Getting To Know: Neil Young
By Adam D. Miller

Who He Is:

Born in Toronto and raised by his mother in Winnipeg, Neil Young developed his musical identity early on, playing guitar both in high school garage bands and on his own in folk-oriented coffeehouses.  These two sides of Neil’s musical personality, electric rocker and acoustic bard, have stuck with him in the decades since; rendering Neil just as well known for his acoustic, folk influenced music, as the rougher blend which gave him the name ‘The Godfather of Grunge.’

It was at the coffeehouses of Winnipeg and Toronto that Neil Young met fellow singer-songwriters Joni Mitchell and Stephen Stills.  After a stint of playing local Toronto folk clubs in the mid-1960s, Young eventually formed The Mynah Birds with future-Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer and Rick James (yes, that Rick James).  The group recorded a few singles for Motown Records, but they ultimately failed.  Frustrated, Palmer and Young drove the latter’s Pontiac hearse to Los Angeles, where they hooked up with Stephen Stills to form Buffalo Springfield.  The group, although short lived, was quite successful, recording three albums between 1967 and 1968, and scoring a big hit with “For What It’s Worth,” a song that was heavily identified with the anti-war movement.  Young would also record some of his early vocal hits with the group, such as “Mr. Soul” and “Broken Arrow.”  Although the band itself was short-lived, Young’s participation was erratic.  He quit the group several times over, failing to make an appearance with the group at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.  He ultimately left for good in 1968 when the band parted ways.

Neil Young released his solo debut, Neil Young, in 1969, and by the time it saw its release, he had already formed Crazy Horse, the hard rock combo who would back Neil on his second release, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.  Although Danny Whitten, the group’s original guitarist died of a drug overdose in 1972 (partially the inspiration for 1975’s Tonight’s The Night), many of the original Crazy Horse members continue to perform with Neil as Crazy Horse today.  Also in 1969, Neil teamed once again with Stephen Stills, as well as David Crosby and Graham Nash, and performed with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young at Woodstock.  A year later, he recorded his studio debut with the group, the essential Déjà Vu, which included a Neil Young fan favorite in “Helpless.”  Thirty-five years later, Neil continues to record and perform on his own as a solo artist, as well as with Crazy Horse, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and various other incarnations.


How To Spot Him:

Neil is called “The Godfather of Grunge,” not just because his hard rock albums heavily influenced bands like Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth, but because he has always paid little attention to his physical appearance, often appearing disheveled, wearing a t-shirt or flannel shirt, and worn out jeans.   Occasionally, he has sported a beard, but is more recognizable for his clean-shaven, stringy haired look.  More recently, Young often sports a baseball cap.

 
Vital Fact:

Neil Young has two sons with cerebral palsy from two separate mothers.  Ben, his younger son from his current marriage to Pegi Young has the more severe case, which prevents him from speaking.  In 1986, Pegi and Neil founded the Bridge School, an educational program that helps involve disabled children in their communities.  In the years since, the couple has hosted yearly Bridge School Benefit concerts, where each of the booked acts performs “unplugged-style,” acoustic sets.  The most recent Bridge School Benefit hosted such diverse acts as Paul McCartney, Sonic Youth, Tony Bennett, and Eddie Vedder.  Past events have included rare acoustic performances from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Elvis Costello, John Lee Hooker, David Bowie, The Pretenders, Beck, Tom Waits, Brian Wilson, and many, many others.

 
Not So Vital Fact:

Kurt Cobain’s suicide note quoted a line (“It’s better to burn out than to fade away”) from Neil Young’s 1979 hit “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue).”  Cobain’s use of the line had a profound affect on Young, who recorded his 1994 album Sleeps With Angels in the Nirvana frontman’s memory.  A year later, Neil recorded Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam as his backing band.

 
Where To Start:

After The Gold Rush (1970) - "Don’t let it bring you down, it’s only castles burning, just find someone who’s turning, and you will come around"



After The Gold Rush isn’t Neil Young’s first solo album, but it may as well be.  1968’s Neil Young suffered from slick overproduction, and after rocking out with Crazy Horse for his next record, Young returned to his softer side with simpler production and purer performances.  The result is a more revealing album with much more emotionally driven material.  When inducting Paul McCartney into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Neil thanked him for influencing the simpler approach he took in recording his solo albums.

A popular album at the time and one that stands up strongly today, After The Gold Rush sparked hits in “After The Gold Rush,” “Don’t Let It Bring You Down,” and “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.”  The album’s fourth track, “Southern Man” sparked a feud between Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd, who wrote “Sweet Home Alabama” in response.  Key Cuts: “After The Gold Rush”, “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.”

Harvest (1972) - "I’ve seen the needle and the damage done, a little part of it in everyone"



Probably Young’s most popular album, and arguably his best, Harvest largely centers around rural themes and country-rock instrumentation.  Tracks like “Out On The Weekend” and “Old Man” are as tender as some of the highlights on After The Goldrush, while “Alabama” and “Words (Between The Lines Of Age)” are electric rockers rivaling “Southern Man.”  The album also includes two tracks with the London Symphony Orchestra, which either make the album more interesting or prove distracting, depending on your opinion.  The album’s highlight, however, is a live recording.  “The Needle and the Damage Done” is among the best portraits of drug addiction and its perils to ever be written.  Key Cuts: “Heart Of Gold,” “Old Man,” “The Needle and the Damage Done”

On The Beach (1974) - "I went to the radio interview, but ended up alone at the microphone"



Unlike After The Gold Rush and Harvest, On The Beach is a relatively obscure item in the Neil Young catalogue.  Despite being among his best and most critically acclaimed, it was one of several Neil Young albums unavailable, until recently, on compact disc.  Neil Young has long been a champion of analog recordings, noting his frustration with the limitations of CD audio.  Debates aside, younger generations are finally hearing On The Beach for the first time and recognizing its greatness. 

Recorded after Tonight’s The Night was rejected by his label, On The Beach is a more sober lament on the deaths of roadie Bruce Berry and Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten.  The perfect companion piece to Tonight’s The Night, kicked off positively by “Walk On,” a response to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.”  Key cuts: “For The Turnstiles,” “Revolution Blues”

Tonight’s The Night (1975) - "Bruce Berry was a working man, he used to load that econoline van"



Although Tonight’s The Night was written and recorded in 1973, its scheduled release was ultimately cancelled, and it wasn’t until after On The Beach was recorded and released that the album finally hit the shelves. 

Despite a clearly drunken and dismal Neil Young belting out lyrics and ragged melodies, Tonight’s The Night is full of precisely what many of us love about Neil Young.  Raw emotion.  Most notable is the inclusion of “Come On Baby, Let’s Go Downtown,” a live Crazy Horse recording from 1970 that features Danny Whitten on lead vocal.  Overall, however, it’s an album about being in a much different time and place than just years prior, when he played Woodstock with Crosby, Stills, and Nash.   Key cuts: “Speakin’ Out,” “World On A String,” “Tired Eyes.”

Rust Never Sleeps (1979) -"There’s more to the picture than meets the eye"



Part live, part studio; part acoustic, and part electric, Rust Never Sleeps is tied together by an acoustic and electric version of the same song.  The acoustic “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” opens the album and the Crazy Horse-driven “Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)” closes it.  In between are a series of classic songs that would long remain central to Neil’s live repertoire, particularly “Powderfinger” and “Pocahontas.”  Also recommended is the accompanying concert film of the same name.  Key cuts: “Pocahontas,” “Powderfinger”, “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)

 

 

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