“There’s nothing more pleasing to Neil than going against what somebody else expects him to do,” former Neil Young collaborator Anthony Crawford tells us in this month’s cover story. “He thrives off doing exactly the opposite of what someone wants him to do.” Crawford has appeared on five of Young’s albums and toured the world with the Canadian contrarian numerous times. He’s one of several trusted friends and collaborators to reveal what life is like inside the circle of one of the world’s greatest and most uncompromising songwriters this issue.