The godfather of grunge? Well maybe… There’s certainly enough evidence to back up that claim. The 1990 album ‘Ragged Glory’ being a key piece. Whether or not Young sensed the prevailing change of wind about to come the following year the timing of this album could not have been more perfect. The album has often been described as garage rock but I disagree, sure it’s a live feel as most Neil Young albums have. This album is a full on massive sounding rock record that stands shoulder to shoulder with any of the so called grunge albums that followed in the immediate years after. Its big, it’s dirty and it’s has massive tunes. But this wasn’t new territory for Neil Young, he and the Crazy Horse has been doing this for over 2 decades. So on that evidence we can confirm that if grunge did indeed have a godfather then clearly the DNA test matches Neil Young.
Its better to burn out than fade away:
Here is the song that actually introduced Neil Young to me. Back in the day when MTV showed music videos they would have full days/weekends devoted to bands. Not being lucky enough to actually have MTV I did have friends who would tape whatever they could for me. ‘Rocking In Free World’ was on one of those such tapes (yes tapes!!).
Here’s is the song Young wrote about Kurt:
As if to confirm the Godfather title, by 1995 Young recorded ‘Mirror Ball’ with Seattle stalwarts Pearl Jam.