Neil Young might be as acerbic and ornery as his barbed-wired guitar solos can be, but he also has a generous heart - particularly for benefit show - that can be as gentle and sweet as some of his acoustic work.

Last Saturday he hosted the Harvest Moon benefit concert about an hour north of Los Angeles at Lake Hughes with one of his longest friends, Stephen Stills, and John Mayer, who seems to love to jam with Woodstock legends.

Together they raised money for the Painted Turtle camp for children with chronic illnesses and The Bridge School which incorporates music into its treatment supporting kids with severe speech and physical impairments.

From 1986 thru 2016, Young was the driving force behind the Bridge School Benefit which attracted some of your favorite musicians to journey to Northern California to play music at Shoreline Amphitheater while some of the kids watched on right there on stage.

That benefit concert, usually held in October, had its last show in 2016. The following year, in the wake of the divorce of Young and his long-time wife, it was announced the Bridge School Benefit would be no more.

Thus it was welcome news when it was revealed last month that a smaller version of that all-star vibe would be revived in a new location.

For $300, or more for those who wanted to book cabins and dine on a gourmet dinner from a top chef, fans were able to sit back in lawn chairs or chill in the back and watch up-close the beautiful dynamic Young and Stills still have. And best of all the proceeds were going to very worthy causes.

Little did anyone know the two former members of the Buffalo Springfield would dust off, "Hung Upside Down," a tune they hadn't played in over 50 years.

"The worst four words you can hear in a live performance are ‘here’s a new song,’” Stills joked with the audience. “But this is actually a new version of an old song that took two centuries to write.”

How old and rare is a live performance of "Hung Upside Down"? It doesn't exist in our vast database.

The tune was the first song on the second side of Buffalo Springfield Again, the group's 1967 sophomore LP. In 1968 band would release their final album.

Stills would quickly move on to Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Young would join them soon after. CSN&Y's second live performance was at Woodstock.

Despite having differing of opinions with others, Young and Stills remained tight. They recorded an album together in the mid-'70s, as The Stills–Young Band, titled Long May You Run. The title track off that record kicked off their hour-long set on Saturday.

In one of his most idealistic moves, Young famously refused to play the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival when Buffalo Springfield were invited.

Young later explained he didn't want the fans to have to sit through all of those other bands (the Lou Adler production would precede Woodstock by two years, thus was relatively new). And he told Howard Stern a few years ago he didn't want their music to be diluted by the others.

In a way he was totally correct.

If there's one image that people think of when they think about Monterey Pop, it wasn't the appearance of Janis Joplin, The Who, The Monkees, Otis Redding, The Grateful Dead, Simon & Garfunkel, the Mamas & the Papas, or Steve Miller -- all who were there and fantastic.

What people remember is Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar on fire.

For what it's worth, Neil was right not to want to go. In his place the band called up their old pal David Crosby.

On Saturday Stills and Young revisited "For What It's Worth," the big hit the Buffalo Springfield had during their short run.

As to be expected, the rockers played Neil tunes, Stills tunes, and a few from their days in CSN&Y. The 3,500 in attendance ate it all up.

And in the end, Mayer, whose set proceeded the pair, came out for a rousing rendition of "Rockin' in the Free World."

May we all rock so hard in our late 70s.

None among Neil Young, Stephen Stills or John Mayer are touring right now, but if you really have an itch to hear and sing along with "Rockin' in the Free World," we've got you.

Pearl Jam has performed the song more than any band ever at 344 times. Neil with Crazy Horse have done it over 200 times. Lucinda Williams has covered it 174 times. CSN&Y have done it over 100 times.

Pearl Jam's Dark Matter Tour heads to New Zealand and Australia next month for a series of shows. Hear the song everyone loves by getting your tickets on the Pearl Jam website.