Saturday 4th November
The thing about Neil Young is – he has always followed his muse. He has never courted success and regularly veers off in a new musical direction, which sometimes only he really appreciates.
He was Canadian, but has lived almost all his life in America. He was in a couple of bands in Canada before he drifted down to L. A. in the mid-sixties. He first found success with Buffalo Springfield, a band with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. They made two albums, which I bought much later. To tell the truth they don’t excite me, except for the Neil Young song – Mr. Soul.
I first heard of Neil Young in the very early 70’s, probably an ‘In Concert’ radio and tv simoulcast. It was just after the release of ‘After the Goldrush’. I was hooked instantly, and went out and bought his first two solo records.
‘Neil young’ released in early 1970 is okay and quite interesting, but many of the songs are weak compared to what was to follow. He soon released ‘Everybody Knows This is Nowhere’ with a new band called Crazy Horse. And this was a huge leap forward, similar to Dylan’s eight years earlier with ‘The Freewheelin’ – mainly because of the two magnificent songs ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ and ‘Down by the River’ where the band really kick in with chiming guitars and a driving rhythm.
But Neil was also, at this time, getting involved with Crosby, Stills and Nash with whom he recorded their biggest selling album ‘Déjà vu’ with the brilliant Neil song ‘Helpless’ a highlight. Always argumentative Neil split from CSN and leaving Crazy Horse set out on a solo tour and two years later released a live album ‘Time Fades Away’ (CSNY also released a live album ‘Four Way Street’ featuring Neil form this period.
Neil then made an album with session players (who he named The Stray Gators). “After The Goldrush” was a huge hit and his first Masterpiece. I love this record and have played it to bits. It is simply perfect from the opener ‘Tell Me Why’ to the closer ‘Cripple Creek Ferry’ and includes the rocker ‘Southern Man.’
Two years later he almost repeated this with “Harvest” – a bigger seller and almost as good as “Goldrush”. This had the hit single ‘Heart of Gold’ and another rocker “Alabama” a well as gentler songs like ‘Old Man’ and ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ In the space of just over two years Neil released 4 solo albums, one with CSN and two live albums. What a start. And, that was only the beginning.
