My own personal acme of Neil Young appreciation probably occurred in 1979 with the release of Rust Never Sleeps, five years chronologically and light years emotionally after Tonight’s the Night (above).
I was subsequently aroused from Neil-bernation in 1989 with Freedom, the album with the original recording of “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
This song later brought Young and Pearl Jam together, compellingly, hence their performance (sans Eddie Vedder) in Prague in 1995. I attended this show with Frank Thackeray. The last three songs were:
Cortez the Killer
Rockin’ in the Free World
Down by the River (encore)
Young has remained relevant and prolific in the decades since, but it never got any better than that, at least for me, and I’m as yet flabbergasted by modernity in the sense of Googling this show and discovering that it can be viewed yet again.
But I haven’t watched it, and probably won’t. You had to be there, in a place and a time.
