Sir Paul McCartney was honored as the 2012 MusiCares Person of the Year in Los Angeles Friday night. The ceremony featured a number of live performances, including covers of “Jet” by Foo Fighters, “Blackbird” by Alicia Keys, “Hey Jude” by Katy Perry, “We Can Work It Out” by Coldplay, and “I Saw You Standing There” by Neil Young & Crazy Horse, which marked the reunited outfit’s first performance in eight years.

In addition, Sir Paul performed two tracks from his new LP Kisses on the Bottom, “My Valentine” and “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter”, as well as past classics like “Junior’s Farm”, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five”, “Golden Slumbers”, “Carry the Weight”, and “The End”.

Check out a few highlights below (via The Telegraph).

Update: In a new video (via RollingStone.com), Young reveals that he has already finished one new Crazy Horse album, titled Americana, which features rearrangements of “songs we all know from kindergarten” with help from a children’s choir. A second album is currently in the works.

The Neil Young and Crazy Horse news just keeps galloping in (sorry, we had to do it). With plans in motion for one (maybe two) new album(s) and a 38-minute tease already kicking fans into a frenzy, word now comes that Young and his long-time backing band have scheduled their first joint live performance since March 2004.

As Rolling Stone reports, the performance will come as part of the GRAMMY Foundation’s MusiCares Person of the Year Gala in honor of Paul McCartney. Taking place February 10th at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the charity event will also feature Coldplay, Foo Fighters, James Taylor, Katy Perry, Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Tony Bennett, the cast of The Beatles’ Cirque du Soleil production LOVE, and of course Macca himself. Comedian Eddie Izzard will act as emcee.

Crazy Horse hasn’t joined Young in public since the ’03-’04 Greendale tour, making the eight-year gap the longest of their careers. Whether this will lead to a full-fledged tour is unknown, though a postponed Buffalo Springfield reunion trek was also intended for this year. Keep as many fingers (and toes?) crossed as you can, and we’ll keep you updated.

As previously reported, Neil Young and Crazy Horse have a new album or two on the way, and what’s happening at neilyoung.com adds plenty of fuel to the fire down at the ol’ rumor mill. Earlier this morning, a new video surfaced that shows in-studio playback of two Neil Young and Crazy Horse jams, “Fuckin’ Up” and the classic “Cortez The Killer”, as Neil Young fansite Thrasher’s Wheat points out.

The footage pans across analog and digital sound boards and recording equipment with amazing teases like “Neil Voc” written on tape in red marker, a screen of an empty recording studio, and needles bouncing up and down to (presumably) Crazy Horse going hard on two old jams. “Fuckin’ Up”, originally from the 1990 album Ragged Glory doesn’t include any vox, but Young comes in right on time during “Cortez The Killer” (which starts at about 19:00).

While there’s no date on the mysterious recording, judging by the sound of Young’s voice, it appears to be very recent.

Also strewn about the studio are what appear to be lyric sheets to previously unreleased songs and old folk standards like “Oh Susanna,” ”Clementine”, “This Land”, “Oh Susanna”. “Gallows Tree,” “Oh My Darling” . What else is there? Tons — audio-tech geeks and Neil-ophiles this is your day.

Head to neilyoung.com to hear these two towering jams.

Though they haven’t played together since 2004, Neil Young and Crazy Horse are currently recording a new album. According to a Neil Young fan site, Thrasher’s Wheat, the acclaimed rocker announced the project over the weekend during Park City, Utah’s Slamdance Film Festival, where he was out supporting the Jonathan Demme-directed film Journeys. Since then, both Rolling Stone and Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina (via Facebook) have confirmed the news.

In the same fan report, however, Young was said to have hinted at two Crazy Horse albums in development, one that’s finished and another currently in the works. There may be some truth to this. According to a Rolling Stone interview, which dates back to 2008, Young discussed a Crazy Horse LP recorded in 2000 that he eventually shelved. Titled Toast, the record, according to Young, was “really dark” and featured “everything that the best Crazy Horse albums have had.” So, essentially, Young could be releasing this album, while also working with the band again on a new one. No confirmation on these details just yet, though stay tuned as this story develops.

