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    • Neil Young


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    array(1) { [0]=> array(4) { ["title"]=> string(10) "Neil Young" ["timestamp"]=> string(20) "2010-09-10T05:46:09Z" ["text"]=> string(86137) "{{About|the musician|other persons named Neil Young|Neil Young (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox musical artist| | Name = Neil Young | Img = Neil Young - Per Ole Hagen.jpg | Img_capt = Young performing in [[Oslo]], [[Norway]] in 2009. | Img_size = 250 | Landscape = yes | Background = solo_singer | Birth_name = Neil Percival Young | Alias = Bernard Shakey, Phil Perspective, Shakey Deal, Clyde Coil, Shakey, Joe Yankee,''[[Charlie Rose (talk show)|Charlie Rose]]'' video: "[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6222184045890256947&ei=eUufS62zDqSIqQP176GXDA&q=neil+young+charlie+rose&hl=en&view=3# Neil Young]." Joe Canuck | Born = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1945|11|12}}
    [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]] | Origin = [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], Canada | Genre = [[Rock music|Rock]], [[folk rock]], [[hard rock]], [[country rock]] |Instrument = [[Guitar]], [[vocals]], [[harmonica]], [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]], [[piano]] | Occupation = [[Musician]], [[singer-songwriter]], [[Record producer|producer]], [[screenwriter]], [[Film director|director]] | Years_active = 1960–present | Label = [[Reprise Records|Reprise]], [[Motown]], [[Geffen Records|Geffen]] | Associated_acts = The Squires, [[The Mynah Birds]], [[Buffalo Springfield]], [[Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)|Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]], [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]], [[The Stray Gators]], [[The Stills-Young Band]], [[The Ducks]], [[Northern Lights (band)|Northern Lights]], [[Pearl Jam]], [[Booker T. Jones]], [[Phish]], [[Dave Matthews]] | URL = [http://www.neilyoung.com neilyoung.com] | Notable_instruments = "[[Old Black]]"
    [[Gibson Les Paul|Gibson 1956 Les Paul Goldtop]]
    [[C.F. Martin & Company|Martin D-45]]
    Martin D-28 | last = Zimmer | first = Dave | authorlink = | coauthors = Henry Diltz | title = Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography | publisher = Da Capo | date = 2008 | location = | page = 362 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=jDdLTRnuuuAC&pg=PA362 | doi = | id = | isbn = 9780306816154 }} '''Neil Percival Young''',McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 37 [[Order of Canada|OC]],{{cite web|url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=13469|title=Governor General Announces 57 New Appointments to the Order of Canada|work=Office of the Secretary to the Governor General|accessdate=2009-12-30|date=December 30, 2009}} [[Order of Manitoba|OM]]{{cite web|title=Lieutenant Governor's Awards|url=http://www.lg.gov.mb.ca/awards/order/register.html|publisher=Lieutenant Governors office of Manitoba|year=2009|accessdate =2010-01-26}} (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian [[singer-songwriter]] who is considered to be one of the most influential musicians of his generation.[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kifoxqr5ldfe] Neil Young. Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. allmusic. Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band [[Buffalo Springfield]] along with [[Stephen Stills]], and later joined [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young|Crosby, Stills & Nash]] as a fourth member in 1969. He then forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968. His career has spanned 50 years and 33 studio albums, with a continual exploration of musical styles. The [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] website describes Young as "one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers".[http://rockhall.com/inductees/neil-young rockhall.com - Neil Young - Biography]. Retrieved 2010-4-9. He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and secondly as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.{{cite web|title=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee-list|publisher=The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum|url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/inductee-list/|year=2009|accessdate =2010-01-26}} Young has been nominated for multiple [[Grammy Award]]s, winning once in 2010. Young's work is characterized by his distinctive guitar work"Young is a most distinctive guitarist and singer, using ghostly shards of feedback to taint his ringing guitar chords." {{cite news | title = Neil Young's Passionate Guitar Playing Sparks Rock Arena | work = Los Angeles Daily News | date = 1993-09-14 | accessdate = 2009-07-28}}"It's Young's distinctive, chunky rhythm guitar sound which defines the songs here [on ''Living with War'']." {{cite news | last = Brinn | first = David | title = Disc Reviews | work = Jerusalem Post | date = 2006-05-30 | url = http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1148482072145&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull | accessdate = 2009-07-28}}"30 years on, Neil Young remains one of the most distinctive voices of his, or any other, generation." {{cite news | last = Surkamp | first = David | title = Internal Fire From Neil Young Lights The Stage | work = St. Louis Post-Dispatch | page = 4D | date = 1992-09-15 | accessdate = 2009-07-28}} and signature [[falsetto]]/[[tenor]] singing voice.{{cite news | last = Miller | first = Edward | title = The Nonsensical Truth of the Falsetto Voice: Listening to Sigur RĂłs | work = Popular Musicology Online | issn = 1357-0951 | date = 2003 | url = http://www.popular-musicology-online.com/issues/02/miller.html | accessdate = 2010-05-26}}{{cite news | last = Sinclair | first = Scott | title = Neil Young - Fork In The Road | work = Popular Musicology Online | date = 2009-04-04 | url = http://www.musicomh.com/albums/neil-young-4_0409.htm | accessdate = 2010-05-26}} Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments, including piano and harmonica, his [[clawhammer]] acoustic guitar and often idiosyncratic electric guitar playing are the defining characteristics of a sometimes ragged, sometimes melodic sound. While Young has experimented with differing music styles, including [[swing music|swing]] and [[electronic music]] throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into two primary styles: either [[Acoustic music|acoustic]] folk and country rock, or amplified hard rock in collaboration with the band [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]. Young has also adopted elements from newer styles such as [[alternative rock]] and [[grunge]]. His influence on the latter caused some to dub him the "[[List of honorific titles in popular music|Godfather of Grunge]]"."It had already been noted that Neil Young was an important influence on grunge musicians, and in the mid- 1990s it became common to see Neil Young described as 'the godfather of grunge'." in {{Cite book| last = Echard | first = William | title = Neil Young and the Poetics of Energy | publisher = [[Indiana University Press]] | year = 2005 | page = 43 | isbn = 9780253217684| postscript = }} Young has directed (or co-directed) a number of films using the pseudonym '''Bernard Shakey''', including ''Journey Through the Past'' (1973), ''Rust Never Sleeps'' (1979), ''[[Human Highway]]'' (1982), ''[[Greendale (album)|Greendale]]'' (2003), and ''[[CSNY/DĂ©jĂ  Vu]]'' (2008). He is currently working on a documentary about electric car technology, tentatively titled ''Linc/Volt''. The project involves a 1959 [[Lincoln Continental]] converted to hybrid technology, which Young plans to drive to Washington, D.C. as an environmentalist example to lawmakers there.{{cite web|url=http://www.idiomag.com/peek/63112/neil_young|title=New Neil Young album expected in late March|date=2009-02-05|accessdate=2009-02-11|publisher=Idiomag.com}} Young is an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and the welfare of small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the [[benefit concert]] [[Farm Aid]]. In 1986, Young helped found The Bridge School,[http://www.bridgeschool.org/ Welcome to The Bridge School] an educational organization for children with severe verbal and physical disabilities, and its annual supporting [[Bridge School Benefit]] concerts, together with his wife '''Pegi Young''' (nĂ©e Morton). Young has three children: Sons Zeke (born during his relationship with actress [[Carrie Snodgress]]) and Ben who were diagnosed with [[cerebral palsy]], and daughter Amber Jean, like Young himself, with [[epilepsy]]. Young lives on his ranch in [[La Honda, California]]. Although he has lived in northern California since the 1970s and sings as frequently about U.S. themes and subjects as he does about his native country, he retains Canadian citizenship, which he has never wanted to relinquish.{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1110988,00.html | work=Time | title=Resurrection of Neil Young, Continued | date=2005-09-28 | accessdate=2010-05-20}} On July 14, 2006, Young was awarded the [[Order of Manitoba]]. On December 30, 2009, he was made an Officer of the [[Order of Canada]]. ==Biography== ===Early years: 1945–1966=== Neil Percival Young was born in [[Toronto General Hospital]], [[Toronto]], Canada at 6:45 AM on 12 November 1945. His father, [[Scott Young (writer)|Scott Young]] (1918-2005) was a journalist and sportswriter who would later rise to notoriety in Canada for his work, whilst his mother, Edna "Rassy" Young (1918-1990), was of American, French and Irish ancestry. They got married in 1940, with their first son, Robert 'Bob' Young, being born in 1942. Not long after Neil's birth, the family decided to move to the rural town of [[Omemee, Ontario]], which Neil would later fondly describe as a "Sleepy little place."[[#McD02|McDonough 2002]]. p. 22-42. Omemee later established the Youngtown Museum in tribute to Young.[http://www.youngtownmuseum.com/ Youngtown Rock and Roll Museum]), {{convert|130|km|mi|0|lk=off}} Young was diagnosed with [[diabetes]] as a child,[http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608001147/Neil-Young.html Neil Young Biography – Discography, Music, Lyrics, Album, CD, Career, Famous Works, and Awards] and also suffered from a bout of [[polio]] in 1951, in what was the last major outbreak of the disease in Ontario.[[#McD02|McDonough 2002]]. p. 44. Following his recovery, the Young family went on holiday to [[Florida]] in the [[United States]] in 1952, and upon returning to Canada soon decided to move away from Omemee and into the city of [[Toronto]], before relocating to [[Pickering, Ontario|Pickering]], which was just east of Toronto, and then again to north Toronto soon after. It was during this period that Young began to take an interest in [[popular music]] that he heard on the radio, and also began to rear chickens in order to sell their eggs.[[#McD02|McDonough 2002]]. p. 46-54. When Neil was twelve, his father, who had been having a number of extra-marital affairs, left his mother, a particularly confrontational and headstrong woman, and she subsequently asked for, and received, a [[divorce]] some years later, in 1960. Due to the break up of the family, Neil went to live with his mother, who moved to [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], whilst his brother Bob stayed with his father in Toronto.[[#McD02|McDonough 2002]]. p. 55-68. {{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#C0C0C0|align=right|quote="Neil bopped down Yonge Street. Very thin, very tall, with a greased-back D.A. on the sides but a [[crew cut]] on top. He had a transistor radio, white bucks, a nice sweater, black pants. Very slick-lookin' guy."|source=Neil's teenage friend Comrie Smith[[#McD02|McDonough 2002]]. p. 60.}} During the mid-fifties, at around the age of ten or eleven, Young was drawn to a variety of musical genres including [[rock and roll]], [[rockabilly]], [[doo-wop]], [[R&B]], [[Country music|country]], and western pop. He would listen to pop music broadcast on the CHUM radio station via his [[transistor radio]].[[#McD02|McDonough 2002]]. p. 50-51. Young has stated in interviews that growing up he idolized [[Elvis Presley]] and strived to be just like him, later referencing him in a number of his lyrics.Ostrosser, David. "Neil Young Interview on Guitars." ''Guitare & Claviers Magazine''. Neil Young News, 17 April 1992. Web. Other early musical influences included [[Chuck Berry]], [[Little Richard]], [[Fats Domino]], [[The Chantels]], [[The Monotones]], [[Ronnie Self]], [[The Fleetwoods]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], [[Johnny Cash]], and [[Gogi Grant]].[[#McD02|McDonough 2002]]. p. 52-53. Meanwhile, he first began to play music himself on a plastic [[ukelele]], before, as he would later relate, going on to "a better ukelele to a banjo ukelele to a baritone ukelele - everything but a guitar."[[#McD02|McDonough 2002]]. p. 58-59. Neil and his mother settled into the working class suburb of [[Fort Rouge, Manitoba|Fort Rouge]] where the shy, dry-humoured youth enrolled at Earl Grey Junior High School. It was there that he formed his first band [[the Jades]], and met [[Ken Koblun]], later to join him in the Squires. While attending [[Kelvin High School]] in Winnipeg, he played in several instrumental rock bands. Young's first stable band was called the Squires, with Ken Koblun, Jeff Wuckert and Bill Edmondson on drums, who had a local hit called "The Sultan." Young dropped out of high schoolMcDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 103 and also played in [[Fort William, Ontario|Fort William]] (now part of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario), where they recorded a series of demos produced by a local producer named Ray Dee, whom Young called "the original Briggs."McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 105 While there, Young first encountered [[Stephen Stills]]. In the 2006 film ''Heart of Gold'' Young relates how he used to spend time as a teenager at [[Falcon Lake, Manitoba]] where he would endlessly plug coins into the jukebox to hear [[Ian Tyson]]'s "[[Four Strong Winds]]". After leaving the Squires, Neil worked folk clubs in Winnipeg, where he first met [[Joni Mitchell]].McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 96 Here he wrote some of his earliest and most enduring folk songs such as "[[Sugar Mountain (song)|Sugar Mountain]]", about lost youth. Mitchell wrote "The Circle Game" in response.{{cite web|url=http://www.thrasherswheat.org/jammin/jammin_more.htm#joni|title=Neil Young Collaborations|publisher=Thrasher's Wheat|accessdate=2009-05-09}} Winnipeg band [[The Guess Who]] (Randy Bachman being their lead guitarist) had a Top 40 Canadian hit with Young's "Flying on the Ground is Wrong," which was Young's first major hit as a songwriter. In 1965 Young toured Canada as a solo artist. In 1966, while in Toronto, he joined the [[Rick James]]-fronted [[The Mynah Birds|Mynah Birds]]. The band managed to secure a record deal with the [[Motown]] label, but as their first album was being recorded, James was arrested for being [[Desertion|AWOL]] from the Naval Reserve.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 139 After the Mynah Birds disbanded, Young and bass player [[Bruce Palmer]] relocated to Los Angeles. Young admitted in a 2009 interview that he was in the United States illegally until receiving a green card in 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9102786/neil_young_the_rs_interview |title=The Rolling Stone Interview: Neil Young: Rolling Stone|publisher=Rolling Stone Onlinedate=2009|accessdate =2010-01-26}} ===Buffalo Springfield (1967–1968)=== {{Main|Buffalo Springfield}} Once they reached Los Angeles, Young and Palmer met up with [[Stephen Stills]], [[Richie Furay]], and [[Dewey Martin (musician)|Dewey Martin]] to form [[Buffalo Springfield]]. A mixture of folk, country, [[psychedelia]], and rock lent a hard edge by the twin lead guitars of Stills and Young made Buffalo Springfield a critical success, and their first record ''[[Buffalo Springfield (album)|Buffalo Springfield]]'' (1967) sold well after Stills' topical song "[[For What It's Worth (Stephen Stills song)|For What It's Worth]]" became a hit, aided by Young's melodic harmonics played on electric guitar. Distrust of their management, as well as the arrest and deportation of Palmer, exacerbated the already strained relations among the group members and led to Buffalo Springfield's demise. A second album, ''[[Buffalo Springfield Again]]'', was released in late 1967, but two of Young’s three contributions were solo tracks recorded apart from the rest of the group. In many ways, these three songs on ''Buffalo Springfield Again'' are harbingers of much of Young's later work in that, although they all share deeply personal, almost idiosyncratic lyrics, they also present three very different musical approaches to the arrangement of what is essentially an original folk song. "Mr Soul" is the only Young song of the three that all five members of the group perform together. In contrast, "[[Broken Arrow (song)|Broken Arrow]]" was confessional folk rock of a kind that would characterize much of the music that emerged from the singer-songwriter movement. Young’s experimental production intersperses each verse with snippets of sound from other sources, including opening the song with a sound bite of Dewey Martin singing "Mr. Soul" and closing it with the thumping of a heartbeat. "Expecting to Fly" was a lushly produced [[ballad]] featuring a string arrangement that Young's co-producer for the track, [[Jack Nitzsche]], would dub "symphonic pop." In May 1968, the band split up for good, but in order to fulfill a contractual obligation, a final album ''[[Last Time Around]]'' was released, primarily from recordings made earlier that year. Young contributed the songs "On the Way Home" and "I Am a Child", singing lead on the latter. In 1997, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Young did not appear at the ceremony. ===Crazy Horse & CSNY (1968–1970)=== :''Main articles: [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]] and [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]'' [[File:Csny-8-20-06.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (center right) perform at the PNC Arts Center, August 2006.]] After the breakup of Buffalo Springfield, Young signed a solo deal with [[Reprise Records]], home of his colleague and friend [[Joni Mitchell]], with whom he shared a manager, Elliot Roberts, who manages Young to this day. Young and Roberts immediately began work on Young's first solo record, ''[[Neil Young (album)|Neil Young]]'' (November 1968), which received mixed reviews. In a 1970 interview,{{cite web|url=http://www.canadiancontent.net/people/music/Neil-Young.html |title=Neil Young – MiniBio|publisher=Canadian Content|year=2008|accessdate=2010-01-26}} Young deprecated the album as being "overdubbed rather than played," and the quest for music that expresses the spontaneity of the moment has long been a feature of his career. Nevertheless, the album contains some songs that remain a staple of his live shows, most notably "The Loner". For his next album, Young recruited three musicians from a band called The Rockets: [[Danny Whitten]] on guitar, [[Billy Talbot]] on bass guitar, and [[Ralph Molina]] on drums. These three took the name [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]] (after [[Crazy Horse|the historical figure of the same name]]), and ''[[Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere]]'' (May 1969), is credited to "Neil Young with Crazy Horse." Recorded in just two weeks, the album opens with one of Young's most familiar songs, "Cinnamon Girl," and is dominated by two more, "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Down by the River," that feature lengthy jams showcasing Young's idiosyncratic guitar soloing accompanied sympathetically by Crazy Horse. Young reportedly wrote all three songs on the same day, while nursing a high fever of {{convert|103|°F|°C|abbr=on}} in bed.{{cite book|last=Rogan|first=Johnny|title=Neil Young, Zero to Sixty: A Critical Biography|publisher=Music Sales Distributed|year=2000|page=187|isbn=0952954044}} Shortly after the release of ''Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere'', Young reunited with Stephen Stills by joining [[Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)|Crosby, Stills, & Nash]], who had already released one album as a trio. Young was originally offered a position as a sideman, but agreed to join only if he received full membership, and the group – winners of the 1969 "Best New Artist" [[Grammy Award]] – was renamed [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]].McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 313 The quartet debuted in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] on August 16, 1969, and later performed at the famous [[Woodstock Festival]], during which Young skipped the acoustic set and refused to be filmed during the electric set, even telling the cameramen: "One of you fuckin' guys comes near me and I'm gonna fuckin' hit you with my guitar".McDonough, Jimmy (2002) pp. 318–320 During the making of their first album, ''[[DĂ©jĂ  Vu (album)|DĂ©jĂ  Vu]]'', the musicians frequently argued, particularly Young and Stills, who both fought for control. Stills continued throughout their lifelong relationship to criticize Young, saying that he "wanted to play folk music in a rock band".McDonough, Jimmy (2002), p. 324 Despite the tension, Young's tenure with CSN&Y coincided with the band's most creative and successful period, and greatly contributed to his subsequent success as a solo artist. "[[Ohio (CSNY song)|Ohio]]" was written following the [[Kent State massacre]] on May 4, 1970, and was a staple of anti-war rallies in the 1970s. The song was quickly recorded by CSNY and immediately released as a single, even though CSNY's "Teach Your Children" was still climbing the singles charts. Many believe that the release of "Ohio" as a single cut into the sales of "Teach Your Children" and prevented that song from reaching the top ten. In the late 1970s and for much of the 1980s, Young refrained from performing "Ohio" live, as he considered the song to be dated. In the wake of the 1989 [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen Square massacre]], Young revived the song in concert, often dedicating it to the Chinese students who were killed in the massacre. Crosby, Stills & Nash, as a trio, also returned the song to their live repertoire around the same time, even though Young had provided the lead vocals on the original recording. Also that year, Young released his third solo album, ''[[After the Gold Rush]]'' (1970), which featured, among others, a young [[Nils Lofgren]], [[Stephen Stills]], and CSNY bassist Greg Reeves. Young also recorded some tracks with Crazy Horse, but dismissed them early in the sessions. Aided by his newfound fame with CSNY, the album was a commercial breakthrough for Young and contains some of his best known work. Notable tracks include the title track, with dream-like lyrics that run a gamut of subjects from drugs and interpersonal relationships to [[environmentalism|environmental concerns]], as well as Young’s controversial and acerbic condemnation of [[racism]] in "[[Southern Man]]", which, along with a later song entitled "Alabama," later prompted [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] to decry Young by name in the lyrics to "[[Sweet Home Alabama (song)|Sweet Home Alabama]]". The respectful rivalry and friendship between Young and Skynyrd front man [[Ronnie Van Zant]] would serve as a recurring theme in the [[Drive-By Truckers]]' 2001 [[concept album]] ''[[Southern Rock Opera]]''. ===First solo album: ''Harvest'' (1971–1972)=== With CSNY splitting up and Crazy Horse having signed their own record deal, Young began the year 1971 with a solo tour entitled "Journey Through the Past." Later, he recruited a new group of country-music session musicians, whom he christened [[The Stray Gators]], to record much of the new material that had been premiered on tour for the album ''[[Harvest (album)|Harvest]]'' (1972). ''Harvest'' was a massive hit and "Heart of Gold" became a US number one single. It remains the only No. 1 hit in his long career. Another notable song was "[[The Needle and the Damage Done]]", a somber lament on the pain caused by [[heroin addiction]], inspired in part by the heavy heroin use of Crazy Horse member [[Danny Whitten]], who eventually died of an overdose.[http://books.google.com/books?id=lwOvrY8TUnQC&pg=PA42 Williamson, p. 42.[http://books.google.com/books?id=KPOsu8JOHO8C&pg=PA279 Taylor p. 279.] The album's success caught Young off guard, and his first instinct was to back away from stardom. In the handwritten liner notes to the ''[[Decade (Neil Young album)|Decade]]'' compilation, Young famously described "Heart of Gold" as the song that "put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there." On September 8, 1972, the actress [[Carrie Snodgress]], with whom he had been living, gave birth to Neil Young's first child. The boy, Zeke, was later diagnosed with [[cerebral palsy]]. Young fell in love with Snodgress after seeing her in a movie, ''[[Diary of a Mad Housewife]]'' on television after which Young wrote the song "[[A Man Needs a Maid (song)|A Man Needs a Maid]]" from the Harvest album, featuring the lyric "I fell in love with the actress/she was playing a part that I could understand." ===The Ditch Trilogy (1972–1974)=== Although a new tour had been planned to follow up on the success of ''Harvest'', it became apparent during rehearsals that Danny Whitten could not function due to drug abuse. On November 18, 1972, shortly after he was fired from the tour preparations, Whitten was found dead of an overdose. Young described the incident to ''Rolling Stone''’s [[Cameron Crowe]] in 1975:[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9102786/neil_young_the_rs_interview Neil Young: The RS Interview] "[We] were rehearsing with him and he just couldn't cut it. He couldn't remember anything. He was too out of it. Too far gone. I had to tell him to go back to L.A. 'It's not happening, man. You're not together enough.' He just said, 'I've got nowhere else to go, man. How am I gonna tell my friends?' And he split. That night the coroner called me from L.A. and told me he'd [[overdosed|OD'd]]. That blew my mind. I loved Danny. I felt responsible. And from there, I had to go right out on this huge tour of huge arenas. I was very nervous and ... insecure." The album made in the aftermath of this incident, ''[[Time Fades Away]]'' (1973), has often been described by Young as "my least favorite record," and it is, in fact, one of only two of Young’s early recordings that has yet to be officially re-released on CD (the other being the soundtrack album ''[[Journey Through the Past]]''). The album was recorded live over a tour where Young struggled with his voice and called [[David Crosby]] and [[Graham Nash]] to help perform the music. The tour featured [[Linda Ronstadt]] as the opening act. ''Time Fades Away'' occupies a unique position in Young’s discography as the first of three albums known collectively as the "[[Ditch Trilogy]]". In the second half of 1973, Young formed The Santa Monica Flyers, with Crazy Horse's rhythm section augmented by [[Nils Lofgren]] on guitar. Deeply affected by the drug-induced deaths of Whitten and [[roadie]] [[Bruce Berry]], Young recorded ''[[Tonight's the Night (Neil Young album)|Tonight's the Night]]''. The album's dark tone and rawness led Reprise to delay and Young had to pressure them for two years before they would release it.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 430 It received mixed reviews at the time, but is now regarded as a landmark album. In Young's own opinion, it was the closest he ever came to art.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 433 While his record company delayed the release of ''Tonight's the Night,'' Young recorded ''[[On the Beach (Neil Young album)|On the Beach]]'' (1974), which dealt with themes such as the downside of fame and the Californian lifestyle. Like ''Time Fades Away'' and ''Tonight's the Night'', it sold poorly but eventually became a critical favorite, presenting some of Young's most original work. A review of the 2003 re-release on CD of ''On the Beach'' described the music as "mesmerizing, harrowing, lucid, and bleary".[http://www.independent.com/a&e/soundfury904.htm ]{{dead link|date=June 2010}} ===Return to prominence (1975–1979)=== After completing ''On the Beach'', Young reunited with ''Harvest'' producer Elliot Mazer to record another acoustic album, ''[[Homegrown (Neil Young album)|Homegrown]]''. Most of the songs were written after Young's breakup with Snodgress, and thus the tone of the album was somewhat dark. Though the album was entirely completed, Young decided to drop the album and release ''Tonight's the Night'' instead, at the suggestion of [[The Band]] bassist [[Rick Danko]].McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 469 Young further explained his move by saying: "It was a little too personal ... it scared me". [[Image:neilyoung2.jpg|thumb|right|190px|Young in [[Austin, Texas]] on November 9, 1976.]] Young reformed Crazy Horse with [[Frank Sampedro]] on guitar as his backup band for ''[[Zuma (album)|Zuma]]'' (1975). Many of the songs are overtly concerned with failed relationships, and even the epic "[[Cortez the Killer]]", outwardly a retelling of the [[Spanish conquest]] of Mexico from the viewpoint of the [[Aztec]]s, can be seen as an allegory of love lost. The following year, Young reunited with Stephen Stills for the album ''[[Long May You Run]]'' (1976), credited to [[The Stills-Young Band]]; the follow-up tour was ended midway through by Young, who sent Stills a [[telegram]] that read: "Funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach, Neil."McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 502 [[File:The Last Waltz.jpg|left|thumb|''The Last Waltz'', Young (center on left microphone) performing with Bob Dylan and [[The Band]], among others in 1976.]] In 1976, Young performed with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and numerous other rock musicians in the high profile all-star concert ''[[The Last Waltz]]'', the final performance by The Band. The release of [[Martin Scorsese]]'s movie of the concert was delayed while Scorsese unwillingly re-edited it to obscure the lump of cocaine that was clearly visible hanging from Young's nose during his performance of [[Helpless (song)|"Helpless."]][http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid1=1741 Exclaim! Canada's Music Authority] ''[[American