For “Shakey’s” 79th - Neil Young :: “Hawks & Doves” - Reprise Records
Neil Young entered the decade of the 1980s just like anyone else of his generation and, while most tore apart his electrifying efforts, others absorbed the radiating atmosphere of his constant beauty and took the high road, as they say, by following their harmonious hero into the dark corners of a futuristic dystopian ecosystem that, like the decades prior, established a radical system of courage and human excellence, and conquered with him the unfamiliar elements of the next generation’s grip on society, reality, fundamentals of family and finance and the ever-changing landscape of political chaos that radically shook the decade like a magic 8-ball without any sort of resolution, or plastic peace. Ending the 1970s with an explosion of energy, Young’s 1979 masterpiece “Rust Never Sleeps” not only paved way for the ultimate blueprint for singer-songwriters to conquer the live atmosphere like never before, Young had officially begun taking risks both commercially and professionally in order to achieve, or awaken some sort of change, or dormant creature within him that the 1960s had no luck of emotionally excavating out of him during his time with Buffalo Springfield and CSN&Y. Young was on to something and as a new decade approached, its blinding, florescent light ever so close and poetically pulsating, the musician sharpened his sword of sonnets and sonic storytelling and wielded it into battle, while simultaneously embodying the true essence of his career as well as the harmonious hues of artistic bravery like never before.
“I wasn’t allowed to tell people that Neil was involved in therapy with Ben 18 hours a day, and that’s why he could not promote anything. I could never use that as an excuse, because it would become the story. One thing we didn’t want was pity.”
1980’s “Hawks & Doves” manages to collect the sonic spellbound glory of one of the legend’s most devastating and somewhat calculated releases within his entire catalog of musical memory and cognitive cultural escapades that, to this day, reflects the endless struggles and nights of fatherhood, the sacrificial nature of family affairs and the exhaustive efforts of standing up to bat when you have nothing left to give. Is it an absolute home-run? A comparative magnum opus to that of “Out On The Weekend”, “On The Beach”, “Will To Love”, or “Cortez The Killer”? Not the point, for its sonic sobriety is managed and sophisticatedly poignant and, though, it's nowhere near the brilliant familiarity of his past works, such as his magnificent s/t debut, “After The Gold Rush”, “Harvest” or “Time Fades Away”, “Hawks & Doves” still manages to capture something that the early works had yet to grow into, and that's the total free-range nature and weariness of adulthood and its constant callings on us to do things that we didn’t know we were capable of until it was right in front of our face. While a good portion of what would eventually become the “Hawks & Doves" album had already been written between the “On The Beach” and “American Stars ‘N Bars” years, Young allowed the album to have two separate poetic personalities that reflected both the early years of his time and place in CSN&Y, the songwriter’s affinity for actor Dean Stockwell and his time in the Bahamas with the late and great Jimmy Buffett, where the two crossed paths with American merchant, shanty storyteller and marine captain Lou Kenedy.
The richness of the past, present and uncertainty of the future for both Young’s son Ben, who, at the time, had recently been diagnosed with the devastating disorder of cerebral palsy, and the landscape of the country truly reflected in the hardships and dueling realities of “Hawks & Doves”. But as someone who has persevered and transcended the times with sonic style and gospel-like grace, Young compiled the recordings and sessions from December 11, 1974 – July 5, 1980, and released the album that October, freeing him from the chains of callousness and personal anticipations at the time of the album’s story of organic origin. What most fans and critics tend to forget or were too quick to write-off about the album is actually not the music at all, but the musician himself. The particular hardships, trials and tribulations and the personal hell of finding balance and assistance in his personal life during production makes this album not only an immediate sonic staple among the many other atmospherical artifacts found throughout his cosmic canon, but a wholesome window into the elevated eyes of the now aging master of song and style. With tracks such as the album’s immaculate opener “Little Wing”, which was briefly exercised during Young’s participation in the short-lived super group, The Ducks, during the summer of 1977, the near 8-minute meditation of “The Old Homestead”, “Captain Kennedy” and the full band title track all spiraling into the epic ether of late night contemplation and maniac insomnia, Young initiated the 1980s and began the rest of his life, that to this day, is still eagerly exploring the art of storytelling and political justice just as he had done during his prime poetic professionalism of the early days.