Since 1985, Neil Young has hosted his annual Bridge School Benefit, bringing together an assortment of artists for a two-day festival that supports the Hillsborough, CA-based school, which assists children with severe speech and physical impairments. This year’s inclusion, set to take place this weekend at The Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 22-23rd, marks the event’s 25th anniversary, and to celebrate Young has tagged the likes of Beck, Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Eddie Vedder, and many more. However, unlike previous years, the organizers are ensuring millions witness the event.

To start, Saturday’s festivities will be webcast online for the first-time ever. Thanks to Facebook and YouTube, fans will be able to watch the surefire spectacle from the comfort of their own home. A special landing page has been designed by Facebook that allows users to interact while experiencing the event. In fact, those actually in attendance at the show will be able to upload content and messages to share amongst those watching from home. Visit the respective pages at Facebook or YouTube for more information, and peep the trailer for the event below. An exact webcast schedule is still to be announced.

Then, on October 24th, there’s the CD/DVD release of The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition. This collection digs deep into the benefit’s history, featuring appearances from Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who, Band of Horses, Thom Yorke,  Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and many, many more musical elite. You can pre-order the DVD set here and the CD set here. NPR Music is streaming the two-disc album portion in its entirety until next Tuesday.

And while your puny 32″ flat-screen and sub-par sound system may be enough to enjoy the all-star footage, the organizers are offering one better: on the day of the CD/DVD release (once again, 10/24), movie theaters across the nation will air the effort’s concert  film. Check out the entire listing of cities and locations below; all showings kick off at 7 p.m. For more information on tickets, head here. The trailer for the release is also available below.

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition Theater Locations:
Atlanta, GA @ Midtown
Austin, TX @ Alamo Drafthouse Lakecreek
Boston, MA @ Kendall
Chicago, IL @ Century
Dallas, TX @ TBC
Denver, CO @ Mayan
Los Angeles, CA @ The Laemmle Santa Monica
Madison, WI @ Sundance
Milwaukee, WI @ Oriental
Minneapolis, MN @ Edina
New York City, NY @ Sunshine
Philadelphia, PA @ Ritz Bourse
Pleasantville, NY @ Jacob Burns
Portland, ME @ Nickelodeon
Portland, OR @ Hollywood Theatre
San Diego, CA @ Hillcrest
San Francisco, CA @ Embarcadero
Santa Cruz, CA @ Nickelodeon
Santa Rosa, CA @ Summerfield
Seattle, WA @ Harvard Exit
Silver Spring, MD @ AFI Silver Theatre
Washington, DC @ E Street

Each year, Neil Young opens up his Rolodex (and it’s a mighty impressive one) and calls on all his rock star friends to play his charity concert, the Bridge School Benefit. With the shindig celebrating its 25th anniversary this October, Young and the folks behind the event have compiled the concert’s best moments in three-DVD and two-CD sets aptly titled The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition. 

The DVD release includes performances from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Fleet Foxes, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Devendra Banhart, and a plethora of other big-name acts. The third disc also includes documentaries on the concert’s history along with a bonus feature on the Bridge School.

The two-CD set features even more classic performances from the concert’s past 25 years. Artists include Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Thom Yorke, Metallica, Band of Horses, R.E.M. featuring Young, and much, much more.

The two releases, which also benefit the Bridge School, are in stores on October 24th. Check out a video trailer for both sets below and pre-order the DVD set here and the CD set here.

This year’s Bridge School concert goes down October 22-23rd at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. Acts scheduled to appear include Beck, Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Eddie Vedder, and many more. Tickets are available via LiveNation right now.

