Young repeated these assurances to McDonough, even after the initial time period for delivery of the manuscript under the contract with Random House, Inc., had passed, and even on the day McDonough delivered the manuscript to Young. While doing so, he was repeatedly assured by Young that Young would abide by his agreements with McDonough, and that McDonough should trust that Young would allow the biography to be published. 'Over a period of eight years (1991-98) McDonough devoted himself to writing the biography. Young (BC 229130) filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in May 2000, it stated: While the project ended in a $1.8-million lawsuit for fraud, the book was eventually published. McDonough relocated to the West Coast in 1991 to begin research.' With this assurance, McDonough committed himself to “devote his exclusive services and full time” to the book, and a lucrative deal was struck with Random House in August 1991 the contract was a $350,000 deal the initial advance topped $100,000, with $85,000 going to McDonough and $20,000 to Young.

He was ready for a challenge, and Young magnanimously offered him a free hand, typical of the singer’s renowned image as an unfettered, purely creative force: He consented to sit for five consecutive days of interviews and would have no approval over McDonough’s work, save for passages dealing with specific members of his immediate family. McDonough’s writing is tough, probing, full of street-hustler style, yet hits with a cerebral impact. Almost single-handedly responsible for re-introducing the public to presumed-dead R&B-jazz balladeer Jimmy Scott via his groundbreaking Village Voice cover story, McDonough characteristically used the money from the story to pay for a Scott demo session not long after, the singer had a Warner Bros. 'McDonough is one of the best music writers in the nation. Weekly article by Jonny Whiteside, McDonough's music writing career is put into perspective: Jimmy McDonough's credentials to profile Young are unarguably impressive. Whatever happens around the guy, you can't count on it continuing.' ''Shakey' was a nickname Neil Young's pals gave him after they watched some home movies he had made. In an interview on National Public Radio, Jimmy McDonough commented on the nickname 'Shakey' as the title of his biography on the rock and roll icon Neil Young:

McDonough spent eight years writing the book and interviewed more than 300 of Neil's associates. Weighing in at over 700 pages, the biography - while flawed - is considered to be one of the most definitive rock and roll biographies ever written. The chronicle of writing 'Shakey' turned out to be nearly as fascinating as the subject itself. Jimmy McDonough is the author of the acclaimed book 'Shakey: A Neil Young Biography'.

Shakey by Jimmy McDonough