The tour that Neil Young walked out on: “Go eat a peach”
Neil Young may well be the most uncompromising musician of all time. Imagine starting out by playing music as a hobby, only for it to transform into a successful career. Many artists, when faced with the adoration of roaring crowds, the thrill of live performances, and a generous paycheck, feel incredibly fortunate. Young shares that sense of gratitude, openly acknowledging his appreciation for the life his music has afforded him. However, while others might channel that gratitude into compliance—agreeing to tours, albums, or interviews they would rather avoid—Young has never been one to back down or conform.
Throughout his career, Young has always valued forming a connection between his music and those who listen to it. This meant that he wasn’t willing to continue playing in bands that didn’t represent his values or who no longer made music that he thought accurately represented him.
“It’s just what I wanted to do – focus on what the songs were about and the look on people’s faces who came to see us and how we connected with them,” he said, “To me, that was the Holy Grail … it was all that mattered to me. And once we started drifting away from that, I was gone. I didn’t think about it from the standpoint of anybody else…. I can’t do what I do if I don’t act like I believe.”
Young has always been sincere in his music, and that honesty continues to appeal to people. His songs continue to resonate decades after their conception because the emotion conveyed in his melody, tone, and lyricism is timeless. While some might call his attitude stubborn, Young represents a rare breed of artists who know exactly what they stand for and how they can best represent that in their work.
The reason some people call the attitude stubborn is because of how public and disruptive some of Young’s decisions appeared to be. When he felt like music was drifting or his work wasn’t a good reflection of how he felt as a person, he would happily leave bands in an instant or walk out of tours, regardless of the inconvenience of it.
This is precisely what he did when touring with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. While there were still shows to do, Young wasn’t enjoying himself and so decided to walk out of the tour. He sent a message to Stephen Stills letting him know, signing off with, “Go eat a peach.”
“We were on our way to Atlanta,” he said, explaining the peach line, “The tour was going okay, but it wasn’t going well […] I did not want to continue the tour, and I’m spoiled. When I don’t wanna do something, I stop doing it. Just like when I do want to do something, I’ll do it until I’m finished. You know, unless somebody stops me somehow, but it’s not easy. It’s not easy to stop me and that’s just the way I am.”
He continued, “But it wasn’t going well for whatever reason and it was not good and I, I just decided that was it for me.”
