Neil Young Top Ten: Wonderin (#1)

Tweet

Today closes down the countdown of favorite songs by the two-time Hall of Fame inductee Neil Young. And I’ll probably catch it from the Young fans. But, as I said, please understand that these are my favorites, and not the songs I claim are Neil’s “best” songs. This one wouldn’t be on my list of his “best,” but it is my favorite. #1: Wonderin’ If you watch the video linked below (instead of just listening to the song), read this backstory then watch it again. You’ll laugh your head off. You see, Neil was pissed at Geffen Records at the time. Reprise had basically let him be himself, which would explain how you’d get hard rocking albums followed by folk records. Young fans considered (and still do, IMO) it part of the appeal. Young’s contract with Geffen guaranteed him $1 million per album and complete creative control. The first two albums for the label were way ahead of their time, techno albums (inspired by a therapy device Young’s son, Ben, was using) Re-ac-tor and Trans. They weren’t well received at the time (although you can look back now and see how far ahead of the techno craze in the later 80s Young actually was). Geffen execs wanted rock and roll. Young’s next planned project was a country album (1985’s Old Ways), but Geffen demanded a “rock and roll” record. Enter “Neil and the Shocking Pinks.” Everybody’s Rockin’ was a combination of covers (“Bright Lights, Big City”) and originals (“Kinda Fonda Wanda” is hilarious), all with a 50s rockabilly vibe. Geffen was probably less amused when Young’s tour was more of an acoustic overview of his marvelous career to that point, with the Shocking Pinks merely an encore, instead of a focused promotional tour for the album. Now, watch the video. It’s about as anti-promotional as you can get for a promotional video. (And this is “cleaned up”: the original video was edited with a “jump-cut” style that made it appear that every other frame was missing.) All of that to introduce my favorite Neil Young song? It’s funny. It makes the video’s subtle “don’t piss me off” message jump to the front. All while highlighting a great rockabilly-style song that proves that Neil Young can do any style of music he wants. And he did, and he does. Thanks for reading. Wonderin’ (With Neil and the Shocking Pinks) Written by Neil Young From Everybody’s Rockin’, 1983 Knowing that I need you to save me: