Sharry Wilson - Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years

PRAISE FOR YOUNG NEIL

Sharry Wilsons impeccably researched and written, beautifully illustrated Young Neil is the definitive chronicle of a Canadian icons early years in his home and native land. Essential reading for diehard Neil Young fans, this book offers a lovingly detailed portrait of Canadian life in the middle of the 20th century, and of a sensitive young man who put his music above all else.

Kevin Chong, author of Neil Young Nation and Northern Dancer

A compelling look at the first 20 years of Neil Youngs life as he sets out on his journey to find a heart of gold. Sharry Wilson not only takes us on Neils voyage but also uncovers life in the 40s, 50s, and 60s in Ontario and Manitoba. A wonderful study of one the worlds great artists written with passion and an obvious love for her subject.

Bernie Finkelstein, founder of True North Records and author of True North: A Life in the Music Business

Really enjoyed the book especially the early years prior to Winnipeg fun strolling down memory lane.

Ken Smyth, drummer, The Squires

YOUNG NEIL

THE SUGAR MOUNTAIN YEARS

SHARRY WILSON

ECW

For Scott Sandie,

who was there at the beginning

and saw the possibilities

When I get big Im gonna get an electric guitar. When I get real big.

Neil Young, Live Rust (1979)

PART ONE

BORN IN ONTARIO

I was born in Ontario

Where the black fly bites and the green grass grows.

Thats where I learned most of what I know

Cause you dont learn much when you start to grow old.

I left home at a tender young age

Cause Mum and Daddy never seemed to stay

In any one place for very long

So we just kept moving, moving on.

Neil Young, Born in Ontario

IN THE BEGINNING

IT WAS A HARSH AND unwelcoming winter night hardly unusual for early February in Toronto. A blizzard had rendered travel precarious. Only the hardiest souls ventured out.

On the morning of February 5, 1945, city residents woke to over 12 centimetres of fresh snow, bringing the total snowfall since November to more than 1.5 metres more than would normally fall over an entire winter. And although the snow was not in itself overwhelming, it was accompanied by frigid, blinding winds.

Scott Young, then a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, was in Toronto on medical leave for fatigue, spending time with his wife, Rassy, and their nearly three-year-old son Bob. Scott was to undergo tests at a hospital in Ottawa, and Rassy and Bob planned to join him at the Lord Elgin Hotel during his recovery. But the snowstorm forced them to revise their travel plans.

They were invited to take refuge overnight in the home of good friends Ian and Lola Munro at 361 Soudan Avenue, near the intersection of Eglinton Avenue East and Mount Pleasant Road in what was then a northern suburb of the city. The Youngs had been visiting the Munros as the day passed and weather conditions worsened.

Ian retrieved a spare mattress and put it on the dining-room floor as a makeshift bed for Scott and Rassy. The couple had been apart for a long period due to the demands of Scotts service. Happily reunited, they quietly made love as the snow sifted and deepened outside the darkened house. Scott Young writes:

I know the exact time when Neil was conceived. I remember the street in Toronto, the wild February blizzard through which only the hardiest moved, on skis, sliding downtown through otherwise empty streets to otherwise empty offices. All trains were marooned or cancelled.

NEIL YOUNGS FATHER HAD ALREADY led a diverse and in some ways uniquely Canadian life. Born in Cypress River, Manitoba, in 1918, Scotts first job, at age 16, was manning the desk of a tobacco wholesaler in Winnipeg. He was a hockey fan from an early age in 1935 he lined up for hours to buy a $1 ticket to the Memorial Cup final between the Winnipeg Monarchs and the Sudbury Wolves. His literary career began in 1936, when he took a job as a copy boy at the Winnipeg Free Press .

Scott Young, Macleans Articles Editor, 1945-48. [Trent University Archives, Scott Young fonds (06-002 Box 1)]

361 Soudan Avenue. [ 2010 Sharry Wilson]

Aerial photo of Toronto General Hospital, 1951. Neil was born in the Private Patients Pavilion, the T-shaped structure with the circular driveway in front. [University Health Network Archives, Toronto]

Scott Young in naval dress (circa 1945). [Trent University Archives, Scott Young fonds (06-002 Box 1)]

In June 1940 Scott married Rassy. Born Edna Blow Ragland in 1918, Rassy was given her nickname Rastus, later shortened to Rassy by her father. She was the youngest of three daughters born to William N. Ragland (a.k.a. Rags or Daddy to one and all) and his wife, Perle. Her two older sisters were Lavinia, known as Toots, and Virginia, nicknamed Snooky.

The marriage began on a troubled note, with Rassy facing an unwanted pregnancy. Neither she nor Scott was prepared to face the prospect of raising a child so soon and under their financial circumstances. Rassy told Scott she did not want him involved in what she decided should happen next. She tried various home remedies without success and eventually paid $15 for an illegal kitchen-table abortion that left her seriously ill. She recovered slowly, and according to Scott both of them regretted the decision.

Their relationship survived, and in November 1940 Scott left the Winnipeg Free Press to take a new job on the night rewrite desk with the Canadian Press in Toronto. Scotts uncle Jack Paterson, then assistant editor at Macleans , the iconic news and culture magazine, welcomed them to the city and found an apartment for them; Jacks wife, Ruth, helped them settle in.

Scott and Rassys first son, Bob, was born on April 27, 1942. Five months later Scott was sent by cp to England, where for two years he wrote about the war. In 1944 he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve as an ordinary seaman. Later that year he was commissioned and served in the landings in southern France and Greece, and with Royal Navy torpedo boats in the Adriatic.

Scott had come home suffering from chronic fatigue and weight loss. After the storm in Toronto, he completed the medical tests in Ottawa, but no serious problem was discovered, and following some rest and recovery he learned about a new position in the information branch of the navy. Scott was interested, and he secured the posting as assistant to Clyde Gilmour, lieutenant and chief public relations officer to the Flag Officer Newfoundland in St. Johns. Gilmour would go on to achieve success as a print journalist and radio broadcaster and later enjoyed a half-century association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (cbc), where his weekly music program, Gilmours Albums , was a much-loved staple. Scott was soon promoted to lieutenant and succeeded Gilmour as chief public relations officer (CPRO-Newfoundland).