Rating: 
Summary: Biographer or Critic?
Review: If you want the facts of Neil's life, they're here. But McDonough reaches a point in the latter part of the book where he seems to think that HE is Neil Young's ultimate creative foil, criticizing and challenging Neil in a no-punches-pulled kind of way that serves the reader and the songwriter equally. He becomes increasingly more of a critic and less of a storyteller of Young's life. I disliked this approach. It still irritates me. McDonough seems to think that much of Neil's work is either slight or pure crap, with few exceptions. So, while it was interesting to me to find out how truly disasterous the "Time Fades Away" tour was, the recorded document of that tour probably doesn't need McDonough's critique. And you know what? The record still stands up. Even if McDonough or even Neil himself doesn't like it. So does the bar band side of "American Stars and Bars." So does the recorded version of "Like an Inca." Or "Old Ways." Readers like me have enjoyed following the musical journey, even when it has run into dead ends. McDonough wants to tell us why it should have been a different journey. Well, too bad, Jimmy. It's a human highway, and Neil is flawed just like the rest of us. So tell us his story, not how he should have done what you wanted him to.
Rating: 
Summary: Enter the Mind of a Songwriter
Review: Unbelievable, absolutely the best authorized rock bio I've ever read. If you are a songwriter, an individualist, an artist, a 60's/70's phreak, a druggie, a mystic, a musician, a roadie or groupie who knows how to read, a producer, engineer, guitar phreak...or, if you just like reading page after page of uproariously funny and crazy and sick junk, then this one's for you! The author gets in the way of himself just a little, and he's a little taken with himself, but it just goes with the territory, so all is forgiven, especially because the guy is a TOTAL fan. Man, Neil Young is the place where sensitive and ruthless just merge and explode. I can't believe that this guy made SO MANY rotten records, SO MANY records that JUST PLAIN SUCK! But - take ZUMA, HARVEST, ON THE BEACH, TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT, TIME FADES AWAY (Young's LEAST favorite record, heh heh), and GOLD RUSH, and roll into that some of the better live records, and that's all you need. That, and this amazing book. Oh, and long live Ben Keith.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I thought the book was fascinating. Another review mentioned how absorbing the book was, & I agree. Yeah the author gets his ego in there somewhat, but somehow it all still works. It's a little frantic, (kind of like being on tour). Let me say I'm not a big Neil Young fan... I don't own any of his records, but of course over the years have not been able to avoid hearing his music, some of which I loved & some I hated. I never liked CS&N, but at least Young brought them some balls when he was around the band. I'm a professional musician & a baby boomer, & so I can relate to a lot of the book, although I knew little about Neil Young before reading it, other than his music. I've always respected Neil for doing whatever he wants and being a real rock n roller as well as a great songwriter. Like Bob Dylan, he is still a force that cannot be written off. If you are interested in American pop music of the last 30 years, (or of course if you are a fan of Neil's) then I think you'd enjoy this book. The author does get in Neil's face quite a bit and is unafraid to challenge him, and I think Neil handles it pretty well... there are some terrible, tragic stories in the book and some uplifting ones as well. It's not easy to be too closely with extremely creative people, and Neil Young has to be one of the more intense and eccentric artists on the planet. I say, check it out, it's a worthwhile read.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much of everything...
Review: I don't know, it's often a bit lame to suggest that a book could have used some more editing, but that's how I felt with this one. Clearly Young is a fascinating/infuriating character, and it seems as though McDonough is also. So it's not as though there's a lack of material to write about - I just wish McDonough had done it with a little more focus.
Rating:
Summary: Good story; good biography
Review: Want first of all to disagree with those who felt there was too much McDunough putting himself in the book...that almost put me off buying it in the ifrst place. But it started out like a real bio....grandparents, parents, Neil. Interesting reading all the way through...I also diagree about the halfway burnout; the 80s and 90s weren't the stuff of your std rollingstone puffery and yes, the book gets grim in those decades. Best thing I can say about this book is that when I finished it I went back and listened to some of the early stuff--even Harvest--and it all sounded brand new to me. Since I've been listening to those albums for 30 years , I think the fact that this book can change the way I hear the tunes is high praise indeed. Best Neil Young line in the whole book: "More barn!"
