00:01The label hit the roof and filed a lawsuit against him for making albums not commercial in nature
00:07and musically uncharacteristic of Young's previous records.
00:11The lawsuit was eventually dropped, but it would be hard to say that Neil won anything.
00:15His audience began to dwindle as he jumped from style to style.
00:19No matter where I go, I never hear my record on the radio.
00:26A lot of times in my life, I just didn't want people to know what I was thinking.
00:31And that was a period of time when I had some things on my mind that I really didn't know
00:35how to share with the world.
00:36So I just did this series of stylized albums, which I see as paintings on the wall in a gallery.
00:45You go through and you can look at my entire life and pictures and sound pictures,
00:51and you get to these things and you go, what are these?
00:53Well, that's a stage.
00:59After finishing up this contract with Gethin, Neil re-signed with Reprise.
01:04But his next album was yet another stylistic shift.
01:07This Notes for You was a horn-based R&B record.
01:10The video for the title track criticized the commercial state of rock and was initially rejected by MTV.
01:16Ironically, the video won MTV's Best Video of the Year award as a writer.
01:22Neil Young, it's nice to see you.
01:24Thanks a lot, everybody.
01:25All you people out there.
01:47Despite the attention, Neil's fans were anxious for him to stop jumping from style to style and do what he
01:53did best.
01:54It was like David Briggs, my producer, said, well, that was good, but it was really just like going on
02:00a novelty thing.
02:00When are you going to do something serious?
02:02When are you going to get down and get back into it and really make some contributions?
02:06And I said to him, I said, well, you know, as soon as the songs get here, I'll be ready.
02:14He was not criticizing me, but he was just saying that, you know, for everything that I was capable of
02:19doing,
02:20that it was sad to him that all I could come up with, that all the people were talking about,
02:24was just some stand that I took against corporate sponsorship instead of the music.
02:30Most of Neil's attention was focused on his family, and he did not want to share that with the world.
02:35He and Peggy became parents of a little girl, Amber.
02:38When the red sun sets on the railroad town, and the bars begin to laugh with a happy sound.
02:50Neil saw that his son Ben responded to electric trains.
02:53It was something they could share, and Neil threw himself into it.
02:57I mean, he's a fantastic guy, and he's just taught me so much about life and about, you know, not
03:06giving up.
03:07You just don't give up.
03:09Eventually, Neil and some business partners bought the Lionel train company.
03:13He also had a company called Lion Tech, which developed remote controls that make it easier for the handicapped to
03:19operate train sets.
03:26To help children like Ben, Neil and Peggy founded the Bridge School in 1986.
03:31Each year, they held a benefit to raise money for the school.
03:35The Bridge concerts became great annual events in the rock world,
03:38with artists playing acoustic sets for the kids and their families.
03:41I am a child. I last a while. You can't conceive of the pleasure in my smile.
03:53Neil and Peggy's involvement with the Bridge School gave the public a rare glimpse into the family life Neil always
03:59guarded.
03:59It's easy because Peggy's so strong.
04:02She doesn't want our family to be exposed to People magazine and all of that stuff.
04:07We don't look for that, you know. All of this kind of stuff is difficult.
04:13We just don't want it. We don't want that attention.
04:17Always intensely private, Neil kept it out of the media when Peggy was forced to undergo emergency brain surgery,
04:23with only a 50-50 chance of recovery.
04:26This time, the Youngs were lucky.
04:28She pulled through and made a complete recovery.
04:32Everything about my life has been pretty extreme when you really think about it.
04:38I have some karma that I'm taking with me that comes from somewhere.
04:43You know, I've done a lot.
04:45I've had a lot of things happen to me that people think are events, one-lifetime events.
04:52You know, your house burns down.
04:54You know, something like that happens.
04:57I've had a lot of things like that happen.
04:59And, you know, I try to ignore it.
05:00I really do.
05:01If I thought about those things a lot, I think I'd be crazy or something.
05:05You know, it's not the kind of thing you want to think about too much,
05:08because it makes you a little wary of what's next.
05:12What was next for Neil Young was a decade of new fans and a return to old glory.
05:33His old muse returned with the album Freedom, a fiery farewell to the 80s that won him a new generation
05:40of fans.
05:40From Pearl Jam to Nirvana to Oasis, the 90s would be the decade when rock and roll new heroes would
05:47honor the influence of Neil Young.
05:49Keep on talking and roll이� já.