Stars 'N Bars]]'' (1977) contained two songs originally recorded for ''Homegrown'' album, "Homegrown" and "Star of Bethlehem," as well as newer material, including the future concert staple "[[Like a Hurricane (Neil Young song)|Like A Hurricane]]". Performers included [[Linda Ronstadt]], [[Emmylou Harris]] and Young protĂ©gĂ© [[Nicolette Larson]] along with Crazy Horse. Also in 1977, Young released ''[[Decade (Neil Young album)|Decade]]'': a personally selected career summary of material spanning every aspect of his various interests and affiliations, including a handful of unreleased songs. ''[[Comes a Time]]'' (1978) also featured Nicolette Larson and Crazy Horse and became Young's most commercially accessible album in quite some time, marked by a return to his folk roots. In 1978 much of the filming was done for Young's film ''[[Human Highway]]''. Over four years Young would spend $3,000,000 of his own money on production. This also marked the beginning of his brief collaboration with the band [[Devo]].Jimmy McDonough, ''Shakey'', Anchor Books, 2002, p.575-7 Young next set out on the lengthy "Rust Never Sleeps" tour, in which each concert was divided into a solo acoustic set and an electric set with Crazy Horse. Much of the electric set was later seen as a response to punk rock's burgeoning popularity. "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" compared the changing public perception of [[Johnny Rotten]] with that of the recently deceased [[Elvis Presley]], who himself had once been disparaged as a dangerous influence only to later become an [[Pop icon|icon]]. Rotten, meanwhile, returned the favour by playing one of Young's records on a London radio show. The accompanying albums ''[[Rust Never Sleeps]]'' (new material, culled from live recordings, but featuring studio overdubs) and ''[[Live Rust]]'' (a mixture of old and new, and a genuine concert recording) captured the two sides of the concerts, with solo acoustic songs on side A, and fierce, uptempo, electric songs on side B. A movie version of the concerts, also called ''Rust Never Sleeps'' (1979), was directed by Young under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey. Young worked with rock artist [[Jim Evans (artist)|Jim Evans]] to create the poster art for the film, using the "Star Wars" Jawas as a theme. Young was suddenly relevant again, and the readers and critics of ''Rolling Stone'' voted him Artist of the Year for 1979 (along with The Who), selected ''[[Rust Never Sleeps]]'' as Album Of The Year, and voted him Male Vocalist of the Year as well. [[The Village Voice]], meanwhile, honored Young as the Artist of the Decade. ===Experimental years (1980s)=== The 1980s were often difficult times for Young, both personally and professionally. At the start of the decade, distracted by domestic medical concerns relating to his second disabled son, Ben, Young had little time to spend on writing and recording.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0pfqxqq5ldae|title=Hawks & Doves Review|publisher=allmusic|accessdate=2009-04-04}} After providing the incidental music to a 1980 [[biopic]] of [[Hunter S. Thompson]] entitled ''[[Where the Buffalo Roam]]'', Young released ''[[Hawks & Doves]]'', a short record pieced together from sessions going back to 1974. 1981's ''[[Re-ac-tor]]'', an electric album recorded with Crazy Horse, also included material from the 1970s.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:apfqxqq5ldae|title=Reactor Review|publisher=allmusic|accessdate=2009-04-04}} Young did not tour in support of either album; in total, he played only one show, a set at the 1980 Bread and Roses Festival in [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]],{{cite web|url=http://www.sugarmtn.org/years/80nysets.html|title=Neil Young Setlists: 1980|publisher=Sugar Mountain|accessdate=2009-04-04}} between the end of his 1978 tour with Crazy Horse and the start of his tour with the Trans Band in mid-1982. {{Quote box|width=246px|align=right|quote="The 80s were really good. The 80s were like, artistically, very strong for me, because I knew no boundaries and was experimenting with everything that I could come across, sometimes with great success, sometimes with terrible results, but nonetheless I was able to do this, and I was able to realise that I wasn’t in a box, and I wanted to establish that."|source=Neil YoungYoung, Neil. Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied. BBC Four. }} The 1982 album ''[[Trans (album)|Trans]]'', which incorporated [[vocoder]]s, synthesizers, and electronic beats, was Young's first for new label [[Geffen Records]] (distributed at the time by [[Warner Bros. Records]], whose parent [[Warner Music Group]] owns most of Young's solo and band catalog) and represented a distinct stylistic departure. Young later revealed that an inspiration for the album was the theme of technology and communication with his son Ben, who has severe [[cerebral palsy]] and cannot speak.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wpfqxqq5ldae|publisher=allmusic|title=Trans Review|accessdate=2009-04-04}} An extensive tour preceded the release of the album, and was documented by the video ''[[Neil Young in Berlin]]'', which saw release in 1986. Young's next album, 1983's ''[[Everybody's Rockin']]'', included several [[rockabilly]] covers and clocked in at less than twenty-five minutes in length. Young was backed by the Shocking Pinks for the supporting U.S. tour. ''Trans'' had already drawn the ire of label head [[David Geffen]] for its lack of commercial appeal, and with ''Everybody's Rockin''' following only seven months later, Geffen Records sued Young for making music "unrepresentative" of himself.{{cite book |title= A fiction of the past: the sixties in American history|last= Cavallo|first= Dominick|year= 1999|publisher= [[St. Martin's Press]]|location= New York|isbn= 031221930X|oclc= 39981636}} The album was also notable as the first for which Young made commercial music videos – [[Tim Pope]] directed the videos for "Wonderin'" and "Cry, Cry, Cry". Also premiered in 1983, though little seen, was the eclectic full-length comedy film ''[[Human Highway]]'', co-directed and co-written by Young, and starring Young and members of [[Devo]]. 1984 was the first year without a Neil Young album since the start of Young's musical career with Buffalo Springfield in 1966. Young's lack of productivity was largely due to the ongoing legal battle with Geffen, although he was also frustrated that the label had rejected his 1982 country album ''Old Ways''.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dpfwxqq5ldae|title=Old Ways album review|publisher=allmusic|accessdate=2009-04-07}} It was also the year when Young's third child, his second with wife Pegi was born; his daughter Amber Jean, a child who was later diagnosed with inherited epilepsy. Young spent most of 1984 and all of 1985 touring for ''[[Old Ways]]'' with his country band, the International Harvesters. The album was finally released in an altered form midway through 1985. Young also appeared at that year's [[Live Aid]] concert in [[Philadelphia]], collaborating with Crosby, Stills and Nash for the quartet's first performance for a paying audience in over ten years. Young's last two albums for Geffen were more conventional in genre, although they incorporated production techniques like synthesizers and echoing drums that were previously uncommon in Young's music. Young recorded 1986's ''[[Landing on Water]]'' without Crazy Horse, but reunited with the band for the subsequent year-long tour and final Geffen album, ''[[Life (1987 album)|Life]]'', which emerged in 1987. Young's album sales dwindled steadily throughout the eighties; today ''Life'' remains his all-time-least successful studio album, with an estimated four hundred thousand sales worldwide.As of June, 2008 {{cite web|title=Neil Young Worldwide Album Sales Estimates|url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/communaute/index.php?showtopic=6523&st=1365&gopid=969589&#entry969589|date=June 14, 2008|accessdate=2009-04-08}} Switching back to his old label Reprise Records, Young continued to tour relentlessly, assembling a new blues band called The Bluenotes in mid-1987 (a legal dispute with musician [[Harold Melvin]] forced the eventual rechristening of the band as Ten Men Working midway through the tour). The addition of a [[brass instruments|brass]] section provided a new [[jazz]]ier sound, and the title track of 1988's ''[[This Note's For You]]'' became Young's first hit single of the decade. Accompanied by a video that parodied corporate rock, the pretensions of advertising, and [[Michael Jackson]], the song was initially unofficially banned by MTV for mentioning the brand names of some of their sponsors. Young wrote an open letter, "What does the M in MTV stand for: music or money?" Despite this, the video was eventually named [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Video of the Year|best video of the year]] by the network in 1989.[http://books.google.com/books?id=rsiBNqqwq_kC&pg=RA3-PA19&lpg=RA3-PA19&dq=%22music+or+money%22+neil+young&source=bl&ots=imOlPrpLGv&sig=L4sD2PIMx5otIyIHBQhH9Im2XnU&hl=en&ei=722cSq6fDtOL8QaX8u3FAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=%22music%20or%20money%22%20neil%20young&f=false Shakey: Neil Young's Biography By James McDonough, Jimmy McDonough. Pages 24–32 Retrieved 2009-03-28.] By comparison, the major music cable network of Young's home nation, [[Muchmusic]], ran the video immediately. Young reunited with Crosby, Stills and Nash to record the 1988 album ''[[American Dream (album)|American Dream]]'' and play two benefit concerts late in the year, but the group did not embark upon a full tour. The album was only the second-ever studio record for the quartet. ===Re-return to prominence (1990s)=== [[File:Neil Young 1996.jpg|thumb|left|190px|Young performing in 1996 in [[Turku]], Finland]] Young's 1989 single "[[Rockin' in the Free World]]", which hit #2 on the U.S. charts, and accompanying album, ''[[Freedom (1989 album)|Freedom]]'', rocketed him back into the popular consciousness after a decade of sometimes-difficult genre experiments. The album's lyrics were often overtly political; "Rockin' in the Free World" deals with homelessness, terrorism, and environmental degradation, implicitly criticizing the government policies of President [[George H.W. Bush]].