Reviews (2)

Best Neil Young guitar compilation period
As of now, this is the best place to start...still not all popular songs are included...but still the best to date
DIfficult to follow
I found the tab in this book very hard to follow. I am a beginner guitar player, and Neil Young is always a good place to learn. However, the tab seems filled with unnecessary info that the make the bass notes hard to follow. Even simple songs that I knew like, "The Needle and The Damage Done", were brutal to follow. If you want an ABSOLUTE tab layout of the songs, with EVERY single minute noise, then get the book. Poor indeed, as far as I'm concerned. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    4. Music / Songbooks   

Editorial Review

Cantankerous and secretive, Neil Young has banished authors from hisinner sanctum--until now. In Read more

Reviews (108)

Inaccuracies
Fascinating book, but i'm only half way through and i already getting fed up with the inaccuracies ....eg Joni at Woodstock !!etc.If you look closely there are actually quite a few ... particularly when McDonough talks about subjects he is less knowledgeable about.It's a good book, but McDonough comes across as arrogant and some of his put-downs when comparing others with Young are frankly laughable. I realise that he wanted to put across his own viewpoint, but a little more humility wouldn't have gone amiss.

A critical look at neil with his responses
This book works most effectively because after each sub-chapter, Neil Young responds to what the author has written about his life(shown in Italics). There is a lot of detail here and if you are a Neil Young fan, then this book is for you.

A career worth thedetails...........
If you're a big fan of Rock 'n Roll(I am) and have read many bio's on Rock's most influential personalities(I have), you won't find a more indepth or detailed biography than this. Most Rock bio's are like a movie that you enjoyed seeing but was forgot about soon after. This book will have you thinking about some of it's passages for quite awhile. And some of the humorous escapades (like Springfield getting busted for loud music and possession attheir Topanga pad while jamming with Clapton)will have you thoroughly amused.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Canada    6. Composers & Musicians - General    7. Composers & Musicians - Rock    8. Genres & Styles - Rock    9. Rock music    10. Rock musicians    11. Young, Neil    12. Biography & Autobiography / Composers & Musicians   

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. 20th century    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Correspondence    7. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    8. Ireland    9. Literary    10. Poets, American    11. Poets, Irish    12. Relations with women    13. Women    14. Yeats, W. B    15. English    16. Literary Criticism & Collections / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    17. Other prose: from c 1900 -    18. Poetry & poets   

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. 20th century    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Family    8. Historical - British    9. Ireland    10. Irish poets    11. Literary    12. Poets, Irish    13. Yeats, W. B    14. Yeats, W.B. (William Butler), 1865-1939    15. English    16. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    17. Pollexfen family    18. Yeats family   

Editorial Review

While some may be forgiven for assuming that Read more

Reviews (3)

On the road with Neil Young
The book's subtitle, A Quest, An Obsession (and a True Story) sums up author Kevin Chong's yearning to discover what it really means to be a dedicated Neil Young fan and his desire to stay youthful and passionate.
a long, strange (but great) trip
Maybe it's because I'm almost 30 years old myself and, like the author, at the crossroads between my freewheeling 20's and the more domestic 30's. Maybe it's because I've thought about making trips to Ontario to see my musical hero's hometown just for fun, and never done it. Whatever it is, this book connected with me. Thankfully, the book is a lot less about Neil Young than it is about a road trip with friends and the experiences they've had along the way. I say thankfully because I've read enough biographical books on Neil, including the extensive, 700-page or whatever "Shakey," by Jimmie McDonough, which is great, by the way. While Chong does get into some history of Young's musical life during the road trip from Canada to LA, I actually found myself enjoying the parts most where it was just Chong and his buddies, Geoff, Dave and Mark, talking about random stuff in the car or while having some beers with locals at various taverns along the way. A modern, sarcastic road trip tale not too much unlike that of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," without the rambling, random lunacy of the Dean character. The book should connect especially with those in the 25-35 range, even if they're not huge Neil Young fans. A must-read for any big Neil fan, however. There's even numerous mentions of meetings with "Rusties" around the country.

college reminiscing
As I approach my 25th year college reunion, this book brought me back to those college days where we thought it was so cool to go to Cy Young's house to speak with the people who live there now.We made precious films about "gazing globes" (those strange balls that sit atop cement stands in gardens all over the midwest).I guess more than anything, this book describes the path you can take if you wish to become a true member of the hidden, authentic Neil Young fan society.Most of the truly informative bits I was able to glean from 4 Way Street: The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Reader by David Zimmer.But it was a good transport back to those college days when you wanted desperately to be on the "in" of a hip, secret society. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Biography    3. Canada    4. General    5. Genres & Styles - Rock    6. Music    7. Music/Songbooks    8. Rock musicians    9. Young, Neil,    10. Music / Rock   

Reviews (4)

