Neil Young - Boston Concert

Neil Young is a collector of second-hand guitars, but in recording and performing, he frequently uses just a few instruments. As explained by his longtime guitar technician Larry Cragg in the film Neil Young: Heart of Gold, they include:

    * 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop - Nicknamed "Old Black", this is Young's primary electric guitar and is featured on Rust Never Sleeps and most other albums. Old Black got its name from a purely amateur paintjob applied to the originally-gold body of the instrument, sometime before Neil acquired the guitar in the late 1960s. In 1972, a mini-humbucker pickup from a Gibson Firebird guitar was installed into the lead/treble position, replacing a P-90 as standard on Les Paul guitars from that era. This pickup, severely microphonic, is considered a crucial component of Neil's sound. A Bigsby vibrato unit was installed as early as 1969 on the guitar, and can be heard clearly during the opening of "Cowgirl in the Sand" from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. This guitar also features a mini-switch that is used to send the signal from the mini-humbucker direct to the amp, without going through the volume or tone controls.
    * Martin D-45 - His primary steel-string acoustic guitar; used to write "Old Man" and many other hit songs.
    * Martin D-28 - Nicknamed "Hank" after its previous owner, Hank Williams. The guitar came into Young's possession after Hank Williams, Jr. had traded it to another owner for some shotguns and it went through a succession of other owners until it was located by Young's longtime friend Grant Boatwright. The guitar was purchased by Young from Tut Taylor. Young has toured with it for over 30 years. A story about the guitar and inspired song known as "This Old Guitar" can be seen about 50 minutes into the film Neil Young: Heart of Gold. It is Young's primary guitar for the album, Prairie Wind.
    * 1927 Gibson Mastertone - A six-string banjo, tuned like a guitar. It has been used on many recordings and was played by James Taylor on "Old Man".
    * Various vintage Fender Deluxe amplifiers - Neil's preferred amplifier for electric guitar is the diminutive Fender Deluxe, specifically a Tweed-era model from 1959. Neil purchased his first vintage Deluxe in 1967 for $50 from the drummer of Crazy Horse, Ralph Molina, and has since acquired nearly 450 different examples, all from the same era, but he maintains that it's the original model that sounds superior, and is a crucial component to his trademark sound. A notable and unique accessory to Young's Deluxe is the Whizzer, a device created specifically for Young, which physically changes the amplifier's settings to pre-set combinations. It has gone through many incarnations, and now includes effects pedals hardwired into its circuitry.
    * Gretsch 6120 (Chet Atkins) - Before Neil bought Old Black, this was his primary electric guitar used during his Buffalo Springfield days.
    * Gretsch White Falcon - Late '50s hollow body that Neil purchased near the end of the Buffalo Springfield era; in 1969 Neil acquired a stereo version of the same vintage guitar from Stills, and this instrument is featured prominently during Neil's early '70s period, and can be heard on tracks like "Ohio," "Southern Man," "Alabama," "L.A.," others.

In a large garage underneath his Woodside ranch, Young also maintains a large private collection of classic Detroit-made American cars.

American City & County® magazine announced that Boston was among eight cities selected as 2007 "America's Crown Communities." The magazine presents the awards annually in recognition of outstanding leadership in local government. Other cities joining Boston on the award podium are Buffalo, N.Y.; Compton, Calif.; Ogden, Utah; Renton, Wash.; San Diego; Sandy Springs, Ga.; and Scottsdale, Ariz. Boston was selected for its Camp Harbor View project, which transformed an unused plot of land in Boston Harbor Island National Park into a summer day camp for inner-city youth. The camp welcomed its first 300 campers on July 2, 2007.

Neil Young was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1982. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first in 1995 for his solo work, with an induction speech given by Eddie Vedder, and again in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield.

He has also directed four movies under his pseudonym Bernard Shakey, and released them through his own Shakey Pictures imprint: Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979) Human Highway (1982) (starring new wave band Devo), and Greendale (2003). The bonus DVDs included in both versions of Greendale and in Prairie Wind are also directed by Young under the Bernard Shakey alias, and all of Young's home video and DVD releases have been co-released under the Shakey Pictures imprint.

As one of the founders of Farm Aid, he remains on their board of directors. For one weekend each October, in Mountain View, California, he and his wife host the Bridge School Concerts, which have been drawing international talent and sell-out crowds for nearly two decades with some of the biggest names in rock having performed at the event including Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, The Who, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth and Sir Paul McCartney. The concerts are a benefit for the Bridge School, which develops and uses advanced technologies to aid in the instruction of children with disabilities. Young's involvement stems at least partially from the fact that both of his sons have cerebral palsy and his daughter, like Young himself, has epilepsy.

Young was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for his song "Philadelphia" from the film Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen ended up winning the award for his song "Streets of Philadelphia" from the same film). In his acceptance speech, Springsteen said that "the award really deserved to be shared by the other nominee's song." That same night, Tom Hanks accepted the Oscar for Best Actor and gave credit for his inspiration to the song "Philadelphia".

Young owns Vapor Records, who have signed such artists as Jonathan Richman, Tegan and Sara and Catatonia. Since 1995 he has been part owner of Lionel, LLC, a company that makes toy trains and railroads.

Young has twice received honorary doctorates. First in 1992, an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario and secondly in 2006, an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from San Francisco State University. The latter honour was shared with his wife Pegi for their creation of the Bridge School.

In a "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list in the June 1996 issue of Mojo magazine, Young was ranked number 9.

In 2000, Young was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

In 2001, Young was awarded the Spirit of Liberty award from the civil liberties group People for the American Way.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Neil Young] #34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In a "Greatest Living Songwriters" list in 2006 by Paste Magazine Young was ranked number 2 behind Bob Dylan.