I think "The Needle and the Damage Done" is one of the most perfect songs ever written. Neil Young didn't even need three minutes to paint a haunting picture of junkiedom; on Harvest the song is 2:17. 

You'd have…

One birthday a friend handed me a slim book titled Zen Guitar. The author's name was Philip Toshio Sudo. 

"That's funny," I thought, "I used to know a Phil Sudo." I turned the book over and read that…