Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
Paramount

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"Let the muse have us...Take a shot...Send it out." So says Neil Young at the start of director Jonathan Demme's concert movie, filmed at the iconic singer's acoustic concert at Nashville's famous Ryman Auditorium. The world premiere of material from last year's country-flavored Prairie Wind album, Young's Ryman Auditorium show looks more like something from A Prairie Home Companion. The gang of musicians performs in front of bucolic backdrops, and Young wears suits and hats straight from Gene Autry's closet.

He keeps things folksy throughout, singing about a particularly reliable hound dog, using a broom as a percussion instrument and giving gentle asides before each song. Demme stays true to this simple spirit, keeping things straightforward, loose and lively, but clearly never approaching the artistic cinematography of something like The Last Waltz. Young doesn't have the fire he once did when he was plugged in and playing with Crazy Horse, but Heart of Gold finds the 60-year-old musician aging gracefully instead of trying to relive his 20s. As this film shows, Neil Young is rock and roll's coolest grandfather. And that's a compliment.

With only a scant intro, the main film wastes no time getting to the music. So it's no surprise Demme has an abundance of extra footage. In addition to video for the gospel-tinged Elvis tribute "He Was the King" on the first disc, there's a whole second disc filled with special features. Between chats with Young's guitar tech, an interview with Demme and other behind-the scenes footage, it provides context and occasionally intriguing facts. The big bonus is a clip from a 1971 episode of The Johnny Cash Show. A long-haired Young gives a poignant rendition of his "Needle and the Damage Done," introducing it with the prescient words, "A lot of great art gets affected by it...a lot of great art goes down the drain."

by Pat Sisson