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AMERICAN MASTERS
“NEIL YOUNG: DON’T BE DENIED”
JUNE 5 AT 10 PM
EIGHT/KAET-TV

– U.S. Broadcast Premiere Features Rare Conversations With Defiant Anti-Hero Whose Extraordinary Career Inspired Controversy and Influenced Generations –

A resolutely private artist who seldom looks back, Neil Young has never before unfolded his career on camera. With unprecedented access to one of the world’s music legends, American Masters explores how Young’s unbending dedication to the muse has generated an awe-inspiring body of work — and bruised a few egos along the way. “Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied” airs Friday, June 5, 2009 at 10 p.m. on Eight. 

Told in Young’s own words, the film weaves hours of exclusive interviews shot in New York and California with previously unseen performance footage from the star’s own extensive collection. The documentary also features longtime collaborators Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Nils Lofgren and James Taylor.

“There’s no denying Neil Young as music’s most uncompromising rock royalty,” says Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer ofAmerican Masters, a six-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series. “He’s an irreverent poet with a rock and roll heart. His music embodies the arc of American experience, challenges authoritative views, defies industry pigeon-holing and continues to have an impact on musicians and fans worldwide.”

Charting Young’s musical journey from his suburban Canadian childhood to his Hollywood superstardom, the camera intimately captures the critical benchmarks and personal pitfalls of the godfather of grunge. In the late 60s, he achieved early acclaim with the short-lived, yet influential psychedelic garage band Buffalo Springfield, which launched his solo career. During this creative streak, he founded Crazy Horse and collaborated with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Adding fuel to his already rising success, these bands, too, shot to fame. The intensity of mega-stardom, mixed with frequent bouts of artistic differences, led to Young’s departure from both groups. He later explained his anti-star status: “I didn’t spend 10 years in the 60s and 70s creating something so I could be a prisoner of it … You know if you’re trying to stay in the favor of the public, you’re a loser — you’ll never get there.”

In the 70s, Young wrote introspective songs on multi-platinum hallmark albums, After the Gold Rush (1970) and Harvest (1972). He became an emotional chronicler on the harrowing On the Beach (1974). With his signature falsetto and idiosyncratic guitar riffs, the crude collection of tracks reflected a bleak mood stemming from the Manson massacres and Nixon’s resignation during that decade. Following the drug casualties of his two confidants (Crazy Horse’s Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry), he created music’s answer to cinéma vérité: Tonight’s the Night (1975), a spine-chilling wake for his dead friends. By the end of the 70s, he reached the peak of his popularity with the critical and fan favorite, Rust Never Sleeps (1979).

In the 80s, the rock veteran entered an experimental phase — with hits and misses. Embracing the new waves of punk and electronica, Young teamed with Devo on his art-house epic Human Highway (1982), a comedy film. Not one to stay static, he also released records exploring various genres, including This Note’s for You (1988), a concept album criticizing the commercialism of the music industry. In the 90s, Young reunited with Crazy Horse and released the acclaimed album Ragged Glory (1990). Crazy Horse served as back-up band on Young’s solo releases throughout the 90s. In 1995, Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. More recently, he promoted his Grammy-nominated, Iraq War protest album, Living With War (2006), on a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young “Freedom of Speech” tour. “Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied” ends with Young still refusing to be denied, playing an anti-Bush anthem to a Republican audience in the South.

About Eight/KAET-TV
Eight, Arizona PBS specializes in the education of children, in-depth news and public affairs, lifelong learning, and the celebration of arts and culture — utilizing the power of noncommercial television, the Internet, educational outreach services, and community-based initiatives. The PBS station began broadcasting from the campus of Arizona State University on January 30, 1961. Now more than 80 percent of Arizonans receive the signal through a network of translators, cable and satellite systems. With more than 1.3 million viewers each week, Eight consistently ranks among the most-viewed public television stations per capita in the country. Arizonans provide more than 60 percent of the station’s annual budget. For more information, visit www.azpbs.org.

Eight is a member-supported service of Arizona State University.