Biography and Literary criticism as one
Ellmann was both a masterful biographer and first- rate literary critic. In this early bookhe writes an excellent account of the life of Yeats, and combines with an overall analysis of Yeats' literary development. He probes deeply into the symbolic and mythic meaning of Yeats' poetry and provides for the lay-reader a key to this often complex poetry's, understanding.
Biograph Master
Ellmann was only 30 when he published this in 1948, less than 10 years after Yeats's death;he was the first biographer to see Yeats's papers in their chaotic entirety.What an astounding job!You'd think this would read like a warm-up for his later magisterial biographies of Joyce and Wilde, but "The Man and the Masks" holds its own against those works, giving a sensitive, economical portrait of an unusually fractured poet. Admirable, but not Perfect
Though I have the greatest admiration for Ellman, I must say that this critical biography of Yeats has a few too many blindspots, is too vague and shapeless in its outline of Yeats' life, to satisfy entirely. Roy Foster'stwo-volume account is ultimately preferable because far more complete. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. 20th century    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Literary    8. Literature: Classics    9. Poets, Irish    10. Yeats, W. B    11. Yeats, W. B.    12. Yeats, William Butler    13. English    14. Poetry & poets: 19th century   

Reviews (3)

Before He Was a Rock Star
A detailed account of Neil's life before Buffalo Springfield. (Einarson also wrote a book on BS with Richie Furay) "Don't Be Denied" is probably the most valuable book available for people wanting informationabout Neil that is not otherwise widely known by Neil fans (and who elsereads these types of books). Well researched biography by obvious admirer
This book is thorough and well researched, but the prose is rather pedestrian and a good editor could have helped a lot. The pictures alone are worth the price for a real Neil fan.

Very interesting history
Of all the books on Neil Young I've read, this one is the most interesting and informative.He really delves into the man and the music.It's not gossipy at all, but very interesting. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Canada    6. Composers & Musicians - Rock    7. Rock Music    8. Rock musicians    9. Young, Neil,    10. Young, Neil   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General   

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. Eastern - General    6. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    7. In literature    8. Ireland    9. Irish Poetry    10. Literary    11. Literary Criticism    12. Poetry    13. Religion    14. Yeats, W. B    15. Yeats, W. B.    16. Biography & Autobiography / Literary    17. English    18. Literature/English | Poetry | British & Irish    19. Poetry & poets: 19th century   

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. 19th century    4. 20th century    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. General    10. Irish Poetry    11. Literary    12. Poets, Irish    13. Yeats, W. B    14. Yeats, W. B.    15. Non-Classifiable   

Editorial Review

At this point in literary history, any biographer of W.B. Yeats is up against some stiff competition. Most of the late Richard Ellmann's work on the poet is, alas, out of print. But to judge from its first installment, R.F. Foster's double-decker life looks to be a monumental accomplishment, while in the recent Read more

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    5. Literary    6. 20th century    7. AUTHORS, IRISH    8. Biography: general    9. British Isles    10. English    11. History / Ireland    12. IRELAND_INTELLECTUAL LIFE    13. POETS_BIOGRAPHY    14. Poetry & poets: 19th century    15. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    16. YEATS, W. B. (WILLIAM BUTLER), 1865-1939    17. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (1)

An excellent outline of Neil Young's career (with photos)
This book is excellent for die-hard long-time Neil Young fans such as myself.It is essentially a chronological outline of Neil Young's musical career, with some narrative and many photographs interspersed with theoutline.It starts at the begining of his musical career and ends at 1994,when the book was published.It also includes a discography.It isprinted on high-quality glossy paper.The majority of the photos are blackand white, but with a significant minority of the photos in color.It'sfascinating to follow the twists and turns of Neil Young's career and hismusic.The outline tells when Neil Young recorded each of his songs, andit lists every concert he ever played by city and date.The narrativehelps to expand on the outline and to move the story along.Highlyrecommended for serious Neil Young fans. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Chronology    3. General    4. Genres & Styles - Rock    5. Music    6. Portraits    7. Rock Music    8. Rock musicians    9. United States    10. Young, Neil    11. Biography: film, television & music    12. Rock & pop    13. Vocal music   

Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Ancient, Classical & Medieval    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    4. Poetry    5. Unabridged Audio - Drama/Poetry    6. Biography: general    7. Books on Tape/CD    8. English    9. Poetry & poets: 19th century    10. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    11. Works by individual poets: 19th century    12. Works by individual poets: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (1)

An enjoyable trip down memory lane.
I took to this book very quickly as the descriptions that the author gave of growing up in Cork were right on the money.I found myself walking with him, having spent some time in Cork I could vividly picture the city. I also felt as though I knew the people that he spoke of in the book.I found it to be a pleasant trip back to Cork, as well as a well written story. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. 1903-1966    4. 20th century    5. Authors, Irish    6. Biography    7. Biography & Autobiography    8. Biography / Autobiography    9. Biography/Autobiography    10. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    11. Historical - British    12. Ireland    13. Irish authors    14. Librarians    15. Literary    16. O'Connor, Frank,    17. Yeats, W. B    18. Yeats, W.B. (William Butler), 1865-1939    19. Biography: general    20. English    21. Friends and associates    22. Literary studies: from c 1900 -    23. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -    24. O'Connor, Frank   

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. Autobiography    4. Biography    5. Biography And Autobiography    6. Hermeneutics    7. History and criticism    8. Irish Prose    9. Poets, Irish    10. Theory, etc    11. Yeats, W. B    12. Contributions in autobiography    13. Ireland    14. Literary theory   

