Young has written two memoirs, and neither is as good as McDonough’s biography: like Young himself, the book is powerful, poetic, and given to rambling. McDonough’s belief that Young was squandering his talent at the time of his interviews (the nineties) creates more tension than is common between biographer and subject, and luckily, that conflict brings out the best in Young.
Neil Young is one of rock and roll’s most important and enigmatic figures, a legend from the sixties who is still hugely influential today. He has never granted a writer access to his inner life – until now. Based on six years of interviews with more than three hundred of Young’s associates, and on more than fifty hours of interviews with Young himself, Shakey is a fascinating, prodigious account of the singer’s life and career. Jimmy McDonough follows Young from his childhood in Canada to his cofounding of Buffalo Springfield to the huge success of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to his comeback in the nineties. Filled with never-before-published words directly from the artist himself, Shakey is an essential addition to the top shelf of rock biographies.
