Musical Memories - Jack

Tell Me Why - Neil Young

Sailing heart-ships through broken harbors Out on the waves in the night Still the searcher must ride the dark horse Racing alone in his fright Tell me why, tell me why Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself When you're old enough to repay but young enough to sell? Tell me lies later, come and see me I'll be around for a while I am lonely but you can free me All in the way that you smile Tell me why Tell me why

I'm pretty sure I could sing every song and every lyric from this album from memory... without the album playing. (I promise NOT to...) Neil Young remains one of my favorites. Like many other musicians, bands and songs, learned about him from older siblings. My memory may be muddled, but I'm pretty sure Nancy had his "Harvest" album (maybe "Everybody knows This Is Nowhere" too) and Mike had "After the Gold Rush." In fact, Mike's may very well have been on 8-Track Tape!

Now you have to remember that After the Gold Rush came out in 1970, so I was only 13 years old. For crying out loud...that was the same year The Jackson 5 released "ABC". (another one of my favorites!). Those two are pretty far apart on the music spectrum. But that's the beauty of having older brothers and sisters – they knew what the college and high school crowds were listening to when I was still in gth grade. All I had to do was pay attention.

Unlike The Jackson 5, Neil Young's music holds up. Part of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSN&Y) before he headed out on his own, he always seemed to write and perform the music that he wanted, and not necessarily what a large audience wanted to hear. When I was in high school and in college, I knew that being a Neil Young fan would mean I was an all right guy.

Sure enough, one of my very best friends in college, Mike L., same freshman dorm, was a huge Neil Young fan. Mike specifically did not like Michelob beer, but I forgave him that shortcoming given his good taste in music. Just a few years ago I came across a 1970 live recording of Neil Young playing at The Cellar Door, a music spot in DC just a few blocks from campus. I bought the CD on Amazon and had it shipped to Mike but was unable to include any kind of note saying it was from me. No surprise, a few weeks later I got a call from him saying "there is only one way this CD found its way to me!"

I remember Mike (our brother) talking about Neil's singing voice. He said, "Everyone likes Neil Young's voice because when you sing along with him you think you sound better." | think there is some truth in that. In the Fall of 1978 I was sharing an apartment with three other guys in Arlington, VA, right on the Potomac River and not very far from the Georgetown campus. It was senior year for Mike, Andy, Chris and me. Just that summer Chris had decided to teach himself guitar...and he was getting pretty good. One weekend evening we invited a few girls (Clair D., Elaine P. and the third whose name I've forgotten -- GU students, same year as the four of us) to our apartment for dinner. I can't begin to imagine what we offered them in the way of food as I was surviving on cube steak and bologna & swiss cheese sandwiches those days. Not long after they had arrived, and while we were getting ready for the meal, Chris brought out his guitar to show him his stuff. He started playing "Tell Me Why," the opening track from After The Gold Rush. It's a simple tune for acoustic guitar. When Chris started playing I began singing along... from in the kitchen. It was totally spontaneous and certainly nothing we ever practiced. New to guitar, we only got half way through the song when it kind of fell apart for Chris. But the nicest thing happened: right away, all three girls said, "Keep going!" And they really meant it. It was such a nice compliment for both of us. When I mow the lawn, I listen to a lot of old Neil Young music. I never tire of the lyrics and melodies, his quiet acoustic or grinding guitars. And I always think of when I first heard him from Mike or Nancy's room, and friends from college...and signing with Chris.

JLR