Reviews (6)

Excellent reasearch by the author.very detailed
This may be the only book you'll ever need on Neil Young.Then again, there is always more to Neil than we know...
neil young zero to sixty
this is the best and most complete and accurate book about Neil that you will ever read. Why buy the others as i have read all and this is the only book,if you really want to know about shakey neil......

released music only
This might be a pleasing read-along for the casual collector. Rogan provides short blurbs for each song, including a littlebackground information on each, and quotes from (unsourced) interviews. Many Neil Young fans could write this book in a weekend alone with a stereo and a pot of coffee.
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Subjects:  1. Biography: film, television & music    2. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    3. Rock & pop   

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. 1865-1939.    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Criticism, Textual    6. Ireland    7. Irish Poetry    8. Occultism    9. Spirit writings    10. Vision    11. Yeats, W. B    12. Yeats, W. B.   

Reviews (3)

If you liked this book, you will also love...
The following titles:
Way too in-depth, wordy, and subjective for me....
I bought this book because the title and subject matter appeared to be really interesting. Well, I didn't think about how hard it would be to convey the "meanings" and "energy" of the poetics of Neil Young. I have a Communications Theory degree, and this book is almost worse than some of the textbooks I had to read. It is very well referenced though, so I guess if you felt like looking a bunch of other stuff up just so you could understand what he's talking about, then you might like this one. My guess is that once you understood the syntax the author uses, you'd probably wonder why the hell he took so long to say something simple.My only recommendation of this book would be to someone who is highly educated in musical meanings, theory, etc. and is enough of a Neil Young freak to allow themselves the time to read and understand this stuff. Otherwise, get yourself a Bukowski book so you can actually read and possibly understand the "energy" inherent in good poetry.

briljant
I amhalfway , it's not easy but how the writer goes in depth with
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Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Composers & Musicians - Rock    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. General    6. Genres & Styles - Pop Vocal    7. Music    8. Young, Neil    9. Young, Neil,    10. Rock & pop   

Reviews (4)

Fascinating psychological artifact
The first thing you must know about this book:Scott Young adores his son.This adoration pours out in every mention of Neil, whether he's breeding chickens or playing Carnegie Hall.Whether the senior Young was quite so emotional about his other children or not, it's really touching.
Hard to put down
This book is hard to put down.Scott gives a detailed description of his career, his relationship with Neil as a friend and as a son, Neil's rise to Stardom and plenty of interesting stories.It is a must for anyone wantingto explore Neil Young as a musician and as a person.

Very informative. Great insight to Neil's formative years.
Loved the book, bought others for friends. It's been several years, so I might read it again. Just gave one to 19 year female college student, she was very grateful! So Neil lives on!!Thanks Neil for all the hours of greatmusic!!!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Canada    5. Composers & Musicians - Rock    6. Genres & Styles - Soul & R&B    7. Music    8. Rock Music    9. Rock musicians    10. Young, Neil    11. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

There are several biographies of the great Irish poet to choose from, and the one you'll prefer depends on how much biography you want. Subtitled "The Apprentice Mage, 1865-1914," this is the one for completists (though they'll have to wait for Volume Two to get through Yeats's death in 1939). The author, a noted Irish historian, renders Yeats's life almost day to day, giving a particularly lively sense of the helter-skelter nature of his early years and a nice depiction of his tumultuous engagement with the Abbey Theatre. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Informative biography of a complicated man
William Butler Yeats offers a life of contradictions.Born in Dublin to a middle-class Protestant family, Yeats went on to become one of the premier poets of the twentieth century.As a writer and member of the Irish literary community, he also helped to forge Irish national identity through his words and his deeds.In this biography, the first of two volumes, Roy Foster offers an account of Yeats' development into one of the leading figures of the Irish literary scene.
The Lighthouse and the Anteater
For the first 100 pages or so, this book had me completely.Roy Foster writes with elegant brio and has a historian's eye for the wider events and contexts that shaped Yeats's early years.Where previous biographers like Ellman take a sort of lighthouse approach to their subject, treating the passions and conflicts of Yeats's day as fuel for the poetry that was destined to outshine them, Foster is more like an anteater, eagerly snuffling up the everyday bits of information that give the flavor of Yeats's multifaceted life as he actually lived it, before his later fame and incessant revisions smoothed it into a pattern. Surprises!
This is loaded with surprise after surprise.Foster's insights into the poetry, through historical and social readings, are often revelatory. My only complaint is that many of the tales he tells tend to have the same emotional architecture due to a descirptive repetition: this makes it a little monotonous at times.But this is a quibble.This book is great.When is Vol. 2 going to be published? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (William Butler),    2. 1865-1939    3. 19th century    4. 20th century    5. Biography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Europe - Ireland    9. General    10. Literary    11. Poets, Irish    12. Yeats, W. B    13. Yeats, W.B. (William Butler), 1865-1939    14. Biography & Autobiography / Literary    15. Biography: general    16. English    17. Literature/English | British Literature | 19th C    18. Poetry & poets: 19th century    19. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -