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Neil Young

After Neil Young left the Californian folk-rock band Buffalo Springfield in 1968, he slowly established himself as one of the most influential and idiosyncratic singer/songwriters of his generation. Young's body of work ranks second only to Bob Dylan in terms of depth, and he was able to sustain his critical reputation, as well as record sales, for a longer period of time than Dylan, partially because of his willfully perverse work ethic.

From the beginning of his solo career in the late '60s until the late '90s, he never stopped writing, recording, and performing; his official catalog only represented a portion of his work, since he kept countless tapes of unreleased songs in his vaults. Just as importantly, Young continually explored new musical territory, from rockabilly and the blues to electronic music. But these stylistic exercises only gained depth when compared to his two primary styles: gentle folk and country-rock, and crushingly loud electric guitar rock, which he frequently recorded with the Californian garage band Crazy Horse.

Throughout his career, Young alternated between these two extremes, and both proved equally influential; there were just as many singer/songwriters as there were grunge and country-rock bands claiming to be influenced by Neil Young. Despite his enormous catalog and influence, Young continued to move forward, writing new songs and exploring new music. That restless spirit ensured that he was one of the few rock veterans as vital in his old age as he was in his youth.

Born in Toronto, Canada, Neil Young moved to Winnipeg with his mother following her divorce from his sports-journalist father. Young began playing music in high school. Not only did he play in garage rock outfits like the Esquires, but he also played in local folk clubs and coffeehouses, where he eventually met Joni Mitchell and Stephen Stills. During the mid-'60s, he returned to Toronto, where he played as a solo folk act. By 1966, he joined the Mynah Birds, which also featured bassist Bruce Palmer and Rick James. The group recorded an album's worth of material for Motown, none of which was released at the time.

Frustrated by his lack of success, Young moved to Los Angeles in his Pontiac hearse, taking Palmer along as support. Shortly after they arrived in L.A., they happened to meet Stills, and they formed Buffalo Springfield, who quickly became one of the leaders of the Californian folk-rock scene. Despite the success of Buffalo Springfield, the group was plagued with tension, and Young quit the band several times before finally leaving to become a solo artist in May of 1968. Hiring Elliot Roberts as his manager, Young signed with Reprise Records and released his eponymous debut album in early 1969.

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19
Album Review

Neil Young with Crazy Horse: World Record

Read "World Record" reviewed by Doug Collette


In its own peculiar way, World Record is as confounding as the previous two albums by Neil Young with Crazy Horse. Yet it's far more compelling, this despite its comparably impromptu, borderline sloppy nature. This title might be heard as a progression from or an extension of Colorado (Reprise, 2019) and/or Barn (Reprise, 2021, except that the occasionally excessive air of spontaneity that permeates the material and the performances begs the question of how Rick Rubin contributed to this recording ...

18
Extended Analysis

Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition (CD/DVD)

Read "Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition (CD/DVD)" reviewed by Doug Collette


To hear and see Neil Young express such deep-seated personal contentment near the end of his film Harvest Time is to understand more fully why he would go to some lengths to curate a box set of the album upon which the movie is based. While some of the content enclosed on the CDs and DVDs in the 50th Anniversary Edition of the 1972 album has been in unofficial circulation for awhile, immersion in the collection vividly depicts the vagaries ...

39
Top Ten List

The Book of Neil (Young): How the Godfather of Grunge Became an Influencer of Jazz

Read "The Book of Neil (Young): How the Godfather of Grunge Became an Influencer of Jazz" reviewed by Kelley Suttenfield


As a child of the '70s, Neil Young's music was some of the first I heard played on the radio. Heart of Gold must have been piped into every café, truck stop, and grocery store in Central Virginia, where I spent my formative years. And if you were taking a road trip, scanning the stations meant you could easily hear it multiple times in one afternoon. Astonishingly, it remains his only number #1 hit to this day. Out of such ...

