Harold Melvin called and said that he and his Bluenotes, whose great song “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” was a hit in the seventies, were suing me for ripping off their name. To me, that record is one of the best songs and recordings ever made. The soul of that performance is just great; anguish, truth, and desperation calling out from the first note. I stop what I’m doing every time it plays and listen to it. I was surprised that they were suing me, and I felt bad. I had not heard of anything from them in years and thought it would be okay to use the name. After I settled with them, I renamed the band Bluenote Café, but things were changing and we never played together again. That period was over, ending as spontaneously as it had begun. I was moving on. No reason required. Just following the muse.

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