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition DVD Tracklsit:

DVD 1
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
Patti Smith – People Have the Power
Pearl Jam – Better Man
David Bowie – Heroes
Ben Harper – There Will Be a Light
Bob Dylan – Girl From the North Country
R.E.M – Country Feedback
Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller – Love Hurts
Fleet Foxes – Blue Ridge Mountains
Devendra Banhart – At the Hope
Bonnie Raitt – The Road Is My Middle Name
Billy Idol – Rebel Yell

DVD 2
Brian Wilson – Surfin’ USA
Gillian Welch – The Way It Will Be
The Pretenders – Sense of Purpose
James Taylor – Fire and Rain
Simon and Garfunkel – America
Tom Petty – Shadow of a Doubt
Dave Matthews – Too Much
Neil Young – Crime in the City
Tom Waits – 16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six
Elton John & Leon Russell – A Dream Come True
Paul McCartney – Get Back
Metallica – Disposable Heroes
The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again

DVD 3
Backstage at the Bridge School Benefit Concert
The Bridge School Story

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition CD Tracklist:

CD 1
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
Dave Matthews – Too Much
No Doubt – Magic’s in the Makeup
Jack Johnson – Gone
Fleet Foxes – Blue Ridge Mountains
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Love and Only Love
Sonic Youth – Rain on Tin
Pearl Jam – Better Man
Gillian Welch – The Way It Will Be
R.E.M & Neil Young – Country Feedback
Willie Nelson – The Great Divide
Nils Lofgrin – Cry Just a Little

CD 2
Sarah McLachlan – Elsewhere
Paul McCartney – Get Back
Elton John & Leon Russell – A Dream Come True
Band of Horses – Marry Song
Metallica – Disposable Heroes
Thom Yorke – After the Gold Rush
Sheryl Crow – The Difficult Kind
Tony Bennett – Maybe This Time
CSNY – Deja Vu
Norah Jones – Jesus – Etc.
Jonathan Richman – I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar
Brian Wilson – Surfin’ USA.
The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again

Neil Young & Crazy Horse might be a household combination when it comes to the legendary folk singer’s backing bands, but The International Harvesters supported Mr. Young in the 80′s producing some truly proto-country results. Released earlier this year on Record Store Day, the quite good collection A Treasure features compiled tour performances from 1984 US tour with the pickin’ ‘n’ fiddlin’ Harvesters, and above you can check out an exclusive performance of “Southern Pacific”, courtesy of Cluster 1, which sees the band chugging along behind Young. The footage is so “raw” that some of it is missing, and is replaced by the album cover in the video.

A Treasure hits stores June 14th. You can pre-order the album here, which comes with all sorts of extra goodies like t-shirts, 180-gram custom artwork vinyls, and Blu-Ray editions that include more live footage such as the clip above.

Update: You can now stream A Treasure in its entirety on RollingStone.com.

Well, if you really dig deep — and squint between the cracks — you’ll recall the “grunge” era. It didn’t last long, maybe two to three years at best, but it happened. Thanks to the media’s liberal practice of labeling, the socially engaging and musically thriving scene of the Pacific-Northwest was referred to as the “grunge scene.” So, despite the scoffs and disgust of “those in the know,” that’s what fans and journalists alike have come to call the music… “grunge.”

The thing is, it really can’t be lumped into a genre. Does Alice in Chains and Nirvana sound similar? No. Hell, they don’t even really come from the same place, either. However, the two just happen to share some obscure genre. What makes this title so important, however, is that it represents a particular sect of time, and much like describing the unique features and characteristics of non-practicing Jews, it’s a “cultural thing.”

With that in mind, we’re tallying up the best of that short era. Agree, disagree, or throw in your own philosophies on why grunge is a nonexistent label. Hell, we’ll probably agree with you. Whatever the case, hopefully this list will help you dust off that crumbling plastic stack of CDs you left on your bookshelf to decay somewhere in your mother’s house.

And if you really feel inclined, you can throw on that flannel shirt of yours, too.

