I've had the good fortune to meet Neil Young several times over the years. Have had some good conversations with him, too, though I had no idea that I should have brought up windsurfing. Dang! I've never heard of Neil Young being a windsurfer, but I doubt he'd choose to perform before hundreds of thousands of people in a random t-shirt. On the other hand, why wouldn't he? In any event, there it is.
I grabbed this frame from the following video (Neil playing at Live Aid in 1985.) The song here is Sugar Mountain, but you can also find Needle and the Damage Done if you look around.
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As far as rock goes (being more partial to to jazz - which I've been known to actually play on occasion), I've always liked Neil Young. Very thoughtful lyrics. I, too, have wondered about any connections he may have (had) with surfing/windsurfing as evidenced in his song "Long May You Run". I think I read somewhere a long time ago that he was a model train aficionado as that was something he could share with his autisic child. (Is my memory correct about that?).
Also, wasn't Mistral kind of a "lifestyle" company back then? Maybe Mr. Young just thought it was a cool shirt, who knows?
More on this.....I read the other day on an Australian windsurfing forum that Neil Young actually windsurfed for 2 to 3 years. This was mentioned in a biography. He apparently had a Mistral Tarifa and a Maliu (if I am not mistaken). He gave it up because he was having too hard a time learning to gybe!! (sound familiar?)
Anyway, various Mistral dealers gave him t-shirts to wear during concerts during the time period in which he windsurfed.
btw, his sailing yacht (the "Ransome", I believe) is for sale for $695,000), so he does have a connection with water. This yacht is all wood so only buy it if you rather work on it than sail it. It's quite large and wooden boats require an inordinate amount of care.
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As far as rock goes (being more partial to to jazz - which I've been known to actually play on occasion), I've always liked Neil Young. Very thoughtful lyrics. I, too, have wondered about any connections he may have (had) with surfing/windsurfing as evidenced in his song "Long May You Run". I think I read somewhere a long time ago that he was a model train aficionado as that was something he could share with his autisic child. (Is my memory correct about that?).
Also, wasn't Mistral kind of a "lifestyle" company back then? Maybe Mr. Young just thought it was a cool shirt, who knows?
Posted by: Dennis | April 06, 2011 at 08:28 PM
Hi Michael: thanks for sharing this awesome pic... rock and windsurf... priceless!
Posted by: Juan Piantino | April 09, 2011 at 09:02 AM
More on this.....I read the other day on an Australian windsurfing forum that Neil Young actually windsurfed for 2 to 3 years. This was mentioned in a biography. He apparently had a Mistral Tarifa and a Maliu (if I am not mistaken). He gave it up because he was having too hard a time learning to gybe!! (sound familiar?)
Anyway, various Mistral dealers gave him t-shirts to wear during concerts during the time period in which he windsurfed.
btw, his sailing yacht (the "Ransome", I believe) is for sale for $695,000), so he does have a connection with water. This yacht is all wood so only buy it if you rather work on it than sail it. It's quite large and wooden boats require an inordinate amount of care.
Posted by: Dennis | April 09, 2011 at 05:00 PM
Yes I gave him the Mistral T shirt that he wore at Live Aid, he cut the sleeves and neck off. Mistral Shop Sydney Australia.
Posted by: Rick Murray | March 24, 2022 at 04:22 PM