Neil Young started his music career in 1963 with his two songs, “The Sultan” and “Aurora”. During the same year, he formed Buffalo Springfield, and in 1966 “For What it’s Worth” became a major hit and also became an anthem for the Vietnam War protestors.
Throughout his musical career, Neil had a wave of opportunities to perform with many musicians and one of them was Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan and Neil Young have been friends for decades now. However, there was a period when both of them had a little feud.
Nevertheless, Neil Young has incredible respect for his dear friend, and in 2008 he was asked about his opinion on Bob Dylan and he shared his appreciation.
Neil Young’s Opinion on Bob Dylan
Bob Dyan and Neil Young, both of these musicians have deep respect for each other. During an interview with Charlie Rose in 2008, Neil Young talked about his friend Dylan.
“I love Bob Dylan, I think he is great. In the very beginning I knew he was great. I was walking on down the street and there is this guy in a Lincoln Navigator or continent. I can’t remember, was one of those black cars,” he said.
Neil added, “He is in there and he is blasting ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and singing at the top of his lungs. It’s an afro-american guy sitting there, he is about 30 years-old in a suit, just rocking”.
“I heard Bob’s voice and I went ‘This is Bob, you know, this is the essence of his feeling and everything. The moment that he was delivering that song is so powerful, you can’t keep that’. That comes and goes through you. You can’t strive to be that, there is no way you own it.”
“I’ve heard Bob say that he doesn’t know who wrote, he doesn’t know the guy who wrote those songs anymore. I understand what he was saying, the feeling behind it. I look at it and I go ‘Well, I must been in a really different place doing that. But I was, I wrote those words, I sat down and I believe it,” Neil Young said.
Neil respected Bob Dyland and both of them have even covered each other’s song.
Bob Dylan Covered Neil Young’s “Old Man”
The best songwriters from their era happen to be incredible friends. What are the odds? The work of these two icons is comparatively unmatched in the world of pop music. In the early 2000s,’ Bob Dylan showed his respect for Neil Young by covering his hit song “Old Man” during his live concert.
If you’ve noticed then Bob Dylan rarely deals with the press. However, in 2007 he was interviewed by Rolling Stones, and he was happy to talk about his friend Neil Young.
“Neil is very sincere if nothing else. He’s sincere, and he’s got a God-given talent, with that voice of his, and the melodic strain that runs through absolutely everything he does. He could be at his most thrashy, but it’s still going to be elevated by some melody. Neil’s the only one who does that. There’s nobody in his category,” Dylan said.