It’s no secret that GLONO is a haven for Neil Young idol worship. Most of us are of an age where our foray into Neilvana was sparked by a single event. In the fall of 1989 Neil Young was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and unveiled before a country mired in Reagan-Bush malaise a song that shook us all to our core. As we recover from another Bush era, remember to Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World.
Video: Neil Young – “Rockin’ In the Free World” (live)
Greatest SNL performance ever.
What else did he play that night?
I recall the drummer and bass player switching for that one.
1989 was also the year that a few million people around the world started getting out of the “malaise” they’d been suffering under for a bit longer than a decade.
I had so forgotten this – I had it on VHS and we watched it over and over until it wore out. Just a bombshell of a performance.
One thing I read later was Neil Young saying that he lifted weights for half an hour before the show to get his body keyed up…if true, it certainly worked.
wow… that was 20 years ago. it doesn’t seem that long.
come to think of it, so was the bay area quake during the world series that year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOAP8p7ux_Y