{{cite web | title = Neil Young Lyrics Analysis: Rockin' in the Free World | url = http://www.thrasherswheat.org/fot/ritfw.htm | publisher = www.thrasherswheat.org | accessdate = 2009-04-01}} The use of heavy [[feedback]] and distortion on several ''Freedom'' tracks was reminiscent of the ''[[Rust Never Sleeps]]'' album, and foreshadowed the imminent rise of [[grunge]]. The rising stars of the genre, including [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]'s [[Kurt Cobain]] and [[Pearl Jam]]'s [[Eddie Vedder]], frequently cited Young as a major influence, contributing to his popular revival. A tribute album called ''[[The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young]]'' was released in 1989, featuring covers by alternative and grunge acts including [[Sonic Youth]], [[Nick Cave]], [[Soul Asylum]], [[Dinosaur Jr]], and the [[Pixies]]. Young's 1990 album ''[[Ragged Glory]]'', recorded with Crazy Horse in a barn on his [[Northern California]] ranch, continued this distortion-heavy aesthetic. Young toured for the album with Orange County, California country-punk band [[Social Distortion]] and [[alternative rock]] elder statesmen [[Sonic Youth]] as support, much to the consternation of many of his old fans.{{cite web|url=http://www.thrasherswheat.org/jammin/sonic_youth.htm |title=Sonic Youth and Neil Young|publisher=Thrasher's Wheat – A Neil Young Archives | accessdate = 2009-04-01}} ''[[Weld (album)|Weld]]'', a two-disc live album documenting the tour, was released in 1991. Sonic Youth's influence was most evident on ''[[Arc (album)|Arc]]'', a 35-minute collage of feedback and distortion spliced together at the suggestion of Sonic Youth's [[Thurston Moore]] and originally packaged with some versions of ''Weld''. 1992's ''[[Harvest Moon (album)|Harvest Moon]]'' marked an abrupt return to the country and folk-rock stylings of ''Harvest'' and reunited him with some of the musicians from that album, including singers [[Linda Ronstadt]] and [[James Taylor]]. The title track was a minor hit and the record was well received by critics, winning the [[Juno Award for Album of the Year]] in 1994. Young also contributed to [[Randy Bachman]]'s nostalgic 1992 tune "Prairie Town," and garnered a 1993 [[Academy Award for Best Song|Academy Award]] nomination for his song "Philadelphia", from the [[soundtrack]] of the [[Jonathan Demme]] movie [[Philadelphia (movie)|of the same name]]. An ''[[Unplugged (Neil Young album)|MTV Unplugged]]'' performance and album emerged in 1993. Later that year, Young collaborated with [[Booker T. and the M.G.s]] for a summer tour of Europe and North America. Some European shows ended with a rendition of "Rockin' in the Free World" played with [[Pearl Jam]], foreshadowing their eventual full-scale collaboration two years later. In 1994 Young again collaborated with Crazy Horse for ''[[Sleeps with Angels]]'', a record whose dark, somber mood was influenced by [[Kurt Cobain]]'s death earlier that year; the title track in particular dealt with Cobain's life and death, without mentioning him by name. Cobain had quoted Young's lyric "It's better to burn out than fade away" (a line from "[[My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)]]") in [[Death of Kurt Cobain#Suicide note|his suicide note]], causing Young to then on emphasize the line "'cause once you're gone you can't come back" when performing the song. Young had reportedly made repeated attempts to contact Cobain prior to his death.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/10/1021002387905.html |title=Neil Young: the quiet achiever|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald|year=2002|accessdate=2010-01-26 | date=2002-05-11}} Still enamored with the grunge scene, Young reconnected with Pearl Jam in 1995 for the live-in-the-studio album ''[[Mirror Ball (Neil Young album)|Mirror Ball]]'' and a tour of Europe with the band and producer [[Brendan O'Brien (music producer)|Brendan O'Brien]] backing Young. 1995 also marked Young's induction into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], where he was inducted by Eddie Vedder. {{quote|Young has consistently demonstrated the unbridled passion of an artist who understands that self-renewal is the only way to avoid burning out. For this reason, he has remained one of the most significant artists of the rock and roll era.|the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]'s website|{{cite web|url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/neil-young |title=Neil Young: inducted in 1995 | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |publisher=Rockhall.com |date=1945-11-12 |accessdate=2010-06-30}}}} Young's next collaborative partner was filmmaker [[Jim Jarmusch]], who asked Young to compose a [[Dead Man (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] to his 1995 black and white western film ''[[Dead Man]]''. Young's instrumental soundtrack was improvised while he watched the film alone in a studio. The death of longtime mentor, friend, and producer [[David Briggs (producer)|David Briggs]] in late 1995 prompted Young to reconnect with Crazy Horse the following year for the album and tour ''[[Broken Arrow (album)|Broken Arrow]]''. A Jarmusch-directed concert film and live album of the tour, ''[[Year of the Horse]]'', emerged in 1997. From 1996–97 Young and Crazy Horse toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, including a stint as part of the [[H.O.R.D.E.]] Festival's sixth annual tour. In 1998, Young renewed his collaboration with rock band [[Phish]], sharing the stage at the annual [[Farm Aid]] concert and then at Young's Bridge School Benefit, where he joined headliners Phish for renditions of "Helpless" and "I Shall Be Released."[http://hyperrust.org/Bridge/Bridge12.html Hyperrust: Bridge Benefit XII] Phish declined Young's later invitation to be his backing band on his 1999 North American tour. The decade ended with the release in late 1999 of ''[[Looking Forward]]'', another reunion with Crosby, Stills and Nash. The subsequent tour of the United States and Canada with the reformed super quartet earned $42.1 million, making it the eighth largest grossing tour of 2000. ===Renewed activism and brush with death (2000s)=== Neil Young continued to release new material at a rapid pace through the first decade of the new millennium. The studio album ''[[Silver & Gold]]'' and live album ''[[Road Rock Vol. 1]]'' were released in 2000 and were both accompanied by live concert films. His 2001 single "[[Let's Roll]]" was a tribute to the victims of the [[September 11 attacks]], and the passengers and crew on [[United Airlines flight 93|Flight 93]] in particular.{{cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20011216song1216lnp5.asp|title=Flight 93's Beamer inspires song by Neil Young|publisher=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=December 16, 2001|accessdate=2009-04-04}} At the "[[America: A Tribute to Heroes]]" benefit concert for the victims of the attacks, Young performed [[John Lennon|John Lennon's]] "[[Imagine (song)|Imagine]]" and accompanied Eddie Vedder and [[Mike McCready]] on the song "Long Road", a Pearl Jam song that was written with Young during the ''Mirrorball'' sessions. "Let's Roll" was included on 2002's ''[[Are You Passionate?]]'', an album mostly composed of mellow love songs dedicated to Young's wife, Pegi. In 2003, Young released ''[[Greendale (album)|Greendale]]'', a concept album recorded with Crazy Horse members Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina. The songs loosely revolved around the murder of a police officer in a small town in California and its effects on the town's inhabitants.{{cite web|url=http://www.musicbox-online.com/ny-green.html|title=Greendale Review|publisher=The Music Box|date=November 2003|accessdate=2009-04-04}} Young, under the pseudonym "Bernard Shakey", directed an accompanying film of the same name, featuring actors lip-synching to the music from the album. Young toured extensively with the ''Greendale'' material throughout 2003 and 2004, first with a solo, acoustic version in Europe, then with a full-cast stage show in North America, Japan, and Australia. Young began using biodiesel on the 2004 Greendale tour, powering his trucks and tour buses with the fuel. "Our Greendale tour is now ozone friendly,” Young said. “I plan to continue to use this government approved and regulated fuel exclusively from now on to prove that it is possible to deliver the goods anywhere in North America without using foreign oil, while being environmentally responsible.”[http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2004/02/hollywood-stars-shine-spotlight-on-green-power-10616] Young spent the latter portion of 2004 giving a series of intimate acoustic concerts in various cities with his wife, who is a trained vocalist and guitar player. In March 2005, while working on the ''[[Prairie Wind]]'' album in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], Young was diagnosed with a brain [[aneurysm]]. He was treated successfully with a minimally invasive [[Neuroradiology|neuroradiological]] procedure, performed in a New York hospital on March 29.{{cite news | title = Neil Young treated for 'dangerous' aneurysm | url = http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/01/neil.young/ | publisher = [[CNN|CNN.com]] | date = April 1, 2005 | accessdate = 2009-03-31}} Two days afterwards, Young passed out on a New York street from bleeding from the [[femoral artery]], which surgeons had used to access the aneurysm.{{cite news | title = The Resurrection of Neil Young | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1109363,00.html | publisher = Time | date = September 26, 2005 | accessdate = 2009-03-31}} The complication forced Young to cancel his scheduled appearance at the [[Juno Awards]] telecast in Winnipeg, but within months he was back on stage, appearing at the close of the [[Live 8]] concert in [[Barrie, Ontario]] on July 2. During the performance, he debuted a new song, a soft hymn called "When God Made Me". Young's brush with death influenced ''Prairie Wind'''s themes of retrospection and mortality.