10. Mad Season – Above

Often considered Temple’s little sister when it came to grunge supergroups, Above is one of the last real honest records of the time, debuting around ’95. At this time, Stone Temple Pilots, Bush, Live, and Collective Soul all came to water down the “grunge” label, and while respectable songs, something wasn’t quite the same. For one, the attention wasn’t there anymore. People moved on, flannel was being exchanged for mod suits and the like, and the youth that came to worship Cobain found justice with either Billie Joe Armstrong or Nas. Above was the last gasp and it’s quite the gulp of air. Layne Staley opts for a more seductive tone, which works against Mike McCready’s sultry guitar parts, and as a result, Mad Season offered a benevolent farewell to a time that may have been the last of its kind. If anything, “River of Deceit” remains one of the finest songs of the generation and time, both lyrically and musically. A perfect end of sorts.

09. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged

One of the first times a grunge band really stepped out of its comfort zone, and the result was Nirvana’s best work by far. The real shame is that on record, you can’t see Cobain’s, or the band’s, reaction shots. If you can, try and find a video of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”, and focus on the end. There’s a moment when Cobain just lets loose at the end. When he pauses to take a breath, there’s this look on his face, a shocked expression if you will, as if life just left him. Say what you will, but few moments have ever truly been captured and while you can’t see that on record, you can feel it. Each song is dipped with this somber presence, something that lingered even then before the world would come to cry at the infamous shot heard ’round the world. It’s the feeling of a band at its prime, ready to bow out, and yet absolutely complacent with doing so. Think of it like the Beatles’ rooftop performance, if you will.

08. Temple of the Dog – Temple of the Dog

Grunge might have been a bullshit label, but the intentions were there. This was a unified scene, fully realized in one thing: chaos and independence. Temple of the Dog, while not grunge in sound per se, symbolized the hand to hand camaraderie that the Seattle scene capitalized on. It’s also just really damn good, too. Grunge’s first supergroup and big-time collaboration following mainstream success, songs like “Say Hello 2 Heaven”, “Reach Down”, “Call Me a Dog”, and the iconic single “Hunger Strike” all bled with emotion and vitality — in due respect to Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood. And though Mother Love Bone were never qualified as grunge per se, it’s this reactive record that scrounges up the parts and assembles something that squeezed into the genre. If there were ever a record that just said “Here’s that Seattle scene I was talking about,” this would be the record to show. Its sound mirrors Ten, but it’s the emotion between the lyrical and musical lines that cries out, “This is more than music, it’s our goddamned life.”

07. Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion

Everyone loves Mark Lanegan, which might explain why the guy’s worked with just about everyone in the biz. Even though it’s their sixth record, Sweet Oblivion is the best and most successful offering from one of the most underrated and overshadowed bands of the movement. “Nearly Lost You” may have hit the charts well, shifting 300,000 copies of the album alone, but a song like “Shadow of the Season” proves that Lanegan is as diverse as he is deceitful. Nobody’s pining for a Trees reunion, but one listen through this one, and you’ll realize two things: a.) why they managed to squeak in seven records and b.) why we’re pretty impressed with their sixth effort. It’s hard, but soft, it’s driving, but it’s slow…it’s hard to explain, but hey, it’s Mark Lanegan. ‘Nuff said.

06. Alice in Chains – Jar of Flies [EP]

When “Rotten Apple” opens up the Jar of Flies [EP], few could really make a case to why Alice in Chains were ever part of the grunge movement. It’s haunting, it’s spooky, and it’s melodic. There’s nothing hard or heavy here and it’s not even vocally reminiscent of the material that came out of Seattle at the time. However, it’s probably the most beautiful sound to ever come out of the Pacific Northwest, and with songs like the depressingly introspective “Nutshell”, the reflective yet soulful “I Stay Away”, and the jangly acoustics of “No Excuses” (which Live would go on to steal), it redefined what grunge could be.

05. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Rust Never Sleeps

If someone wanted to, say, change history and stop the grunge movement (think of the time travel physics behind Back to the Future, Part II), they’d only need to visit one person: Neil f’n Young. The songwriter, responsible for ol’ classics like “Southern Man” and “Heart of Gold”, reinvented himself before the ’80s with the critical smash, Rust Never Sleeps. Nobody knew the influence it’d have, though. However, the biting and crunchy rock n’ roll, coupled with Young’s “don’t give a fuck”-attitude set a precedent for a scene that wouldn’t emerge until 10 years later and about 800+ miles north (this one was recorded largely around San Francisco). If the music didn’t do the job, Young’s flannel-wearing looks gave him the proverbial title, “godfather of grunge.”

04. Sub Pop 200 Compilation (1988)

Shitty label or not, grunge in itself was a scene, and if one record label or group is responsible it’s certainly good ol’ Sub Pop. Long before they fueled today’s modern youth with bubbly indie-rock, the longtime Seattle label issued some of the hardest, heaviest, and rawest collection of work from the very streets that put ‘em in business. This second issue, which followed 1986′s Sub Pop 100, established the scene and precedent for grunge music. A bible, in some respects. From Nirvana’s “Spank Thru” to Green River’s “Hangin’ Tree”, anyone who was anyone could find solace in knowing their emerald city was hard at work again musically.

Good luck finding this baby, especially on vinyl where it belongs.

03. Nirvana – Nevermind

C’mon. This list wouldn’t exist without it. While it hasn’t aged as well as say, Ten, its role in spreading the Seattle sound is undeniable. Everyone had this album…and with good reason. Whereas Badmotorfinger kept the door closed on a few innocent bystanders, in order to retain some of that more honest brutality that made the scene was it is, Nevermind just opened the floodgates, and it held everyone in. What started with “Teen Spirit” continued with “Come As You Are” and by the time “Lithium” circulated on MTV, some of the world’s worst (e.g. fratsters, jocks, and anyone in prison) had already made it their own. Good thing or bad, it’s still the most iconic of its time, and one of the reasons why kids pick up guitars and hang out in garages…well, sort of (thanks Guitar Hero).

02. Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger

If you can ignore the fact that Chris Cornell is a walking joke, then you might be able to recall his former band (no, not Audioslave), Soundgarden. At its inception, critics likened their raw and expansive sound to everyone from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Not too far off, but in all due respect, the band were something else entirely. They were brutal, but without some of the piss and shit of hardcore acts surrounding them. With Badmotorfinger, the band’s true breakthrough album, Soundgarden was still raw and hadn’t yet adopted more mainstream song structures. Instead, the album retains the band’s core underground elements,  sort of the old grunge guard meeting commercial success. Cornell also sounds the best here, long before he ever mated with auto-tune and…Timbaland.

01. Pearl Jam – Ten

It’s easy to argue the top of any list, but it’s hard to deny Ten the spot here. While most fans today will spit at the term “grunge” and slam those who consider the Seattle quintet part of that “genre”, Pearl Jam derive from an era scrapbooked in hazy memories and Time Magazines that all were clueless as to what to call the exploding scene. The thing is, Ten still holds up pretty well — better than any release here, actually. Sure, the “Jeremy” video is hardly controversial today, and no, nobody’s really humming “Even Flow” at parties, but it’s still straight up rock ‘n’ roll that at the time proved that grunge could be both rockin’ and introspective. And sorry modern day fans (ourselves included), but the record still stands as the band’s most definitive piece of work.

Honorable Mentions:

1. Melvins – Ozma - Visceral, brutal, and everything that separates grunge from traditional metal or rock.
2. Alice in Chains - Dirt - It’s the dark masterpiece of grunge — dark and haunting… yet hopeful.
3. L7 – Bricks Are Heavy - Grunge for girls. Take note, Courtney Love. Oh wait, she did.
4. Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles - Forget “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Touch Me I’m Sick” is the quintessential grunge anthem.
5. Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Who would have thought a film soundtrack could do so much damage? Well…