06:15Keep on talking every word.
06:18Keep on talking every word.
06:25After a tough decade, both musically and personally,
06:28Neil Young ended the 80s with a triumphant return to form.
06:32His 1989 album Freedom was considered his best in 10 years.
06:37Neil Young was hot again,
06:38not only with his old fans,
06:40but with a new generation.
06:42The rise of guitar-driven alternative bands in the early 90s
06:46earned Neil the nickname, The Godfather of Grunge.
06:49Several of those bands honored Neil on a tribute album.
06:55Pearl Jam were great, Neil Young fans.
06:57They played together at a festival in Europe
06:59and liked it so much that they kept the collaboration going
07:02for live shows and an album.
07:12I don't know much about longevity,
07:17but I do know that if I do something that's new
07:21and I don't feel old about what I'm doing,
07:25I may look old, but I don't feel old.
07:29So as long as what I'm doing is new
07:31and something I'm into doing,
07:33then that's healthy.
07:34The more you feel good, the better you are.
07:55Nirvana's Kurt Cobain quoted a line from
07:57Russ Never Sleeps in his suicide note.
07:59It's better to burn out than to fade away.
08:05Neil paid tribute to Kurt on his 1994 album,
08:08Sleeps with Angels.
08:09As far as Kurt goes,
08:12I don't know what to say about that,
08:14but I think, you know,
08:16it is good to be able to just be okay
08:20with completely changing where you're going
08:22because it's not that serious.
08:25You know, it's not that serious.
08:27It's just songs.
08:28It's just writing songs.
08:51As always, Neil moved back and forth
08:53between loud rock and roll tours
08:55and gentle acoustic music.
08:56One of his biggest hits of the 90s
08:59was the homespun Harvest Moon.
09:05Well, there's a certain thing that happens
09:07when I play with Crazy Horse.
09:08It's kind of hard to explain.
09:10I mean, we have our own sound,
09:13and I enjoy it,
09:15playing with Billy Ralph and Poncho.
09:32But, you know, you need to take it in moderation.
09:35Don't burn it out.
09:37Usually I do, like, three months,
09:39and then we went like that.
09:41And that's good.
09:42It's great.
09:43Because it takes so much,
09:44and then you can really burn brightly
09:46and then, bang,
09:47get away from it
09:48before it burns you.
09:50In 2000,
09:52Young reunited with Crosby, Stills & Nash
09:54for their first tour in 25 years.
09:56It was a musical and commercial triumph.
10:30We've gone through a lot of changes
10:31and done a lot of things,
10:32but we still have the same love for one another
10:35that we always had,
10:36and we're still all brothers in what we do.
10:39And when we are focused and we are aligned,
10:43our music is really something else,
10:45and we have respect for it,
10:46and we're all really happy about doing what we're doing.
10:50It's a great feeling.
10:51Long may you run
10:55Long may you run
10:57Although these changes have gone
11:02Will you grow much shining
11:07In the sun
11:11Long may you run
11:19When the CSNY tour ended,
11:22Neil released Silver and Gold,
11:24a gentle celebration of family, home,
11:26And the ties that bind.
11:28Few rock and roll stars could handle
11:30Those corny subjects in a way that felt vital and true.
11:34But Neil Young had not come by his happiness easily.
11:37He had battled serious illness
11:38From polio to epilepsy
11:40And saw his wife and children through their own struggles.
11:43When he sang about the joy of family,
11:46He sang with all the hard experience of a father and husband
11:48Who put his wife and kids ahead of the whole world
11:51And then put what he felt into his songs.
11:55I've been down on the endless highway
12:01I've crossed on the sideline
12:06Now at last I'm home to you
12:10I feel like making up for lost time
12:16I've been on top and I've been on the bottom
12:19And been completely out of style
12:22And, you know, I has been in between when I was on top
12:27And it doesn't seem to make any difference
12:29I keep on doing the same things
12:31But times change
12:32And suddenly just by doing what I do
12:34Then it comes around again, you know.
12:43Working hard every day
12:50Never notice how the time slips away
12:54People come, seasons go
13:00Up next, Neil Young's brand new Silver and Gold concert
13:04Only on VH1
13:05I don't care
13:08If the sun don't shine
13:10And the rain comes pouring down
13:14On the line
13:16Cause our kind of love
13:19Never seems to care
13:23Oh
13:27It's better than Silver and Gold
13:39It's better than Silver and Gold
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