{{cite web | title = Prairie Wind Music Review | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/neilyoung/albums/album/7637213/review/7645148/prairie_wind | publisher = Rolling Stone | date = October 6, 2005 | accessdate = 2009-03-31}} The album's live premiere in Nashville was immortalized by filmmaker [[Jonathan Demme]] in the 2006 film ''[[Neil Young: Heart of Gold]]''. Young's renewed activism manifested itself in the 2006 album ''[[Living With War]]'', which was hastily recorded and released in less than a month.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3zftxqydldke|title=Living With War Review|publisher=allmusic|date=May 9, 2006|accessdate=2009-04-04}} The album's overtly political songs rebuked U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] and the [[Iraq War|War in Iraq]]{{cite web | title = Living With War Review | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/10149965/review/10191400/livingwithwar | publisher = Rolling Stone | date = May 1, 2006 | accessdate = 2009-03-31}} and included the provocatively titled "[[Let's Impeach the President]]". [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]] reunited for the supporting "Freedom Of Speech Tour '06". ''[[CSNY DĂ©jĂ  Vu]]'', a concert film of the tour directed by Young was released in 2008, along with an accompanying live album. While Young had never been a stranger to eco-friendly lyrics, themes of environmentalist spirituality and activism became increasingly prominent in his work throughout the 1990s and 2000s, especially on ''Greendale''{{cite web | title = Neil Young Goes Green On the Road | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jonathanrichman/articles/story/5937268/neil_young_goes_green | publisher = Rolling Stone | date = February 27, 2004 | accessdate = 2009-03-31}} and ''Living With War''."[http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Reprise-692104.html New Neil Young Video 'After The Garden' Visits 'An Inconvenient Truth']," ''Marketwire'' (July 21, 2006). The trend continued on 2007's ''[[Chrome Dreams II]]'', with lyrics exploring Young's personal eco-spirituality.{{cite web|title=Neil Young: Chrome Dreams II|url=http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.3779923/k.1891/Neil_Young_iChrome_Dreams_IIi.htm|publisher=[[United Methodist Church]]|accessdate=2009-04-04}} In 2008, Young revealed his latest project, the production of a [[Hybrid vehicle|hybrid-engine]] 1959 [[Lincoln (automobile)|Lincoln]] called [[Lincvolt]].{{cite web |url= http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/07/17/1/a-conversation-with-neil-young|title= A conversation with Neil Young|accessdate= 2008-11-11|publisher= Charlie Rose Inc|date= 2008-07-17}} A new album loosely based on the Lincvolt project, ''[[Fork in the Road]]'', was released on April 7, 2009.{{cite news | title = Album: Neil Young, Fork in the Road | url = http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-neil-young-fork-in-the-road-reprise-1655058.html | publisher = [[The Independent]] | date = March 27, 2009 | accessdate = 2009-03-31 | location=London | first=Andy | last=Gill}} A Jonathan Demme concert film from a 2007 concert at the Tower Theater in [[Upper Darby, Pennsylvania|Upper Darby]], [[Pennsylvania]], called the ''[[Neil Young Trunk Show]]'' premiered on March 21, 2009, at the [[South by Southwest]] (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], Texas. It was featured at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2009 and was released in the US on March 19, 2010{{cite web | title = Neil Young Trunk Show. At the Internet Movie Datbase.|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1236244/releaseinfo}} to critical acclaim.{{cite news | title = Neil Young Trunk Show. At the New York Times.|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/movies/19young.html?scp=1&sq=neil%20young%20trunk%20show&st=cse | work=The New York Times | first=Mike | last=Hale | accessdate=2010-05-20 | date=2010-03-19}}[http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/entertainment/movies/reviews-movies/2010/03/neil-young-trunk-show-review/ Neil Young Trunk Show review (Blast Magazine, 9 March 2010)][http://www.bostonlowbrow.com/2010/03/jonathan-demme-receives-coolidge-award-premiers-neil-young-trunk-show/ Demme receives Coolidge Award, premiers Trunk Show] [[File:Neil Young in Cologne, 2009.jpg|thumb|right|Young performing in [[Cologne]], Germany in 2009.]] Young's most recent album appearance was on the album ''[[Potato Hole]]'', released on April 21, 2009 by Memphis organ player [[Booker T. Jones]], of [[Booker T. & the MG's]] fame. Young plays guitar on nine of the album's ten instrumental tracks, alongside [[Drive-By Truckers]], who already had three guitar players, giving some songs on the album a total of five guitar tracks. Jones contributed guitars on a couple of tracks. Young continues to tour extensively. In 2009, he headlined the [[Glastonbury Festival]] in [[Pilton, Somerset|Pilton, England]],{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/2009/artists/neilyoung/index.shtml|title=Neil Young keep on rocking in the free world|publisher=bbc Glastonbury online|accessdate=2009-06-28}} at [[Hard Rock Calling]] in London (where he was joined onstage by [[Paul McCartney]] for a rendition of "[[A Day in the Life]]") and, after years of unsuccessful booking attempts, the [[Isle of Wight Festival]]{{cite news |url= http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/03/07/young-wight-festival.html?ref=rss|title= Neil Young Announced as Final Isle of Wight Festival Headliner|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]|accessdate= 2009-03-05|publisher= [[ventnorblog]]|date= 2009-03-07}} in addition to performances at the [[Big Day Out]] festival in New Zealand and Australia and the [[Primavera Sound Festival]] in [[Barcelona]]. ===New performances (2010s)=== On January 22, 2010, Young performed "Long May You Run" on the final episode of ''[[The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien]]''. On the same night, he and [[Dave Matthews]] performed the [[Hank Williams]] song "Alone and Forsaken", for the ''[[Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief]]'' charity telethon, in response to the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]]. Young performed "Long May You Run" at the [[2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony|closing ceremony of the 2010 Olympic winter games]] in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In May 2010, it was announced Young has begun working on a new studio album that will be produced by [[Daniel Lanois]]. This was revealed by David Crosby, who said that the album "will be a very heartfelt record. I expect it will be a very special record."[http://www.nme.com/news/neil-young/50941 ''Neil Young working on new album with Bob Dylan and U2 producer''. www.nme.com. May 4, 2010.] On May 18th 2010, Young embarked upon a North American solo tour to promote his upcoming album, ''[[Le Noise]]'', playing a mix of older songs and new material. Although billed as a solo acoustic tour, Young has also played some songs on electric guitars, including Old Black.{{cite web|last=Inman|first=Davis|title=Neil Young's Twisted Road tour begins|url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2010/05/neil-youngs-twisted-road-tour-begins/|publisher=American Songwriter|accessdate=26 May 2010}} Young currently lives in [[La Honda, California]] on the 1500-acre (6 kmÂČ) Broken Arrow Ranch, purchased in 1970 for $350,000 and named after one of his early Buffalo Springfield songs.{{cite web |url= http://www.thrasherswheat.org/ptma/spin1195.htm|title= Neil Young Interview|publisher = [[Spin (magazine)|Spin Magazine]]| date = November, 1995| accessdate = 2009-04-04}} ===Archives project=== As far back as 1988, Young spoke in interviews of his efforts to compile his unreleased material and to remaster his existing catalog. The first installment, entitled ''[[The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972]]'', was originally planned for a 2007 release but was delayed, and released on June 2, 2009. Three performances from the ''Performance Series'' of the archives were released individually before ''The Archives Vol. 1''. ''[[Live at the Fillmore East (Neil Young album)|Live at the Fillmore East]]'', a selection of song from a 1970 gig with [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]], was released in 2006. ''[[Live at Massey Hall 1971]]'', a solo acoustic set from Toronto's Massey Hall, saw release in 2007. ''[[Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968]]'', an early solo performance and, chronologically, the first disc in the performance series, emerged late in 2008. In an interview in 2008, Neil Young discussed ''[[Neil Young Archives#Toast|Toast]]'', an album originally recorded with Crazy Horse in San Francisco in 2000 but never released.{{cite web |url= http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/04/01/neil-young-and-crazy-horse-to-release-lost-2000-album/|title= Neil Young – There'll never be another Crazy Horse|accessdate= 2009-03-28|publisher= Rolling Stone|date= 2008-12-04}} The album will be part of the ''Special Edition Series'' of the Archives. No release date currently exists for ''Toast''. On July 14, 2009, Young's first four solo albums were reissued as remastered HDCD discs and digital downloads as discs 1–4 of the ''Original Release Series'' of the Archives. ==Awards and recognitions== *[[Canadian Music Hall of Fame]], 1982 *[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. First in 1995 for his solo work, with an induction speech given by [[Eddie Vedder]], and again in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. As one of the original founders of [[Farm Aid]], he remains an active member of the board of directors. For one weekend each October, in [[Mountain View, California]], he and his wife host the [[Bridge School Benefit|Bridge School Concerts]], which have been drawing international talent and sell-out crowds for nearly two decades with some of the biggest names in rock having performed at the event including [[Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers]], [[Bruce Springsteen]], [[David Bowie]], [[The Who]], [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], [[Trent Reznor]] of [[Nine Inch Nails]], [[Tom Waits]], [[Metallica]], [[Pearl Jam]], [[Sonic Youth]], [[The Smashing Pumpkins]], and Sir [[Paul McCartney]] and Dave Mathews . The concerts are a benefit for the Bridge School, which develops and uses advanced technologies to aid in the instruction of children with disabilities. Young's involvement stems at least partially from the fact that both of his sons have [[cerebral palsy]] and his daughter, like Young himself, has [[epilepsy]]. Young was nominated for an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] in 1994 for his song "Philadelphia" from the film ''[[Philadelphia (film)|Philadelphia]]''. Bruce Springsteen won the award for his song "[[Streets of Philadelphia]]" from the same film. In his acceptance speech, Springsteen said that "the award really deserved to be shared by the other nominee's song." That same night, [[Tom Hanks]] accepted the Oscar for Best Actor and gave credit for his inspiration to the song "Philadelphia". He was part owner of [[Lionel, LLC]], a company that makes toy trains and model railroad accessories.