4
Book Review

Neil Young - To Feel The Music: A Songwriter's Mission To Save High-Quality Audio

Read "Neil Young - To Feel The Music: A Songwriter's Mission To Save High-Quality Audio" reviewed by Doug Collette


To Feel the Music: A Songwriter's Mission to Save High-Quality Audio Neil Young and Phil Baker 242 Pages ISBN: #1948836386 BenBella Books 2019 In his introduction to To Feel The Music, Neil Young ascertains that the point of decline in the sound quality of modern music began with the compact disc. In his mind and to his ears, that physical manifestation of the advent of digital sound constitutes an abhorrent occurrence for ...

7
Extended Analysis

Neil Young & The Promise of The Real: Earth

Read "Neil Young & The Promise of The Real: Earth" reviewed by Doug Collette


Ninety-plus minutes of performances recorded live on tour in 2015, then interspersed with sounds of the planet natural (birds and thunder) and manufactured (car traffic and trains), Neil Young's double-CD Earth documents his social concerns and the synergy he's developed with his most recent accompanists, Lukas Nelson and The Promise of the Real. A song selection spanning the rock icon's career, plus one unreleased number (an ode to the weed movement “Seed Justice" was originally and cryptically titled “I Won't ...

7
Book Review

Neil Young: Special Deluxe A Memoir of Life & Cars

Read "Neil Young: Special Deluxe A Memoir of Life & Cars" reviewed by Doug Collette


Special Deluxe: A Memoir of Life & Cars Neil Young 384 Pages ISBN: # 0399172084 Blue Rider Press 2014 It's hard to believe Special Deluxe is written by the same man who wrote Waging Heavy Peace (Blue Rider Press, 2012). Neil Young sounded so selectively obsessive on that glibly titled and not so well-edited autobiography, his focused and conversational writing here, from the very preface on, is the proverbial breath of ...

8
Book Review

Neil Young: Waging Heavy Peace

Read "Neil Young: Waging Heavy Peace" reviewed by Lloyd N. Peterson Jr.


Neil Young Waging Heavy Peace502 pagesISBN: 9780339159466Viking2012An argument can be made that the three greatest artists in the history of contemporary rock music are Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Neil Young, in no particular order. The most controversial amongst the three would be Young. This of course comes from the fact that Young seems to almost purposely take the path that defies commercial success but it's also a ...

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4

Recording

Vocalist Kelley Suttenfield Reimagines Neil Young On When We Were Young: Kelley Suttenfield Sings Neil Young

Vocalist Kelley Suttenfield Reimagines Neil Young On When We Were Young: Kelley Suttenfield Sings Neil Young

Source: Mouthpiece Music

Kelley Suttenfield is a versatile jazz singer with a warm, intimate voice that’s perfect for her newest project, When We Were Young – Kelley Suttenfield Sings Neil Young (September 13, 2019). The album includes some of Neil Young’s most famous songs, as well as a couple of tunes written but never performed by him. Tackling songs that are long associated with the pop legend is an audacious endeavor; however, this is not a tribute album. Rather, Suttenfield and her collaborator ...

1

Music Industry

Neil Young Issues Statement Reacting To Donald Trump

Neil Young Issues Statement Reacting To Donald Trump

Source: HypeBot

Since it was a “public performance," it was probably legal when Donald Trumps used  a Neil Young song to herald his entrance into the race for the Republican presidential nod. But that doesn't mean it was smart. Now, Young has issued a personal statement on Trump’s use of his song, “Rockin' In The Free World." Here is the full text of Neil Young's statement: Yesterday my song “Rockin' In The Free World" was used in an announcement for a US ...

Technology

Neil Young Describes 2014 Launch of Pono

Neil Young Describes 2014 Launch of Pono

Source: HypeBot

Music services of all kinds are being funded and launched with some showing early if mixed signs of success and others appearing doomed to assured failure. One of the more interesting efforts underway is Neil Young's Pono project aka PonoMusic aka PONO that combines a unique music player with audio files created from studio masters. Young definitely gets an “A" for this Audacious effort. Neil Young and Pono are promising to bring incredibly high quality digital music via an interesting ...

