Longtime Neil Young fan in Spokane cherishes mementos from music legend

Perhaps the biggest difference between Neil Young and most other rock legends is that the enigmatic maverick doesn’t care if he alienates his fans.

“I saw cotton and I saw black / tall white mansions and little shacks / Southern Man, when will you pay them back” are some of the lyrics from his 1970 hit “Southern Man,” in which Young asks an entire region when it will make reparations for slavery. It’s difficult to imagine a contemporary star risking a share of their audience like Young did during the early days of his unparalleled career.

I witnessed Young’s fans turn on him in Philadelphia on numerous occasions for refusing to pander. A decade ago, Young was buried in boos by a portion of a Wells Fargo Center audience for bleeding feedback out of his guitar for nearly 5 minutes. Young grinned and played on.

During his 1991 tour with Crazy Horse, Young booked the brilliant but cacophonous Sonic Youth to open. The avant-garde rockers were a bit too abrasive for Young’s classic rock-loving fan base. After Sonic Youth was showered in jeers at Philadelphia’s Civic Center, frontman Thurston Moore chuckled before diving into the next song. “Since you really liked that one, this next one sounds just like it.”

Young, 74, reportedly isn’t big on rehearsals, and sometimes his shows are ragged. Some fans, who are used to sonically enhanced concerts, might take umbrage.

One of Young’s biggest boosters, Ken Hughey, gets it. After Young delivered his 22-song set in May 2019 at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, Hughey’s pal ripped the enigmatic icon.

“My friend said that Neil is a washed-up rock star,” Hughey said.

Hughey, 66, brushed off the comments. The married father of two daughters and a son doesn’t question Young’s greatness. In fact, Hughey, who grew up in Los Angeles, was privy to it before much of the country was hip to Young.

“We had underground FM radio during the late ‘60s, and I started listening to Neil, and his songs were just revolutionary,” Hughey said over cups of java at Ladder Coffee Roasters in Browne’s Addition. “His songs are so rich and dynamic. He’s a true troubadour like Hank Williams and Bob Dylan.”

The fit, trim and animated boomer, who was sporting a cycling cap, first connected with Young in an unorthodox manner. After being kicked out of a club for being underage in Topanga Canyon where Young was working out material in 1972, Hughey walked over to the car Young parked in front of the venue and jotted down the license plate number.

“I ran his license plate, and it gave me his home address in Woodside, California,” Hughey said. “I started sending him letters, and Neil wrote me back. I doubt Mick Jagger would write a fan back, but Neil did. I became enamored of his work, and then I went to the Roxy show in Los Angeles (in 1973) with friends.

“Photos were taken by me and two friends at the show, which was the opening night of the Roxy.”

During the late ’80s, the Eastern Washington University alum sent the photos to Young, who signed a few of them and sent them back but saved one shot. “Ken, Will return later as it is a candidate for my archives set,” Young wrote in a note to Hughey.

“I told him that was fine since I have the negative,” Hughey said.

In 2018, Hughey received a call from Young’s manager who asked if Young could use his photo for the cover of “Roxy: Tonight’s the Night Live.”

Hughey was offered $1,500. “But I thought that was low, and I called some photographers in Los Angeles, and I was told that $3,000 was fair,” Hughley said. “That’s what I ended up getting paid.”

The funds were distributed among his two friends who went to the show. “We weren’t sure who took that shot,” Hughey said. “We were taking turns shooting.”

If it weren’t for Hughey’s friend Tino Rishmawy, the opportunity would have never happened. “He strategically planned the Roxy photo shoot as a favor to me. Tino knew how important Neil and opening night was to me.”

Over the years, the retired Hollister-Stier employee has caught Young whenever he’s played Spokane, and he has a number of letters from Young since they’ve been corresponding for nearly half a century.

“I lost a couple of them when we moved, but my wife came up with a great idea,” Hughey said. “She suggested that I frame one of the letters.”

Hughey was wise to place the note about the photo that Young archived behind glass.

When Hughey visited River Ridge Hardware in 1988, he was surprised by the response he received after asking for the frame job. “The woman behind the counter, Paula Favaro, said, ‘I know Neil Young. I took pictures of him when I saw Buffalo Springfield (during the mid-’60s) in Pittsburgh,’ Hughey recalled.

“I asked Neil if he wanted to see the photos, which were Polaroids. One of his assistants said they would fly to Spokane to see them. I told him that I would rather meet Mr. Young.”

Hughey’s wish was granted. Young gave Hughey and Favaro tickets and backstage passes to a show at the Opera House in January 1992 in which his “Harvest Moon” album was previewed.

“After the show, we were waiting for Neil, and his bus driver said, ‘Mr. Young isn’t feeling well tonight, so he’s not going to be able to see you,’ ” Hughey recalled. “Paula said, ‘Well, Mr. Young can choose to see the photos tonight, or he’ll never see them.’ Thank goodness Paula was assertive. We got to see Neil on his tour bus as he was eating a post-show dinner. It was nice but brief.”

Fast forward 28 years, and Hughey still stands by Young. “Neil’s my favorite,” Hughey said. “I’m looking forward to the new EP.”

“The Times,” the bard’s latest offering, which drops Friday, is a collection of acoustic protest songs written and recorded by Young. “Ohio,” Alabama” and the aforementioned “Southern Man” are some of the tunes the enigmatic legend has revisited. Young tosses in a cover of Bob Dylan’s anthem “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”

The most impactful tune is Young’s lyrical rewrite of 2006’s “Looking for a Leader.” The original, which appears on Young’s 2006 album “Living With War,” takes a shot at President George W. Bush. It’s not very difficult to discern who Young is singing about throughout “Looking for a Leader 2020.”

“We had Barack Obama, and we really need him now / The man who stood behind him has to take his place somehow / America has a leader building walls around our house / Don’t all black lives matter and we got to vote him out.”

It’s evident how Young, who became a U.S. citizen in January, feels about President Donald Trump since he sued the commander in chief for using his songs.

Even in his twilight years, Young isn’t concerned about turning off longtime fans.

“There is no one like Neil Young,” Hughey said.