Waging Heavy Piece

[opus]

Has anyone read Neil Young's new memoir? I just ordered it on Amazon and read some of the preview sections. He mentions Linda quite a bit and even comments on the fact she has never been inducted into the RRHOF - he doesn't understand it and thinks it a travesty. While he is very positive about Linda , he did mention that she's become a recluse more or less in recent years.

I am a huge fan of both Neil and Linda and I can wait to read both their books.

[eddiejinnj]

it is great that she is discussed a lot. it would seem that he could not do an accurate musical memoir without mentioning her since she was on so many of his albums. eddiejinnj

[erik]

Quote by opus re. Neil Young's mentioning of Linda in Waging Heavy Peace:

While he is very positive about Linda , he did mention that she's become a recluse more or less in recent years.

I don't think he meant ill by that comment; and he sure didn't mean to imply that Linda had gone all Howard Hughes on us, or even Greta Garbo. She does value her privacy and the right she has earned to finally call it a career now, though she is clearly still active in social and political matters involving Mexican Americans.

[D Ali]

Ms. Ronstadt is not a recluse at all. She is active in the community and in life.

But to the musical community, she could be considered a recluse. Even before "retirement"-- she was either unavailable or nearly impossible to contact or uninterested in many musical projects. She made it far to easy for the world to forget her. And the world has a very short memory and a very short attention span.

[Richard W]

The thing about Linda as a "star" is that she's the rare one who doesn't require or seek attention or adulation. Certainly, attention has been paid to her, and she's most certainly adored (me, as a case in point) but they are not something that she needs. She is, essentially, egoless -- not a quality to which we are accustomed in our "stars."

[erik]

I think Linda once said something to the effect that you cannot stop fame from happening to you any more than you can will it upon yourself (something that I wish those who participate in these TV singing talent shows would get through their heads).

Linda probably loved fame much more than she has let on, but she understood how to use it responsibly (IMHO).

[Partridge]

A couple of the reviews I have read of Neil's book try to give the impression that he was negative toward Linda Ronstadt, one said that he still seemed peeved at her for suggesting Nicolette not get involved with him. I knew that had to be rubbish as he continued to work with Linda over the years. Here are a couple of excerpts from the book:


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[Richard W]

Thanks, Tony!

So one has to wonder at the agenda of the reviewers who want to give the impression that Young has negative feelings for/about Linda -- when obviously that isn't true and there's no way to misconstrue what he's written.

Why would these reviewers -- who are, if nothing else, constrained by word count and space -- bother with such misrepresentation?

Unless, of course, we're talking about Amazon reviews or some such, in which case there are few constraints at all.

[eddiejinnj]

unless something happened in recent years which i am not reading in excerpt, it is obvious he has extremely positive feekings re: linda. i mean he asked her back time and again and she was on probably a majority of his album if not close. eddiejinnj

[Anton]

I've seen two "professional" reviewers who took their opportunity to review this book to make a disparaging mark about Linda Ronstadt. She is mentioned heavily in this book, with never a discouraging word. Some people just don't know how to interpret the written word.

Here are some pictures from the book:

[erik]

Quote by richwar:

So one has to wonder at the agenda of the reviewers who want to give the impression that Young has negative feelings for/about Linda -- when obviously that isn't true and there's no way to misconstrue what he's written.

I'm only speculating, but I think it's the same old sexism and chauvinism that is the agenda of those jackasses; either that, or they clearly don't know what they're talking about. Linda and Neil have known one another professionally for virtually all of their careers, and he has always had great respect for her.

They just want to misconstrue what Neil says, and more importantly the way he says it, to further their own prejudices for the world to see (IMHO).

[Deleted]

I bet if Neil reached out to Jan Wenner that might count for something... or maybe not...

[sliderocker]

Oct 10, 2012 8:54:17 GMT -5 erik said:

I'm only speculating, but I think it's the same old sexism and chauvinism that is the agenda of those jackasses; either that, or they clearly don't know what they're talking about. Linda and Neil have known one another professionally for virtually all of their careers, and he has always had great respect for her.

They just want to misconstrue what Neil says, and more importantly the way he says it, to further their own prejudices for the world to see (IMHO).

I'd guess these "jackasses" are really "elephants," as in Republicans of the ultra right wing variety who hate Linda because of her stand on certain issues and politicians. There's no way you can read the passages in Neil's book and come to the conclusions they came to, so one has to think those bozos possibly may never have read the book at all. Or they read it and didn't like the fact Neil had some very positive things to say about Linda and were tryingt o rewrite the passages into something negative. That's a stupid thing to do because people can buy the book or check it out from a library and they would be able to see for themselves the take by the jackasses are full of sh*t!

[sliderocker]

Oct 10, 2012 9:48:43 GMT -5 @robertaxel said:

I bet if Neil reached out to Jan Wenner that might count for something... or maybe not...

I'd bet on "maybe not." One would think that the rock musicians who are in the hall already would have some sway with the hall abotu who gets nominated and inducted - supposedly once in, they're allowed to be part of the nominating process themselves, but even some of the rock artists championed by the ones who are in are ignored by the hall because of a personal dislike. It's criminal when it comes to Linda because she should've been there from the beginning. She meets all of the criterias and is definitely more qualified than some of the artists who are in there. The R&RHoF should be ashamed she's not in there but they have no shame about their personal prejudices which keep certain artists out.

[Richard W]

I Googled and read about ten reviews of the book by the major players (LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Rolling Stone, etc.) and none of them mentioned Linda in Young's memoir, positively or negatively. (One did mention her name in a short list, in connection with Young's talking about some of his remembrances, including Joni Mitchell, but that's it.)

So I assume the negative comments are largely restricted to online posters/commenters, which, of course, opens up the doors to all sorts of agendas and issues.

[Partridge]

D an D eluca, Inquirer Music Critic for philly.com:

"He hates a lot of things - the iPod shuffle function, the compromised sound of MP3 files. But he rarely has anything bad to say about anybody, although he still sounds peeved at Linda Ronstadt for warning Nicolette Larson not to date him because he wasn't "living in the real world.""

What Neil actually said:
"She just dropped out to raise a family and live a "normal" life in the "real world." She used "real world" to describe me once. She told Nicolette not to get involved with me because I was "not living in the real world"! It didn't matter, though, because Nicolette and I did have a close relationship for a while. It didn't last for us, though. Life is like that."

[Richard W]

It's interesting that Linda is wearing the same t-shirt in both of the posted photos, and Neil is wearing the same shirt. Looks as if she and Neil went for a horseback ride during the day and then went right to the gig!

Amazing that it's the same woman in a t-shirt and jeans on the back of a horse and in a vintage '50s gown and gloves on the cover of What's New.

[erik]

Quote by Partridge re. Neil Young excerpt:

What Neil actually said:
"She just dropped out to raise a family and live a "normal" life in the "real world." She used "real world" to describe me once. She told Nicolette not to get involved with me because I was "not living in the real world"! It didn't matter, though, because Nicolette and I did have a close relationship for a while. It didn't last for us, though. Life is like that."

I think Neil was just kidding around. Or, to quote the words of the immortal Foghorn Leghorn: "It's a joke, son!" (LOL).