February 12th, 1963: 50 Years on stage for Neil Young

As of a few days ago, 01 Feb to be exact, Neil Young has been playing shows for 50 years!

Under the guises of Buffalo Springfield, C.S.N.Y, and as the front man of Crazy Horse, Young has traipsed the earth and entertained millions with that unique voice, and an overflowing raft of generation defining tracks that served to take the old Johnny Cash descriptor, 'steady as a train, sharp as a razor', to a whole other level.

But he had to start somewhere, and needless to say those beginnings were far more humble than the Crazy Horse days of the 1970′s– largely spent 'rockin in the free world' at the foot of Marshall guitar amp stacks piled 100 foot high. Neil was 17 when he stepped out on stage at a country club in Winnipeg as the rhythm guitarist for Canadian group the Squires. As pictured, he sat demurely toward the back of the stage, head craned forward, and eyes bent on the guitar neck. In this sense not much has really changed for Neil in the succeeding 50 years. As in this photo, he has always looked engrossed in his own business when on stage, and completely oblivious to what's going on around him.