Recording

Singer-Songwriter Brian Dolzani Evokes Early Neil Young, Jules Shear, Freedy Johnston On Stunning New CD "If I Don't Speak A Word"

Singer-Songwriter Brian Dolzani Evokes Early Neil Young, Jules Shear, Freedy Johnston On Stunning New CD "If I Don't Speak A Word"

Source: Seth Cohen PR

With Vocals That Evoke Early Neil Young, and Stinging, Intimate Lyrics, Singer-Songwriter Brian Dolzani Crafts a Relationship Album For Those Who’ve Lost Their Voice Along the Way Addressing the Question “What Might Happen if I Keep Quiet”, and the Dissatisfied Life That May Follow Singer-songwriter Brian Dolzani crafts an impressive, intimate collection of personal stories on his new CD ‘If I Don’t Speak A Word’. With vocals that evoke early Neil Young, precise and often stinging lyrics, deceptively catchy melodies ...

32

Music Industry

McCartney Tribute: Tony Bennett, Foo, Neil Young and Crazy Horse

McCartney Tribute: Tony Bennett, Foo, Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Source: JamBase

STAR-STUDDED TRIBUTE TO MUSICARES PERSON OF THE YEAR PAUL MCCARTNEY An impressive star-studded cast will come together to honor 2012 MusiCares Person of the Year honoree Paul McCartney during a sold-out gala on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles, two days prior to the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. Hosted by actor/comedian Eddie Izzard, artists set to perform are current GRAMMY nominees Tony Bennett, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Neil Young & Crazy Horse (in their first live performance since 2004), Norah Jones, James ...

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Recording

Neil Young - Live At Massey Hall 1971 (2007)

Neil Young - Live At Massey Hall 1971 (2007)

Source: Something Else!

There's just something about Neil Young. His present-day persona along with his musical past form a sort of rolling time capsule in my head. Very strange, much like the man himself. This particular album, recorded 1971 at Toronto's Massey Hall, showcases Young and his songwriting at an early career peak. Played on acoustic guitar and sometimes piano, Young definitely had that audience in full control. Many of the songs, new at the time, went on to become part of his ...

91

Recording

Neil Young - Prairie Wind (2005)

Neil Young - Prairie Wind (2005)

Source: Something Else!

By Mark Saleski No harm meant by this remark: I'd rather listen to John Mayer than Elliott Smith. So there, I've said it. Not to illustrate that I've got no indie cred. That I apparently have no taste in music. Not even to piss off the legions of Smith fans. No, that is not the point. The point ... is that this stuff is completely and utterly subjective. Further, there are really no objective measures for the 'goodness' of the ...

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Event

2011 Bridge School Benefit: Neil Young, Arcade Fire, Santana

2011 Bridge School Benefit: Neil Young, Arcade Fire, Santana

Source: JamBase

STAR-STUDDED LINEUP FOR TWO DAYS AT SHORELINE The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi Young. Proceeds benefit The Bridge School. The first concert was in October 1986, and, with the exception of 1987, the concert has been held every year since. As a practice, but not a rule, the performers use acoustic instruments. ...

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Recording

Neil Young and the International Harvesters - A Treasure (Reprise, 2011)

Neil Young and the International Harvesters - A Treasure (Reprise, 2011)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

Rock and roll legend Neil Young was a bit of a journeyman in the 1980's, investigating several forms of music from proto-techno to sad-eyed balladry. This previously unreleased live album from 1985 with a group he called The International Harvesters was one of his most successful groups of the period. Country music had always played a part in Young's music from his early days in Buffalo Springfield through country tinged folk projects like Comes a Time. This album shows his ...

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