The year was 1972. I was 9. My dad was a music nut. I knew all the Beatles albums, all the Stones. I learnt the lyrics to Sgt Pepper almost as soon as I could read. But this night he was playing something different on our gramophone (one of those that looked like a sideboard, that you could stack half a dozen LPs or singles on and it would - when it worked properly - let them drop down and play one at a time.
Tonight I was hearing a voice like I’d never heard before. It sounded like a grown man crying. I’d never heard a grown man crying. I wasn’t sure what the lyrics meant, but I knew they were tortured, tragic, and utterly personal.
“I've seen the needle and the damage done A little part of it in everyone But every junkie's like a settin' sun”
I didn’t know what a junkie was, though I’d heard the term before. I guessed it was something I didn’t want to be.
I didn’t like this LP. It made me feel sad. The man’s voice made my stomach twist inside. I couldn’t wait for it to be over and for the Beatles to come on, preferably singing something daft like ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ or ‘When I’m Sixty Four’. (Yes, I knew the lyrics to Sgt Pepper, but I was 9 for god’s sake, I liked the funny records best).
Anyway,
I went to bed that night and found that one song in particular was playing in my head. It was from that upsetting record and it was a song called ‘Heart of Gold’.
“I want to live, I want to give I've been a miner for a heart of gold”
I didn’t listen to Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ again for many years. But I never forgot those two songs...
Neil Young was born in Toronto, the son of a sports writer, and moved to Winnipeg with his mother when his parents divorced.
A music lover from childhood, he formed several different bands and moved to Los Angeles in 1965. Here he formed the band Buffalo Springfield.
In 1968 he recorded his first solo album, the first of 21 solo albums to date. In ‘69 he co-formed the band for which he is perhaps most well known, Crazy Horse. The band have now released 12 albums.
He later joined the already well-known Crosby Stills and Nash, who became, not surprisingly, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Famous for his unpredictability, drug use and poor health, his musical output has been varied to say the least, taking in country, rock, metal, grunge (in ’95 he released Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam, though you won’t see Pearl Jam named as that for legal reasons), and all manner of other passing genres. It’s been equally varied in quality, too.
But back to ‘Harvest’…
Released in 1972, this album has a definite country flavour, but the raw, high, bleeding voice and socio-realistic lyrics keep it safely removed from any hints of overblown, melodramatic, sugary ‘country and western’.
Instead we get Neil dealing with drugs, mortality, love, longing, depression, war and loss.
At times you’ll get sexism:
“I was thinking that maybe I'd get a maid Find a place nearby for her to stay. Just someone to keep my house clean, Fix my meals and go away” (A Man Needs a Maid)
At times you’ll get depressed:
“Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you I need someone to love me the whole day through Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true” (Old Man)
At times you’ll be touched deep deep down:
“I want to live, I want to give I've been a miner for a heart of gold. It's these expressions I never give That keep me searching for a heart of gold And I'm getting old” (Heart of Gold)
What you won’t be with this album is bored. Though it received a mixed reception from the critics, it was a huge seller and gave him a no. 1 single with Heart of Gold. And you’ll now usually find it in the ‘best albums ever’ list of the music press.
It’s an album I return to again and again, and Neil’s up and down musical journey is one that constantly fascinates.
Pushing 60 now, he’s earned his credentials as a rock dinosaur, and for me his music is as valid and alive as it was back when I first heard it in ’72.
If bleeding made a sound, it would be the sound of Neil Young’s voice.
Track List:
· OUT ON THE WEEKEND · HARVEST · A MAN NEEDS A MAID · HEART OF GOLD · ARE YOU READY FOR THE COUNTRY · OLD MAN · THERE'S A WORLD · ALABAMA · THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE · WORDS (BETWEEN THE LINES OF AGE)
Look out for:
Linda Ronstadt: Vocals on "Heart Of Gold" and "Old Man" James Taylor: Vocals on "Heart Of Gold", Vocals and Banjo on "Old Man" David Crosby: Vocals on "Are You Ready For The Country" and "Alabama" Steven Stills: Vocals on "Alabama" and "Words" Graham Nash: Vocals on "Are You Ready For The Country" and "Words" John Harris: Piano on "Harvest" London Symphony Orchestra: on "A Man Needs A Maid" & "There's A World"
Easily available on CD on the Reprise label, often at a bargain price.
He's an acquired taste, but one I'm very glad I acquired.
(This op was written in response to a DINOSAUR ROCK OFF challenge from 29th_Candidate).
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Exdellent review of an album I have not heard for many years, but you got the feel of it just about perfect....nice one ...Roy
stevethesleeve 16.07.2002 16:05
This is one of the albums I had when I was a lot younger, and have recently replaced in CD form. Your op does it very good service - nice one!
tastebud 15.07.2002 09:52
This has been one of my favourite albums for a long time. I recently heard an interview with the writer who's just published an authorized biography of the man, surely an interesting read for die-hard fans. (It's entitled "Shaky", I think.) Thanks! -- Nicole
Proclaiming his intentions with "Are You Ready for the Country?", Young detoured briefly ... more
to the Nashville mainstream. On this 1972 album, even the singer's acquired-taste voice comes across smooth and beautiful--the smash "Heart of Gold", with steel gu...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Proclaiming his intentions with "Are You Ready for the Country?", Young detoured briefly ... more
to the Nashville mainstream. On this 1972 album, even the singer's acquired-taste voice comes across smooth and beautiful--the smash "Heart of Gold", with steel gu...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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