Everybody's Rockin' (studio album)
by Neil Young & The Shocking Pinks

From AAL2014 03/17/2025 03:12

As far as my understanding goes, this is Neil’s response to the record company when they suggested he give them “a rock and roll record”.

And, you know what? For me, under that context and being in on the joke, so to speak.. it’s a funny listen in a way that only Neil could really pull off.

Everybody's Rockin' is the 13th studio album by Neil Young, his second record on Geffen, released in 1983.

This is meant to be a counter-cultural record. In the corporate music world of the 1980s, where the industry would rather Young pumped out slick versions of country-folk like "Heart of Gold" or garage rock like "Cinnamon Girl," Young stubbornly followed his muse.

The result is a charming and creative change of pace, though it's obvious this is not where his talent lies. Rockabilly is fun and upbeat, not down and moody, so naturally it is not as deep as his moody material and listeners should not be looking for that here.

Contrary to the title, nobody was rockin' rockabilly-style in the 1980s. This is reflected in the cover image: A solidary Neil in the corner of an empty room. There was a bit of a rockabilly revival in this era, reserved to a few underground musicians like Joe Ely, Rodney Crowell, and cowpunk groups like X, Beat Farmers and The Blasters. They all did it better than Young does it here.

Yet the record still has its wits and charms. Payola Blues describes the woes of the music industry and Kinda Fonda Wonda is just amusing. The highlight is Wonderin', an outtake from the After the Gold Rush sessions. It's re-recorded here, but the organal was later issued on the first archives box set.

Recommended.

A-Side: Wonderin'
B-Side: Payola Blues

From VictorVale 12/20/2020 12:24

Pensei que era pior

From teague 06/14/2020 01:56

I can't really stand the sound of this record. Was reverb a big thing in the 50s? From listening to Buddy Holly, I don't think so. Especially not on the drums. This album just sounds like it was produced in the 80s, which is not a good thing when you're trying to be like all 50s rockabilly/rock 'n' roll. The songs are innocent and inoffensive enough, I just don't understand where Neil Young is coming from with all this. Other than the fact he was just rebelling against his record label in the 80s.

From Graeme2 09/30/2018 19:10

People need to get over themselves as far as this record goes. One of the worst records ever apparently. Really? He's just having fun, mostly at the expense of Mr geffen. It's just straight up 50s rock n roll. No I won't be listening to this too much again but one of the worst crimes against music? No.

This album shouldn't exist. There isn't much of a point trying to analyze this tripe. It's listenable but so painfully unoriginal, with the most cliche 1950s era songwriting. Neil knew this was awful and let it be released anyway to piss off his record label. I guess...good for him, but the rest of the world had to be subjected to this horror. Oh well.

At this point, I think Neil was just trying to prove a point, and shift as far away from Trans as imaginable. It's pleasant enough, but overall lightweight.

This one gets a bad wrap, along with most of Neil's 80s output, but it's actually kind of fun to listen to if you don't take it too seriously.