Patti Smith interviewed Neil Young at BookExpo America; presale for their MSG show begins today

As mentioned, Neil Young and Patti Smith are going to head out on a tour together in the fall, both supporting new albums that came out this week. But the two met up even sooner (this past Wednesday to be exact) when Patti interviewed Neil at BookExpo America about Neil’s new memoir, “Waging Heavy Peace,” which is due out in October. Patti has also released a book, “Just Kids,” which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2010. Here’s a bit about the interview via New Yorker:

From there, the conversation wound pleasantly through a variety of topics, much as Young’s book sounds like it might. The two of them discussed songwriting, history, money, memory, and technology. Smith asked about the circumstances surrounding Young’s composition of the 1970 protest anthem “Ohio,” a story that has been told several times but that Young obligingly told again, noting that the song came together in a rush when he saw John Filo’s famous picture of Mary Vecchio crying over a student shot dead by National Guardsmen at Kent State. “When we put the song out,” he said, “it was kind of the social networking of the day, the way it could get played on radio so quickly. We had pressed it on acetates, so you only got seven or eight plays out of them.” That led to one of several moments of productive nostalgia, as Young remembered rock-and-roll radio. “There were no programmers,” he said. “d.j.s played what they wanted, and they had a personality.” He paused. “We have to be careful here. I’m liable to go off.”

Neil Young and Patti Smith’s tour comes to NYC for the previously discussed MSG show on 11/27. Presales (internet presale and Live Nation Mobile App) for that show begin today at 10 AM and run through 3 PM. General sale starts Sunday (6/10) at noon.

Patti Smith covers Neil Young’s “After the Goldrush” on her new album, Banga. Have a listen to that below…

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Patti Smith – “After the Goldrush” (Neil Young cover)