Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Rust Never Sleeps

Director: Bernard Shakey Bernard Shakey

Overview

Don't be misled by the director's name; "Bernard Shakey" is really rock star Neil Young, who is also the center attraction of this music documentary. There's no plot, of course, just 103 minutes' worth of concert footage, filmed during Young's 1979 tour with his back-up band Crazy Horse. Musical highlights include "My, My, Hey Hey" (Out of the Blue)", "Thrasher" and "Powderfinger". If you missed this film, we refer you to the critically and financially successful record album of the same name. After both the film and record version of Rust Never Sleeps were sent into distribution, there was still enough material left over for another album, Live Rust.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/01/2016
UPC:	0075993996814
Original Release:	1979
Source:	REPRISE / WEA
Region Code:	All
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[stereo, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:56:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ralph Molina	Drums
Neil Young & Crazy Horse	Primary Artist
Neil Young	Primary Artist,Director,Vocals,Guitar
Billy Talbot	Bass
Frank "Pancho" Sampedro	Keyboards
Crazy Horse	Performer
Neil Young	Actor,Performer

Technical Credits

Neil Young	Composer
L.A. Johnson	Producer
Neil Young	Director
L.A. Johnson	Producer
Elliot Rabinowitz	Executive Producer
Steve Maslow	Sound/Sound Designer
Tim Mulligan	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Neil Young's second film is a faithful chronicle of one of the performances in his 1978 Rust Never Sleeps Tour (October 22 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco), a nearly two-hour concert during which Young with and without Crazy Horse presents a good selection of his best material dating back to "Sugar Mountain" and some excellent new songs, including "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" (done acoustically) and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" (done electrically). That's the good news. The bad news is that the show features some silly production ideas that distract from and even trivialize the performance. The concert takes seven minutes to get started, as cowled figures with glowing eyes, similar to the Jawas in Star Wars, scurry around the stage setting up giant props and the PA plays Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" and the Beatles' "A Day in the Life." The "roadeyes," as Young calls them, return throughout the show, along with attendants in white coats, dancing men in robes and conical hats, and a stage announcer who blathers on about "rust-o-vision." For once, however, home video proves superior to the version in your local theater: at home, you have a fast-forward button. Still, the odd staging and Young's almost total lack of audience rapport make Rust Never Sleeps an odd viewing experience, despite the "live greatest hits" set list and strong performances. ~ William Ruhlmann