The failed Neil Young project that could have “defined an important moment in the culture”
Only a select few artists know what it feels like to have a significant impact on culture, and Neil Young has done so repeatedly. From his influential days with Buffalo Springfield to the era-defining sounds with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) and his pioneering work in alternative rock as a solo artist, Young’s accolades are truly illustrious.
Achieved by being committed to improving his craft and a great deal of originality, it’s certain that Young would not have reached such dizzying heights without veering from standards. In tandem with his nature as an honest songwriter, this intrepidity created some of his era’s most profound sonic moments, from the scalding solos found on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere to the maudlin introspection of On the Beach.
What’s even more astounding about Neil Young’s career is that he has kept pushing on and remained relevant, another triumph when taking into account that most of his peers from the countercultural heyday and classic rock period have become nothing more than legacy acts, hobbling from one show to another purely for the paycheck. Not the Canadian, though; he has continued to release music to acclaim and add much to the cultural conversation. This included removing his music from Spotify for a couple of years in the name of a good old protest at Joe Rogan.
While achieving even one of Young’s cultural successes would be enough for most to die happy, according to him, he could have had another, but fate chose otherwise. Famously, his classic 1970 album After the Gold Rush was partially inspired by a screenplay of the same name written by Dean Stockwell and Herb Berman.
Young recorded the album while living in the artistic community of Topanga Canyon in Southern California, with most songs captured at his home studio. Recorded with members of both Young’s groups at the time, Crazy Horse and CSNY, and the debut appearance of Nils Lofgren, the songs were inspired by people Young encountered when inhabiting the area. These include Young’s then-wife Susan Acevedo, his longtime friend and actor Stockwell—whom he met through Acevedo—and producer David Briggs.
The screenplay After the Gold Rush centred around an apocalyptic tidal wave crashing into the local venue and hippie haunt, The Topanga Corral, destroying the community and world. While it proved vital for Young in escaping writer’s block, eventually, only two songs were directly inspired by it, ‘After the Goldrush’ and ‘Cripple Creek Ferry’.
In Jimmy McDonough’s 2002 Young biography Shakey, Stockwell provides more insight into the lost script: “I was gonna write a movie that was personal, a Jungian self-discovery of the gnosis. It involved the Kabala; it involved a lot of arcane stuff.” Legend has it that friend Dennis Hopper, who co-wrote and starred in the era-defining 1969 flick Easy Rider, encouraged Stockwell to pen a script after enjoying success with his movie.
When speaking to Mojo in 1995, Young reflected on what could have been for the movie After the Gold Rush. He lamented it not coming to fruition and claimed that it “could have really defined an important moment in the culture”. Given his experience impacting culture, I’ll take his word for it.
Young explained what happened to the movie, stating: “It was all about the day of the great earthquake in Topanga Canyon when a great wave of water flooded the place. It was a pretty ‘off-the-wall’ concept. They tried to get some money from Universal Pictures. But that fell through because it was too much of an art project.”
Offering his final word on the project, Young said: “I think, had it been made. it would stand as a contemporary to Easy Rider, and it would have had a similar effect. The script itself was full of imagery, ‘change’ . . . It was very unique, actually. I really wish that movie had been made because it could have really defined an important moment in the culture.”
Young claiming that After the Gold Rush would have stood at the same status as Easy Rider says much about its potential for capturing the countercultural zeitgeist. Yet, it does make you wonder why the campaign to get it made fell apart so quickly and why the script was eventually lost.
