For better and for
worse, one album looms large in Neil Young’s back catalogue. Harvest is not only Young’s best-known
album (and contains his only true hit single) but also one that Young has a
seeming love/hate relationship with. There is always an expectation from
audiences for Young to play songs from it but there is no guarantee he will
acquiesce. Recorded in short bursts of activity in Nashville, London and at
Broken Arrow Ranch, the stop/start approach to recording leading to a mixed bag
in terms of style and quality. Despite its flaws, it seems to be cemented into
the canon of rock’n’roll classics because, let’s face it, when it’s good, it’s
unbelievably good.
Journeys Through the Past
A blog about the recorded output of Neil Young.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Neil Young and Crazy Horse live at the RDS, Dublin, Ireland
As an interruption to the usual posts about Neil Young's albums (though a post about Harvest has not been forgotten, it is on its way I promise), I bring you this short medium report on last night's concert with Crazy Horse at the RDS in Dublin (15th June 2013 for those of you reading this in the future). It was a strange mix of a terrific performance, changeable weather, poor sound and what seemed to be a largely indifferent audience. It was certainly in my top five Neil Young gigs (though it was only the fifth time I have seen him) but I cannot help but think how much better this would have been at another venue and with a more forgiving crowd.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
After the Gold Rush (1970)
After the scorching heat of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, it is perhaps surprising that Neil
Young did not stick with the winning formula of jamming with Crazy Horse on his
next album. However, with the benefit of hindsight, this was just another of
Young’s shifts in gear as he forever chases his creative fancies as they come
to him (Google “muse site:thrasherswheat.org” if you are in any doubt about
this!). Bearing in mind his recent stint in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had
borne fruit in the form of Déja Vu,
it becomes even less of a shock that Young would tone down his songs and become
more introspective and delicate.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
“That whole album is so pure. I love that music. I love that
old feeling of just the music. Nothing else mattered to us then… There was no
success, nothing to live up to, just love and music and life and youth. That
was a happy time. That is Crazy Horse.” – Neil Young in 2012
While his first solo album was a bit of a muddle with Young working with two producers and musicians such as Ry Cooder who were not wholly sympathetic to the music being recorded, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere succeeds in all places where Neil Young stumbled or failed. For the first time, Young’s music erupts from the speakers with all the power that they required. The album was a perfect alignment of inspired songwriting, simple but effective production care of David Briggs and the introduction of one of the best bands ever committed to tape: Crazy Horse.
While his first solo album was a bit of a muddle with Young working with two producers and musicians such as Ry Cooder who were not wholly sympathetic to the music being recorded, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere succeeds in all places where Neil Young stumbled or failed. For the first time, Young’s music erupts from the speakers with all the power that they required. The album was a perfect alignment of inspired songwriting, simple but effective production care of David Briggs and the introduction of one of the best bands ever committed to tape: Crazy Horse.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Neil Young (1968)
Plagued by technical problems and performance issues, it is
a wonder that this self-titled debut sounds as good as it does. However, in the
grand scheme of things, this marks the end of Neil Young’s early, more
derivative work before his more distinctive and unique sound erupts on
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere which would be released some months later. Neil
Young follows the same style of writing and performance that Young had been
employing both as a solo artist in local clubs and coffee houses and with the
band Buffalo Springfield (more on them in later posts). There is a debt to the
production standards set by The Beatles but, underneath it all, there is
something awkward about many of these particular songs which suggests that
despite Young’s love of the Fab Four, this was not a method of working that he
was overly comfortable with. Considering The Beatles released the epic and
exhilarating “white” album at the same time as Young released this album, it
was obvious that they were still upping the ante when it came to studio albums
and everyone was still playing catch up.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Journeys Through the Past
A blog about the recorded output of Neil Young. This is not about collecting rare pressings or noting what type of equipment was used when, it is simply one man's look at the back catalogue of a singular and intriguing artist. It will not consist entirely of empty praise or gushing fanaticism (though gushing praise and empty fanaticism might occur).
The idea is to post articles every week or two on each album (both core albums and satellite releases including live albums, collaborations, soundtracks, etc.), covering them all eventually. I hope to write something somewhere between a critical analysis, a fan's eye view and historical overview. Where appropriate, I will draw on sources such as interviews, Jimmy McDonough's biography Shakey and Young's own memoirs Waging Heavy Peace (amongst other works) in order to give as complete a picture of these albums as possible. However, I will not allow this blog to become a dry, academic list of facts and dates. This is a project started by a fan for other fans (and hopefully, in the long run, it will convince my wife that Neil Young is actually well worth listening to!).
With any luck, someone will read these articles and get something from it. In any case, I'm driftin' back.
The idea is to post articles every week or two on each album (both core albums and satellite releases including live albums, collaborations, soundtracks, etc.), covering them all eventually. I hope to write something somewhere between a critical analysis, a fan's eye view and historical overview. Where appropriate, I will draw on sources such as interviews, Jimmy McDonough's biography Shakey and Young's own memoirs Waging Heavy Peace (amongst other works) in order to give as complete a picture of these albums as possible. However, I will not allow this blog to become a dry, academic list of facts and dates. This is a project started by a fan for other fans (and hopefully, in the long run, it will convince my wife that Neil Young is actually well worth listening to!).
With any luck, someone will read these articles and get something from it. In any case, I'm driftin' back.
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