-I saw another photo
that you posted on Instagram I love.
It's you and Keanu Reeves. -Oh.
-Do you like doing Instagram? Do you -- Do you love Instagram?
-Yeah. Well, I never knew about Instagram,
and I'm still not clear about
what this hashtag thing is, but...
[ Laughter ]
But I like having it. You know?
It's a nice way to communicate ideas and books and movies
and things you're concerned about.
-Yeah. -But this picture, um...
It's unbelievable, really.
My friend, Sandy Pearlman, my great friend of like
almost half a century
who passed away when I was writing this book,
he was producer of Blue Oyster Cult,
and he wrote a lot of their great songs.
He loved Keanu Reeves,
and I didn't know nothing about Keanu Reeves.
I didn't even see "The Matrix,"
but he saw "The Matrix" like 27 times,
and he loved him, and then he passed away,
and right after that, I was at some art function,
and there was Keanu Reeves, and, truthfully,
I went up to him and told him about --
'Cause, you know, it's like, I see somebody like that,
you know, and I'm like Chris Farley --
I just go bounding up there.
[ Laughter ]
Really, I'm so like him in a way, but...
-Did he freak out? -No, he was really nice.
-Yeah, he's cool. -He's a really nice fella.
So, we got our picture taken, and I thought,
"Oh, I'm gonna put the picture on my Instagram.
Maybe people will like it, and I'll do it for Sandy."
And it got like 80,000 people or something,
which, back then, when early days of my Instagram,
was a real lot. -Yeah.
-And I thought, "This guy is really popular."
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, Keanu Reeves is pretty popular, yeah.
-And the next thing I know, he does -- he does this movie --
this "John Wick" movie. -Yes.
-And he's popping up everywhere, like rabbits breeding.
Everywhere I look, there's suddenly --
[ Laughter ]
But, uh -- -Rabbits breeding.
-He's a really nice guy.
-Let's talk about "Year of the Monkey."
What made you write this memoir?
-Well, I write all the time. -Yeah, sure.
-Actually, it was, as I said, my friend Sandy and I
were supposed to travel after we played at The Fillmore.
My band, we played at The Fillmore.
We were gonna travel around California.
He's my pal. I've known him for years,
and he had a bad accident, and he was unable to travel.
Actually, was in the hospital.
So, I was on my own, and then I just decided
to stay on my own and roam around,
and I was writing, and the book evolved.
And, you know, I had two great friends,
Sam Shepard and Sandy, who were struggling
throughout the book, and both of them --
lost both of them.
So, you know, fielding this, and, also, I was turning 70,
which now seems really young.
[ Laughter ]
But I was turning 70 at the time,
which was also something to think about.
-Yeah. -And I just kept writing
and kept writing the book,
and it was the year of the monkey,
a very mischievous year --
the year of the election and the inauguration.
-Sure. -A rough year to field.
So, it was a book that I wrote to try to both
philosophically and humorously survive that year.
-Yeah. -And I'm still here.
-Yeah, you certainly are. [ Cheers and applause ]
Tonight -- Tonight, you're performing
a cover of a Neil Young song. -Yes.
-You're doing "After the Gold Rush."
-Yeah, and I know you love Neil, too.
-I love Neil. -Well, we all love Neil.
-Right.
-And it's 50 years old this year.
-Is it really? -Yes, and I saw him
at The Fillmore in 1970 sing this song,
and here we are a half-century later
and the song is so relevant today
and just wanted to do it and... -I appreciate that.
Thanks for doing that. -Oh, it's Jimmy Page's birthday.
-Happy birthday, Jimmy. [ Laughter ]