One of Rock's most prolific musicians was born on this day in Toronto in 1945. Happy birthday to Neil Young. The future Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young member was afflicted by polio at the age of six that caused partial paralysis on one side of his body. After his recovery, Young's family moved to Winnipeg, where Neil developed his interest in music by listening to radio.
By the early 1960s, Young had become proficient enough on guitar and piano to get into local bands. One of the groups, the Squires, did regional gigs that required enough travel that Young dropped out of school. While in that band, Young crossed paths with Stephen Stills when the Squires opened for The Company, a group that included Stephen Stills. Young and Stills hit it off and Neil got Stills' address. Soon after, Neil landed a spot in the Mynah Birds, a group fronted by Rick James that also included future Buffalo Springfield member Bruce Palmer on bass.
After meeting fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell, Young got into honing his songwriting and playing solo acoustic gigs in clubs. Neil headed to New York with hopes of getting signed by a label. While there, he sought-out Stills only to find out Stephen had gone to LA. Soon after returning to Canada, Young and Palmer decided southern California was the place to be. The pair went in on buying a 1953 hearse and headed to LA. After a week without being able to locate Stills, Young and Palmer decided to go to San Francisco.
While stuck in traffic on Sunset Boulevard, Stills, who was driving a van with Richie Furay onboard, noticed the hearse with Canadian plates and then recognized its driver was Young. Maneuvering to a spot he could signal Young to pull to the curbside led to the reunion that paved the way to the formation of Buffalo Springfield.
Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on November 12 include...
1947 Blue Oyster Cult guitarist, singer, vocalist Buck Dharma (Donald Roser) was born on this day in 1947.
1970 Jim Morrison does his last concert with the Doors, New Orleans.
1971 Genesis releases Nursery Cryme.
1972 Yes releases Fragile.
1987 Sly Stone arrested for delinquent child support at comeback concert in LA.
1990 IRS seizes Willie Nelson home and golf course.
1990 Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones suffers broken bones when struck by a car after his had broken down outside of London.
2005 Paul McCartney concert beamed to International Space Station.
2006 Brian Johnson of AC/DC wins UK car race reality show after clipping car driven by an R&B singer.
2008 Bob Dylan visits the childhood home of Neil Young while in Winnipeg for a concert.
2008 Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience found dead in a Portland, Oregon hotel room.
2016 Neil Young spends his birthday playing for protestors of the Dakota Access Pipeline at their encampment at Standing Rock, North Dakota.
2021 Eric Clapton releases The Lady In The Balcony: The Lockdown Sessions...