Rating:
Summary: Loved his music, new little about him.....
Review: A very enjoyable read, full of a multitude of tidbits that re-evaluated my perception of the times covered in this book. The author is too much in the forefront, although I got to hand it to him for getting as much out of this recluse as he did.A large percentage of this book is pages long direct quotes from Young. I tired on the perception of how incredible Tonights the Night was, and scratched my head at his negative perceptions of Harvest Moon, Weld, and Unplugged. I always thought those records were the second half of the great comeback. I also feel the author was too judgemental in criticizing Young for going mainstream by attending television events. Neils reply about him fulfilling a husbandly duty was priceless. His wife wanted to go to the big show. If you are even a remote Neil Young fan there is plenty here. If you are not, then you are not even reading this review.
Rating:
Summary: freud would have loved it
Review: neil young is/was an important and significant creative force. knowing how and why he rejects high school, how he treated bullies, early sexual views, parental booze abuse and divorce, early music experiences all establish how he got there. if your REALLY interested in how he got there, more is typically better than less.
Badly edited? Yes, but I'd rather that - than a slick editor, determined to get it to 350 pages, leaves valuable info on the cutting room floor.
great insight on early rock/folk evolution. clever layout but def rambling. perhaps some ego, but no one else has gotten to neil(glad to take what i can get). very weak photos. great insight into his creative process.
if your interested in this period, early rock or neil young - you should prob chop your way through.
Rating:
Summary: Never Dull Neil
Review: This book was so interseting to me because it encompasses many interviews and comments from so many different musicians/groups. It is surprisingly funny also.
Rating:
Summary: The angry heart
Review: Who would have thought it, Neil Young an adult child of an alcoholic. Neil Young, who moved so often his roots were above the ground. Neil Young, the epeleptic with seizures who didn't know it. Neil Young, the lost soul looking for his mother in his relationships. Neil the loner, Neil the loadie. Neil, the father and husband of the decade, privately, heroically and futily being there for his kids. Moving on before someone passes him over, fatalistically alienating others without knowing it, yet giving back in so many ways. Living his life thru his songs, singing his life thru his music. Driven, ambitious and perfectionistic. So open and sharing in his music. A dark and compelling story. Difficult to take in, yet hard to let go. Hard to believe it's Neil's. Can't put it down because it is Neil. A control freak out of control. The book makes one appreciate his musical honesty and introspection even more as we learn of his troubled solitary torment.
Rating:
Summary: I Didn't Know I Was Buying "The Jimmy McDonough Story."
Review: Although this book is extremely well-written, I have to bump it down a couple of stars because of the almost-palpable insecurities of author Jimmy McDonough. I would have loved to have read more anecdotes based on those "late night discussions of CSNY til 4 a.m." with Young that McDonough is so clearly proud of. The author also takes special pains to point out all the ways he has personally influenced the music of Neil Young -- snore. That said, McDonough does come up with some fascinating insights into one of American music's most maddening and important figures. He presents the passive-aggressive side of Young so clearly, and his on-again, off-again relationship with Crazy Horse. I actually enjoyed the asides about Young's interest in Lionel trains, which led him to buy the company. Very "innaresting" stuff. This book also gets the reader very interested in the long, idiosyncratic and ultimately successful career of Neil Young. Unlike Crosby, Stills or Nash, Young continues to make vital and important music even today, which sets him up apart from nearly every last one of his peers from that era (with the exception of Bob Dylan). I own my fair share of Neil Young albums, and this book caused me to buy a few more based on this book. Music, no doubt, to Neil's ears. If McDonough had refrained from injecting himself so blatantly into this book, I would have given this a higher rating.
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