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All these radio type people were taken to a little tent next to the backstage area and within sight of the very cool "Springfield" bus. We were told Neil Young would come out for 15 minutes. Everyone was to stay at a table (they had about 15 or so) and he'd come to each table and people could chat plus take pictures (at the venue where cameras aren't allowed).   :)

When Neil walked in with Elliot Roberts & Ralph Molina, everyone mobbed him. He seemed very taken aback and somewhat shy. Neil had changed his outfit and looked rather dapper with the hat on that was mentioned in the Old Princeton Landing "bar tour" reviews. Didn't say much, but when I shook his hand he said he remembered me which made my day, week, summer!

When I asked him about The Archives from a distance he just gave me a blank look and maybe in all the confusion he didn't hear me.

Lookout Mama took me aside and looked at me shaking her head like that was the wrong thing to ask. The "aftershow" could have gone much better but as everyone knows radio people are like cattle and they all seem to go in the same direction at once. So do their programs! Didn't seem to be an independent thinker in the bunch but I'm going off on a rant here.

Lookout Mama had agreed to take some pictures of people with Neil so I went over and talked with Elliot Roberts. My son took a picture of just Elliot and I during our little chat. I think Lookout Mama took three or four pictures of people that neither one of us knew, and I got about four. Neither one of us is confident these pictures will turn out, but if they do, maybe there's someone in the Raleigh area who can make a "gif" out of them and send them to Hyperrust...

Roberts said the archives will be out for Christmas!!! Without missing a beat I asked, "96 or 97?" Yep, the answer was '97. Had to ask a question to get an answer. He said the archives would be 16 CDs. They would not come out all at once because it would be too expensive for fans and for Neil. They would be sold like a typical box set four CDs at a time. When I asked how long it would take to get the entire archives out he laughed and said the whole project should be done by 2020 but I don't think he was serious.

We talked about the internet and HDCD but it was mostly just small talk. Both Ralph and Elliot were really nice guys and put up with these same tired questions they hear all the time with warmth & humor.

Ralph Molina really perked up when I told Elliot about the internet project that Nils Lofgren is doing for his next CD. Elliot thought it was a very interesting idea. Told Ralph that I'd already sent an email in that Crazy Horse be used as a back-up band for some tracks as a sort of reunion. He just nodded and smiled.

The MORE BARN! t-shirts were a major hit. Was talking with Elliot when Lookout Mama gave the shirts to Neil. I'm sure she'll have a lot to say (once she is settled at home) on what happened. The road manager (I think that is who he was) made a special trip all the way back to the tent after everyone had left. I was packing up the camara and tape recorder when he came out to say that they were "very" impressed with the shirts. He said everybody really liked 'em and that Neil had them all under his arm and wasn't letting 'em go. Made a big point that Neil was NOT letting go of 'em.

Now that I've seen 'em are there any "More Barn" shirts left?

James McKelvey (jmckelve@email.unc.edu)

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