The lustre of Toronto’s now-tony Yorkville has its origins in the music scene (centred on the famed Riverboat Coffee House) that burgeoned there in the mid-‘60s, where hordes of young people flocked to hear local stars, touring acts and a young, bound-for-glory Joni Mitchell.
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hordes → have → glory
However, an even bigger name than hers struggled to find his place in that scene, and he soon moved on.
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he → struggle → scene
From “Yorkville: How a 1960s Coffeehouse Scene Rewrote Popular Music” by Mike Daley.
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Scene → rewrite → Daley
After his parents divorced, Neil Young and his mother moved from Toronto to Winnipeg.
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Young → divorce → Winnipeg
Neil became obsessed with the guitar in high school and put together a disciplined instrumental band called the Squires.
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Neil → become → band
With a burning desire to make it as a musician, he brought the band to Toronto on a whim in July 1965.
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he → burn → July
At first he lived with his father, journalist Scott Young, and then in a series of crash pads from 88 Isabella St. to folk singer Vicky Taylor’s flat above the Night Owl coffee house at 102 Avenue Rd.
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he → live → Rd
Neil connected with local manager Martin Onrot, who took on the Squires and renamed them Four to Go.
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who → connect → Go
I’d never seen anything like it.
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I → see → it
The Riverboat was an upscale thing — people who played there were really making a living ...
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who → play → living
We didn’t succeed in taking Toronto by storm.
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We → succeed → storm
We were small fish in a big pond, had no reputation, and really there was nothing special about us in the big city.
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We → be → city
Four to Go broke up without ever getting a local gig.
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Four → go → gig
Neil, who was soaking up Yorkville folk music, tried his hand for a while as a solo folk singer and songwriter but met little success.
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who → soak → success
He does not seem to have played even one advertised gig under his own name during his months in Toronto.
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He → seem → Toronto
The only exception he remembers is a last-minute fill-in for a sick performer.
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he → remember → performer
The only way Neil was going to play the Riverboat was by auditioning for the Monday night hootenanny.
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Neil → go → hootenanny
This was no open stage, but a multi-performer night with a small amount of pay and an audition for Estelle Klein (founder of the Folk Guild, the musicians’ collective which ran the event) to get a slot.
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which → run → slot
Neil auditioned and did appear at least two times.
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Neil → audition → ?
In a photograph from the winter of 1965-66, Neil sings at a Riverboat hoot, his overgrown Beatle haircut poking out from under a leather fisherman’s cap.
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haircut → sing → cap
The microphone stand is too short for his lanky frame, and he is leaning over to sing, strumming a borrowed guitar.
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he → lean → guitar
Neil asked Riverboat manager Burnie Fiedler for one, but was turned down.
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Neil → ask → one
One night they got into an argument and Burnie said that Neil howled like a dog and told him to take his horrible voice and never come in his club again.
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Neil → get → club
Neil said, “You know what, Burnie, some day you’re going to beg me to play here.”
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you → say → me
(At the Riverboat) one night I walked in and this guy Neil Young was up on the stage.
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guy → walk → stage
I remember standing there hearing that voice.
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I → remember → voice
He’s playing (affects nasal, shaky voice) “Oh to live on Sugar Mountain.”
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He → play → Mountain
I remember thinking, “Oh dude, don’t give up your day job.”
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I → think → job
You know, dreadful.
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You → know → ?
A few folkies on the scene believed in his talent.
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folkies → believe → talent
One night after hearing me at a hootenanny, Chick Roberts of the Dirty Shames told me he really liked my song “Sugar Mountain” — that made me feel like I was somebody.
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I → hear → song
For a while, Neil lived with Vicky Taylor in her apartment above the Night Owl.
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Neil → live → Owl
She had an apartment above the Night Owl — I lived there a little while.
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I → have → Owl
She would get real sad about things ... but not for long.
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She → get → long
Let me sleep on her floor.
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me → let → floor
I was the only one with an actual job; I was making $50 ($500 in 2025) a week.
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I → make → 2025
So I rented this apartment over the Night Owl club on Avenue Road.
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I → rent → Road
It had a bathroom, but no kitchen.
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It → have → bathroom
And it had a bedroom in that.
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it → have → that
But when I came out in the morning, I never knew how many bodies would be there or who they would be.
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they → come → morning
…and 67 more, not listed.
The Aporia
