I’m Jane Swidler. I grew up in a New York City suburb. From the age of 4 or 5, I’ve been fortunate to experience many live shows from ringside at great venues such as the Met and Madison Square Garden. Washington D.C. was a favorite stomping grounds, especially in the turbulent days of protests, sit-ins, and moratoria.
As luck would have it, I was in D.C. when Neil Young was doing a gig at the legendary club The Cellar Door. On November 30, 1970, my friend Danny and I went to The Cellar Door to see Neil and Crazy Horse. The club didn’t even hold 200 people. I don’t have to tell you what a great show it was, because you can hear it for yourself on Neil’s album, Live at The Cellar Door. After the show, we lingered at the club at our little table for a while, and Neil was still there! We invited Neil to come and sit with us, and he did! We shared a bottle of wine and lots of stories, of which I cannot remember even one. But the picture of me, Danny and Neil sitting at a little table in a little club enjoying ourselves over a bottle of wine will never fade from my memory.