In this final part of our brief look at the life and work of legendary recording artist Neil Young we’ll start by getting up to date with his most recent work.
Several new albums were recorded during the mid to late 2000s, including Living With War (2006) and Chrome Dreams II (2007). Prairie Wind was released in 2006 and a critically acclaimed film was made of the album’s premier in Nashville. It was titled Neil Young: Heart of Gold and was produced by Jonathan Demme. Demme followed this up with another film documenting Young’s 2007 appearance at the Tower Theatre in Pennsylvania and the Neil Young Trunk Show was eventually released nationwide in the U.S. in 2010, again to critical acclaim.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC1EkeCBtzM
From Jonathan Demme’s Heart of Gold
Neil Young has continued to tour right up to the present day and his globe trotting appearances are as popular as ever. Appearances in Australia and at the Isle of Wight festival in the U.K, not to mention Glastonbury have been highlights for many who have seen them.
Young has also carved out something of a name for himself as a proponent of the environment, especially in the arena of eco-fuels. Greendale was a good example of this effort and he described it thus:
“Our Greendale tour is now ozone friendly,” Young said. “I plan to continue to use this government approved and regulated fuel exclusively from now on to prove that it is possible to deliver the goods anywhere in North America without using foreign oil, while being environmentally responsible.”
Another personal project of his, Lincvolt, a 1959 Lincoln Continental converted to run with a 
hybrid-engine. Described as the world’s first micro-turbine powered bio-electrical cruiser, the team building it say it capable of long distances or short commutes with as close to zero emissions as possible.
An earlier model caught fire and destroyed not only the car but a huge amount of Young’s memorabilia. The fire was subsequently blamed on a faulty charging unit.
Neil Young has been one of the prime influences for many styles of music over the past forty years and the last word goes to The Who’s Pete Townshend who said:
“Neil Young? Neil’s the leader, the rest of us just follow him.”