Fact #116866
When:
Short story:
Despite a telephoned death threat, Neil Young plays in McArthur Court at The University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, USA.Full article:
Art Bushnell (reporter, The Emerald) : Neil Young performed in concert Sunday night knowing that someone had threatened to shoot him if he sang in McArthur Court.
The threat, which was received during the middle of last week, was telephoned to one of the student offices on the third floor of the EMU.
According to the student who answered the phone, the caller said, "Listen mother f------, you've got that Neil Young concert on and if that son of a bitch appears that son of a bitch is gonna get plugged from in the audience and if you think this is a joke go ahead with it."
The student who answered the threatening phone call went directly to University authorities reporting what he had been told to EMU Director Dick Reynolds.
Reynolds conveyed the threat to Young's manager. Young was on concert tour in Canada when he learned of the threat in Eugene. Reynolds also conveyed the threat to the Eugene Police Dept. and security for the concert was altered.
Among the precautions taken at the concert, according to Reynolds, were adding to the usual force of police officers at University concerts and leaving lights on in the balconies of Mac Court throughout the concert.
Reynolds told the Emerald Monday that the Young concert security force included four plain-clothes men and 10 uniformed officers. This, said the EMU director, compares to the usual force of four policemen for each concert.
Steve Smith (reviewer, The Emerald) : Among the new songs was a powerful message which Young introduced by saying, "This song is about heroin. A lot of people don't like to say or hear that word. Because most of us don't like to admit that a friend of ours is a junkie." The importance of the song was crystallised in the final verse: "I've seen the needle and the damage done, A little part of it in everyone, And every junkie's like a setting sun."
Also among the new numbers were two songs on a par with typical Neil Young quality, which is quite high. One concerned an old man who lives on Young's ranch in Northern California. The song is about life and how similar it is, no matter what era he lives in.
The second song was performed on piano and might be titled "A Maid." This song seems to be very important to Young, as his introduction to it in Portland last Thursday indicated that he was concerned about the fact that few people seemed to understand it. Written just a week before his concert at Mac Court, the tune fuses Young's voice and piano with a resultant intensity characteristic of songs like "Southern Man" and "Ohio."
At one point in his performance, young went into a rap about the fact that so many rock freaks make gods out of the rock musicians. While he did indicate that there was little difference between himself and the people in the audience, it seems important to say that there is something very special about musicians of Young's ability.
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The threat, which was received during the middle of last week, was telephoned to one of the student offices on the third floor of the EMU.
According to the student who answered the phone, the caller said, "Listen mother f------, you've got that Neil Young concert on and if that son of a bitch appears that son of a bitch is gonna get plugged from in the audience and if you think this is a joke go ahead with it."
The student who answered the threatening phone call went directly to University authorities reporting what he had been told to EMU Director Dick Reynolds.
Reynolds conveyed the threat to Young's manager. Young was on concert tour in Canada when he learned of the threat in Eugene. Reynolds also conveyed the threat to the Eugene Police Dept. and security for the concert was altered.
Among the precautions taken at the concert, according to Reynolds, were adding to the usual force of police officers at University concerts and leaving lights on in the balconies of Mac Court throughout the concert.
Reynolds told the Emerald Monday that the Young concert security force included four plain-clothes men and 10 uniformed officers. This, said the EMU director, compares to the usual force of four policemen for each concert.
Steve Smith (reviewer, The Emerald) : Among the new songs was a powerful message which Young introduced by saying, "This song is about heroin. A lot of people don't like to say or hear that word. Because most of us don't like to admit that a friend of ours is a junkie." The importance of the song was crystallised in the final verse: "I've seen the needle and the damage done, A little part of it in everyone, And every junkie's like a setting sun."
Also among the new numbers were two songs on a par with typical Neil Young quality, which is quite high. One concerned an old man who lives on Young's ranch in Northern California. The song is about life and how similar it is, no matter what era he lives in.
The second song was performed on piano and might be titled "A Maid." This song seems to be very important to Young, as his introduction to it in Portland last Thursday indicated that he was concerned about the fact that few people seemed to understand it. Written just a week before his concert at Mac Court, the tune fuses Young's voice and piano with a resultant intensity characteristic of songs like "Southern Man" and "Ohio."
At one point in his performance, young went into a rap about the fact that so many rock freaks make gods out of the rock musicians. While he did indicate that there was little difference between himself and the people in the audience, it seems important to say that there is something very special about musicians of Young's ability.