Essential Reading: New Neil Young Book

Recently published by Voyageur Press, Neil Young: Long May You Run - The Illustrated History, by Daniel Durcholz and Gary Graff, doubles as a classic coffee table volume and a true love letter from and for fans.

By Lee Zimmerman

There were those who complained - and rightfully so - that after years of waiting and eager anticipation, Neil Young's much trumpeted Archives Vol. 1 failed to deliver on its promise of unearthing its holy grail of all things Neil. Given its hefty cost and duplication of several volumes that had been given a sneak preview prior to its release, its wealth of riches seemed severely truncated in comparison to what had been hoped for.

Happily then, Long May You Run - The Illustrated History should provide some consolation to the "Rusties" -- as Young's faithful legions are known - and to all the other true believers as well. Priced at a mere $30, it's only a fraction of the cost of the box set and chock full of its own treasures to boot. Granted, it's a book that boasts no music (a bonus disc would have been a nice touch), but the wealth of archival photos, notes, quotes and memorabilia make it a compelling journey through the past just the same. Tracing his trajectory from his childhood in the Canadian heartland and his early attempts at forming his own bands, through his momentous breakthrough and fractured relationship with the Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and ultimately on to his longstanding stint with Crazy Horse and a prodigious if unpredictable solo career, the book manages to survey it all in its picture-packed 224 pages.

Granted, the text isn't nearly as revelatory as that ultimate Young biography, Shakey (published in 2003 by Jimmy McDonough, and done partly with Young's cooperation), and true, it occasionally glances over the more tantalizing trivia. As an example, the Springfield's legendary "lost" album, duly dubbed Stampede, is pictured but otherwise ignored. Even so, the basic narrative is informative and at times, illuminating, and a wealth of sidebars on different subjects - Young's supposed feud with Lynyrd Skynyrd, a rundown of his many studio collaborators, the recording of "Ohio" -- are equally intriguing and make for great bathroom reading as well. Not surprising, the various comments about the subject as offered from the mouths of other musicians are universally fawning, but skeptics would be reminded they befit a musician of Young's history and stature.

Still, Long May You Run is best viewed as a coffee table tome, one that provides ample rewards merely by thumbing through its pages and reading various sections at random. Indeed, authors Durchholz and Graff have done an excellent job of retelling Neil's saga and peppering it with posters, record sleeves, rare photos, a reasonable discography of his commercial releases and the kind of minutiae that can make a devoted fan gawk and gaze for hours at a time. Both men have lengthy resumes that make them well suited to the task -- Durchholz by virtue of his editorial stints at Request and Replay magazines and frequent contributions to Rolling Stone, Billboard, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post, and Graff via his work with Billboard, the New York Times Features Syndicate and the volumes he helped pen on Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen.

Nevertheless, this is a stunning accomplishment, not so much for its editorial inclinations, but rather for the fact it's a genuine fan offering, one that not only celebrates its subject, but also allows for further fascination. It can't be lauded enough.