Neil Young wore a tie-dye shirt.)
1975 (I think) Bristol Colston Hall: crazy Neil with Crazy Horse.
And crazy me for bringing Dad
but he’d taken me to Cheddar Caves, Castle Coombe, and over
on the ferry to South Wales –
(again, Dad, not Neil Young, who hadn’t take me anywhere, yet.)
So I wanted to show him something,
even though his taste in music began and ended with Bing Crosby;
(definitely Dad, not Neil Young
whose influences would be more blues, roots country
and rock and roll.)
And he was cross: (Neil, this time; my dad was surprisingly
mellow, if somewhat conspicuous.)
They started with a brand new song called Tonight’s the Night
which the audience heckled
wanting more familiar tunes like Southern Man, Helpless
and Cowgirl in the Sand.
But Neil was having none of it – he gave us all a lecture:
how this was about someone
real close to him, a roadie who had died from drugs –
‘Bruce Berry was a working man…’
and sang it again, only more aggressive; which pissed
the audience off even more.
I was hoping Dad was OK, not feeling out of place
but he seemed to be taking it all in
even nodding his silver head through the deranged
twenty minute guitar solos.
Eventually there was a compromise: the band
won us over by doing all the old hits
but then, for an encore did Tonight’s the Night again.
I’ll never forget it –
afterwards, he bought me a takeaway, (Dad, not Neil Young)
don’t know what Neil and the band got up to
maybe they went back to the hotel
and talked about an old guy in the third from back row
who had smiled all through the concert,
and wondered what he was taking.
Whatever, I enjoyed myself too –
felt Dad and Neil
had got on well together.
‘Bruce Berry was a working man…’
