E224: Jimmy McDonough on Neil Young + Gary Stewart + Al Green audio

For this episode we invite the very entertaining Jimmy McDonough to join us — all the way from Portland, Oregon — and discuss his career as "the king of the crazy biographers". Our guest explains how he moved (back) to New York from Indiana in the '80s and how he got his foot in the door at the Village Voice with a 1988 profile of country singer Gary Stewart, the subject of his new book. We then hear about the long and painful saga of his extraordinary Neil Young biography Shakey (2002) — and his singular approach to the biographical trade. Clips from Amy Linden's 1995 audio interview with Al Green give us the opportunity to ask Jimmy about his 2017 biography of the Reverend Green, after which we finally get to the 40-year gestation of I Am from the Honky Tonks and the story of his obsession with his doomed honky-tonk hero. He explains why the book felt like a mission and why Gary Stewart could and should have been a country superstar. After Mark quotes from featured writer John Morthland's review of the Monterey Pop Festival (with a namecheck for the late Country Joe McDonald) and from a 1975 interview with Tammy Wynette – another of our guest's biographical subjects — Jasper wraps things up with remarks on the Australian Folk Bitch Trio and the man who manages Yungblud (and "eats challenges for breakfast"). Many thanks to special guest Jimmy McDonough. Gary Stewart: I Am from the Honky-Tonks is published by Wolf+Salmon and available for pre-order now. Pieces discussed: Why did Neil Young try to squelch Shakey?, Gary Stewart: Honky-Tonk Puree, Gary Stewart: Out of Hand, John Morthland articles, Monterey International Pop Music Festival, Three Dog Night: Why Do The Underground Put Us Down?, Tammy Wynette, "I Eat Challenges For Breakfast": Yungblud's Manager Tommas Arnby and Folk Bitch Trio.

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E224: Jimmy McDonough on Neil Young + Gary Stewart + Al Green audio is an episode from Rock's Backpages by Rock's Backpages.

This episode is 65:15 long.

This episode was published on Mar 16, 2026.

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