Neil Young
Feedback, fury and feeling from rock's most restless songwriter
Neil Young was born in Toronto in 1945 and survived a bout of polio as a child. After his family moved, he began his musical life in Winnipeg, leading the instrumental band The Squires, which released its first single in 1963. He briefly played in the Toronto group The Mynah Birds, fronted by Rick James and signed to Motown, before heading to Los Angeles in 1966, where he and Stephen Stills formed Buffalo Springfield, a pioneer of folk rock and country rock.
Buffalo Springfield broke up in 1968, and Young launched a solo career. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969), his first record with the band Crazy Horse, contained the long guitar workouts “Down by the River” and “Cowgirl in the Sand.” That year he also joined Crosby, Stills & Nash, performing at Woodstock and recording Déjà Vu (1970). After the Gold Rush (1970) and Harvest (1972) made him a star; Harvest was America's best-selling album of 1972 and contained his only No. 1 single, “Heart of Gold.”
Young then swerved away from commercial success with darker records such as Tonight's the Night and Zuma, which featured “Cortez the Killer.” Rust Never Sleeps (1979), with one acoustic side and one ferociously loud electric side, anticipated punk's energy and inspired the tag “Godfather of Grunge.” The 1980s were a period of genre experiments, from electronic music to rockabilly and country, before Freedom (1989) and the noisy Ragged Glory (1990) returned him to guitar-driven rock with Crazy Horse.
Young's influence on 1990s alternative rock became obvious: he toured with Sonic Youth, released the feedback collage Arc alongside the live album Weld, and recorded Mirror Ball (1995) with Pearl Jam. That same year he entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, followed by a second induction with Buffalo Springfield in 1997. He scored Jim Jarmusch's film Dead Man, directed films as Bernard Shakey, and has continued to release music at a remarkable pace.
The 10 greatest Neil Young solos
- 1Neil Young · solo by Neil Young · 1975
- 2Neil Young & Crazy Horse · solo by Neil Young · 1969
- 3Neil Young · solo by Neil Young · 1977
- 4Neil Young & Crazy Horse · solo by Neil Young · 1969
- 5Neil Young · solo by Neil Young · 1979
- 6Neil Young & Crazy Horse · solo by Neil Young · 1979
- 7Neil Young · solo by Neil Young · 1970
- 8Neil Young & Crazy Horse · solo by Neil Young · 1990
- 9Neil Young · solo by Neil Young · 1969
- 10Buffalo Springfield · solo by Stephen Stills, Neil Young · 1967
The sound
Young's electric playing prizes emotion over precision. With Crazy Horse he stretches solos across long, grinding grooves, worrying a single note or a handful of notes, bending, shaking the Bigsby vibrato and letting feedback bloom. His tone, from a Gibson Les Paul called Old Black through a small tweed Fender Deluxe driven hard, is huge, ragged and on the edge of collapse. Famously, the “Cinnamon Girl” solo is built largely from one repeated note. On acoustic guitar he is a gentle fingerpicker and strummer with a high, plaintive voice, and his harmonica adds a folk dimension.
- “Old Black” Gibson Les Paul (1953) (guitar) A Goldtop painted black, fitted with a Bigsby and a Firebird pickup; his main electric since 1969.
- Gretsch White Falcon (guitar) Used in the Buffalo Springfield and CSNY era for its big, ringing hollowbody sound.
- Martin D-45 (guitar) One of his main acoustics for folk and country material.
- Martin D-28 “Hank” (guitar) An acoustic that once belonged to country legend Hank Williams.
- Fender Tweed Deluxe (1959) (amp) A small amp he has used since the late 1960s, pushed hard for his signature distortion.
- Magnatone 280 (amp) Used for its distinctive vibrato effect.
- “Whizzer” amp controller (effect) A custom device that physically turns the Deluxe's knobs to preset positions.
Covers
- Oh Lonesome Me, originally by Don Gibson He slowed the upbeat country hit into a mournful, lonely ballad.
- Four Strong Winds, originally by Ian & Sylvia A warm, affectionate tribute to a Canadian folk classic.
- Farmer John, originally by Don & Dewey A garage-rock stomp given the full, distorted Crazy Horse treatment.
- Blowin' in the Wind, originally by Bob Dylan The folk anthem reimagined as a thunderous electric performance.
- All Along the Watchtower, originally by Bob Dylan Backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, he delivered one of the most blistering performances of the tribute concert.
- Oh Susannah, originally by Stephen Foster The old folk song reworked as a heavy Crazy Horse rocker.
Timeline
- 1945 Born in Toronto, Ontario
- 1963 The Squires release their first single in Winnipeg
- 1966 Forms Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles with Stephen Stills
- 1969 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere with Crazy Horse; joins CSNY and plays Woodstock
- 1972 Harvest becomes the best-selling album in the US that year
- 1979 Rust Never Sleeps and Live Rust released
- 1985 Co-founds Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp
- 1990 Ragged Glory marks a return to loud guitar rock with Crazy Horse
- 1995 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; records Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam
- 1997 Inducted a second time as a member of Buffalo Springfield
Facts
- He survived polio as a child in 1951.
- Before fame he played in The Mynah Birds, a Motown-signed band fronted by Rick James.
- “Heart of Gold” is his only single to reach No. 1 in the US.
- His main electric guitar, Old Black, is a 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop that was painted black.
- The solo in “Cinnamon Girl” is built almost entirely from one note.
- He owns an acoustic guitar that once belonged to Hank Williams.
- He improvised much of the Dead Man soundtrack while watching the film.
- He directs films under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey.
- He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
- Arc, released alongside Weld, is an album built from edited feedback and noise from his live shows.