{{cite news |first= Michael|last= Brick|title= Clanging New York Subways, Screeches Intact, Go Miniature|curly= y|url= http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/nyregion/21train.html|work= N.Y. / Region|publisher= The New York Times|date= 2006-09-21|accessdate= 2008-11-10}} In 2008 Lionel emerged from bankruptcy and his shares of the company were wiped out. At this time his status with Lionel is unknown, according to Lionel CEO Jerry Calabrese he is still a consultant for Lionel. He was instrumental in the design of the Lionel Legacy control system for model trains and it is believed he will continue to develop the system. Young has been named as co-inventor on seven U.S. Patents related to model trains.{{Cite patent|US|7264208}}, {{Cite patent|US|7211976}}, {{Cite patent|US|6765356}}, {{Cite patent|US|5749547}}, {{Cite patent|US|5555815}}, {{Cite patent|US|5441223}}, {{Cite patent|US|5251856}} Young has twice received honorary doctorates. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from [[Lakehead University]] in [[Thunder Bay]], Ontario in 1992, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from [[San Francisco State University]] in 2006. The latter honour was shared with his wife Pegi for their creation of the Bridge School. In 2006, Young was given Manitoba's highest civilian honour, when he was appointed to the [[Order of Manitoba]]. In 2009, he was then given Canada's highest civilian honour, when he was appointed to the [[Order of Canada]]. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2000, ranked Young thirty-fourth in its list of the 500 greatest artists of all time,[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5940016/the_immortals__the_greatest_artists_of_all_time_34_neil_young ]{{dead link|date=June 2010}} and in 2003, included five of his albums in its list of [[500 greatest albums of all time]].{{cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938174/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time/ |title=Greatest Albums of All Time | Rolling Stone Music | Lists |publisher=Rollingstone.com |date= |accessdate=2010-06-30}} In 2000, Young was inducted into [[Canada's Walk of Fame]].{{cite web |url=http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/00_neil_young.xml.htm |title=Neil Young – 2000 Inductee |publisher=Canada's Walk of Fame |accessdate=2008-11-13}} In 2006, ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'' magazine compiled a "Greatest Living Songwriters" list; Young was ranked second behind [[Bob Dylan]]. (While Young and Dylan have occasionally played together in concert, they have never collaborated on a song together, or played on each others' records). He ranked thirty-ninth on ''[[VH1]]'s 100 Greatest Artist of Hard Rock'' that same year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame explained that while Young has "avoided sticking to one style for very long, the unifying factors throughout Young’s peripatetic musical journey have been his unmistakable voice, his raw and expressive guitar playing, and his consummate songwriting skill." Young's willingness to be politically outspoken and socially conscious allowed him to influence such important artists as [[Blind Melon]], [[Phish]], Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. Young is referred to as "the Godfather of [[Grunge]]" because of the influence he had on Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder and the entire grunge movement. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam inducted Young into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, citing him as a huge influence. Young is cited as being a significant influence on [[experimental rock]] artists [[Sonic Youth]] and [[Thom Yorke]] of [[Radiohead]]. Yorke recounted of first hearing Young after sending a demo tape into a magazine when he was 16, who favourably compared his singing voice to Young's. Unaware of Young at that time, he bought ''After the Gold Rush'', and "immediately fell in love" with his work, calling it "extraordinary".{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/neilyoung/video/thomyorke|title=BBC documentary Neil Young: Don't Be Denied – Thom Yorke interviews}} [[Dave Matthews]] lists Neil Young as one of his favorite and most inspirational songwriters and covers his songs on occasion. The British Indie band [[The Bluetones]] named their number one [[Expecting to Fly (album)|debut album]] after the song "Expecting to Fly" (written by Young when still with Buffalo Springfield and have covered the song while touring. Young also inspired [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]] singer-songwriter [[Noel Gallagher]], with Gallagher covering "My My, Hey Hey (Into the Black)" on the live album ''[[Familiar to Millions]]''. The Australian rock group [[Powderfinger]] named themselves after Young's song "[[Powderfinger (song)|Powderfinger]]" from Young's ''Rust Never Sleeps''. The members of the [[Constantines]] have occasionally played Neil Young tribute shows under the name Horsey Craze.{{cite web|url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/31309-interview-the-constantines |title=Pitchfork: Interviews: The Constantines |publisher=Pitchforkmedia.com |date=2005-10-16 |accessdate=2010-06-30}} While in Winnipeg on November 2, 2008 during the Canadian leg of his tour, Bob Dylan visited Young's former home in River Heights, where Young spent some of his teenage years. Dylan was interested in seeing the room where some of Young's first songs were composed. Jason Bond, an [[East Carolina University]] biologist, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider in 2007 and named it ''[[Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi]]'' after Young,{{cite journal |author=[[Jason Bond|Jason E. Bond]] & [[Norman I. Platnick]] |year=2007 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/5892/1/N3596.pdf |title=A Taxonomic Review of the Trapdoor Spider Genus ''Myrmekiaphila'' (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Cyrtaucheniidae) |journal=[[American Museum Novitates]] |volume=3596 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2007)3596+[1:ATROTT]2.0.CO;2}} his favorite singer (a previous similar case was the dinousaur ''[[Masiakasaurus knopfleri]]'' named after the musician [[Mark Knopfler]] of [[Dire Straits]]).{{cite news|title=Neil Young gets new honor – his own spider|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSSP19797120080511|date=May 11, 2008|work=Reuters|accessdate=2008-05-12}} In 2001, Young was awarded the Spirit of Liberty award from the civil liberties group [[People for the American Way]]. Young was honored as the [[MusiCares Person of the Year]] on January 29, 2010, two nights prior to the 52nd Annual [[Grammy Awards]]. In addition was also nominated for two Grammy Awards; Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance ("Fork In The Road") and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package ["Neil Young Archives Vol. I (1963–1972)"]. Young won the latter Grammy Award. In 2010, Young was ranked #26 in Gibson.com’s Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.[http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/Top-50-Guitarists-526/ Gibson.com Top 50 Guitarists of All Time – 30 to 21] ===Juno Awards=== {|class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Category ! Nominated work ! Result |- | [[Juno Awards of 2008|2008]] || [[Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year|Adult Alternative Album of the Year]] || ''Chrome Dreams II'' || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 2007|2007]] || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || ''Living With War'' || {{won}} |- | rowspan=3 | [[Juno Awards of 2006|2006]] || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || ''Prairie Wind'' || {{nom}} |- | [[Jack Richardson Producer of the Year]] || "The Painter" || {{won}} |- | [[Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year|Songwriter of the Year]] || "The Painter", "When God Made Me", "Prairie Wind" || {{nom}} |- | rowspan=2 | [[Juno Awards of 2001|2001]] || Best Male Artist || Neil Young || {{won}} |- | [[Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year - Solo|Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo]] || ''Silver & Gold'' || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1997|1997]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | rowspan=2 | [[Juno Awards of 1996|1996]] || [[Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year|Best Rock Album]] || ''Mirror Ball'' || {{nom}} |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | rowspan=3 | [[Juno Awards of 1995|1995]] || Songwriter of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{won}} |- | [[Juno Award for Entertainer of the Year|Entertainer of the Year]] || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | rowspan=2 | [[Juno Awards of 1994|1994]] || Single of the Year || "Harvest Moon" || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]] || ''Harvest Moon'' || {{won}} |- | rowspan=2 | [[Juno Awards of 1993|1993]] || Songwriter of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1991|1991]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1990|1990]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1989|1989]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1986|1986]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1982|1982]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1981|1981]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1980|1980]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1979|1979]] || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |- | [[Juno Awards of 1975|1975]] || Composer of the Year || Neil Young || {{nom}} |} ==Instruments== [[Image:Neil Young 2008 Firenze.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Young in 2008, in [[Florence]], Italy]] ===Guitars=== In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' listed Young at eighty-third in its ranking of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", describing him as a "restless experimenter...who transform[s] the most obvious music into something revelatory."[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/5937559/page/40 ]{{dead link|date=June 2010}} Young is a collector of second-hand guitars, but in recording and performing, he frequently uses just a few instruments, as is explained by his longtime guitar technician [[Larry Cragg]] in the film ''[[Neil Young: Heart of Gold]]''. They include: * 1953 [[Gibson Les Paul|Gibson Les Paul Goldtop]]. Nicknamed "[[Old Black]]", this is Young's primary [[electric guitar]] and is featured on ''[[Rust Never Sleeps]]'' and other albums. Old Black got its name from an amateur paintjob applied to the originally gold body of the instrument, sometime before Neil acquired the guitar in the late 1960s. In 1972, a mini [[humbucker]] pickup from a [[Gibson Firebird]] was installed in the lead/treble position. This pickup, severely [[microphonic]], is considered a crucial component of Neil's sound. A [[Bigsby vibrato tailpiece]] was installed as early as 1969, and can be heard during the opening of "Cowgirl in the Sand" from ''[[Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere]]''. *[[C.F. Martin & Company|Martin D-45]]. His primary [[Steel-string guitar|steel-string acoustic guitar]], used to write "Old Man" and many other songs. It was one of four instruments bought by Stephen Stills for himself and his band-mates in CSNY in order to celebrate their first full concert at the Greek Theater in 1969. *Martin D-28. Nicknamed "Hank" after its previous owner, [[Hank Williams]]. [[Hank Williams, Jr.]], had traded it for some shotguns; it went through a succession of other owners until it was located by Young's longtime friend Grant Boatwright. The guitar was purchased by Young from [[Tut Taylor]]. Young has toured with it for over 30 years. A story about the guitar and the song it inspired, "This Old Guitar," can be seen about 50 minutes into the film ''[[Neil Young: Heart of Gold]]''. It is Young's primary guitar for ''[[Prairie Wind (album)|Prairie Wind]]''. * Vintage Martin D-18: Young used an old D-18 throughout his early days performing in coffee houses in Canada and on some early Buffalo Springfield work, before he received the D-45 from Stills. The guitar has often been used to carry "dropped standard tuning" (DGCFAD) which Young often uses in concert. This allowed him to perform songs such as "Ambulance Blues" and "Don't let it Bring You Down" live without having to tune all 6 strings onstage. Other notable (or odd) instruments played by Young include: *Vagabond Travel Guitar, used for "Let's Impeach the President" on ''[[The Colbert Report]]''. *[[Taylor Guitars|Taylor 855]] 12-string, used in the first half of ''[[Rust Never Sleeps]]''. *1927 [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]] Mastertone, a six-string [[banjo]] tuned like a guitar, used on many recordings and played by [[James Taylor]] on "Old Man." *[[Gretsch 6120]] ([[Chet Atkins]] model). Before Young bought Old Black, this was his primary electric guitar during his [[Buffalo Springfield]] days. *[[Gretsch White Falcon]]. Young purchased a late 1950s model near the end of the [[Buffalo Springfield]] era; in 1969 he bought a stereo version of the same vintage guitar from Stephen Stills, and this instrument is featured prominently during Young's early '70s period, and can be heard on tracks like "Ohio," "Southern Man," "Alabama," and "L.A.". It was Young's primary electric guitar during the ''Harvest'' era, since Young's deteriorating back condition (eventually fixed with surgery) made playing the much heavier Les Paul difficult.David Simons, "Recording Harvest: The Making of Neil Young's Classic 1972 Album." ''Acoustic Guitar'' 103 (July 2001): 38–40. This particular White Falcon is the stereo 6137, in which the signal from the three bass strings is separated from the signal from the three treble strings. Young typically plays this guitar in this stereo mode, sending the separate signals to two different amps, a Fender Deluxe and either a Fender Tremolux or a low-powered Tweed Fender Twin. The separation of the signals is most prominently heard on the ''Harvest'' song "Words." *[[Gibson Flying V]], on the ''[[Time Fades Away]]'' tour. *[[Fender Broadcaster]], on the ''[[Tonight's the Night (Neil Young album)|Tonight's the Night]]'' album and tour. ===Amplification=== Young uses various vintage [[Fender Tweed Deluxe]] amplifiers. His preferred amplifier for electric guitar is the Fender Deluxe, specifically a Tweed-era model from 1959. He purchased his first vintage Deluxe in 1967 for $50 from the drummer of Crazy Horse, Ralph Molina, and has since acquired nearly 450 different examples, all from the same era, but he maintains that it's the original model that sounds superior and is crucial to his trademark sound. The Tweed Deluxe is almost always used in conjunction with a late-1950's Magnatone 280 (similar to the amp used by [[Lonnie Mack]] and [[Buddy Holly]]). The Magnatone and the Deluxe are paired together in a most unusual manner: the external speaker jack from the Deluxe sends the amped signal through a volume potentiometer and directly into the input of the Magnatone. The Magnatone is notable for its true pitch-bending vibrato capabilities, which can be heard as an electric piano amplifier on "See the Sky About to Rain". A notable and unique accessory to Young's Deluxe is the Whizzer, a device created specifically for Young, which physically changes the amplifier's settings to pre-set combinations. This device is connected to footswitches operable by Young onstage in the manner of an [[effects pedal]].{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/neilyoung/video/randybachman|title=BBC documentary Neil Young: Don't Be Denied – Randy Bachmann interviews}} == Discography == {{Main|Neil Young discography}} :''See also the discographies for [[Buffalo Springfield#Discography|Buffalo Springfield]] and [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young discography|Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]]'' ==See also== {{Portal box|Neil Young|Music of Canada}} *[[Scott Young Public School]] *[[Music of Canada]] *[[Canadian rock]] {{clear}} ==Notes== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==References==
    *{{cite book |title= Neil Young nation: a quest, an obsession, and a true story|last= Chong|first= Kevin|authorlink= Kevin Chong|year= 2005|publisher= Greystone Books|location= Vancouver, [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley, CA]]|isbn= 9781553651161|oclc= 61261394}} *{{cite book |title= A dreamer of pictures: Neil Young – the man and his music|last= Downing|first= David|year= 1994|publisher= [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]]|location= London|isbn= 9780747514992|oclc= 59833966}} *{{cite book |title= Neil Young|last= Dufrechou|first= Carole|year= 1978|publisher= Quick Fox|location= London|isbn= 9780825639173|oclc= 4168835}} *{{cite book |title= Neil Young: don't be denied: the Canadian years|last= Einarson|first= John|year= 1992|publisher= Quarry Press|location= [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston, ON]]|isbn= 9781550820447|oclc= 26802024}} *{{cite book |title= Neil Young, the Rolling stone files: the ultimate compendium of interviews, articles, facts, and opinions from the files of Rolling stone|last= George-Warren|first= Holly|year= 1994|publisher= [[Hyperion (publisher)|Hyperion]]|location= New York|isbn= 9780786880430|oclc= 30074289}} *{{cite book |title= The Faber companion to 20th-century popular music|last= Hardy|first= Phil|authorlink= Phil Hardy (journalist)|coauthors= Laing, Dave|year= 1990|publisher= [[Faber and Faber]]|location= London, [[Boston]]|isbn= 9780571138371|oclc= 28673718}} *{{cite book |title= Neil Young: in his own words|last= Heatley|first= Michael|authorlink= Michael Heatley|year= 1997|publisher= [[Omnibus Press]]|location= London, New York|isbn= 9780711961616|oclc= 38727767}} *{{cite book |title= Shakey: Neil Young's biography|last= McDonough|first= Jimmy|authorlink= Jimmy McDonough|year= 2002|publisher= [[Random House]]|location= New York|isbn= 9780679427728|oclc= 47844513}} *{{cite book |title= Neil Young: Zero to Sixty: A Critical Biography|last= Rogan|first= Johnny|authorlink= Johnny Rogan|year= 2000|publisher= [[Omnibus Press]]|location= London|isbn= 9780952954040|oclc= 47997606}} *{{cite book |title= Neil Young: reflections in broken glass|last= Simmons|first= Sylvie|authorlink= Sylvie Simmons|year= 2001|publisher= Mojo|location= [[Edinburgh]]|isbn= 9781841950846|oclc= 48844799}} *{{cite book |title= The encyclopedia of country music: the ultimate guide to the music|last= Skinker|first= Chris|editor= Kingsbury, Paul (ed.)|year= 1998|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]|location= New York|isbn= 0195116712|oclc= 38106066|page= 607|chapter= Neil Young}} *{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Steve|title=A to X of Alternative Music|year=2006|publisher=Continuum|isbn=9780826482174|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KPOsu8JOHO8C}} *{{cite book|last=Williamson|first=Nigel|title=Journey Through the Past: The Stories Behind the Classic Songs of Neil Young|year=2002|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=9780879307417|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lwOvrY8TUnQC}} *{{cite book |title= Greendale|last= Young|first= Neil|coauthors= Mazzeo, James|year= 2004|publisher= Sanctuary|location= London|isbn= 1860746225|oclc= 57247591}} *{{cite book |title= Neil and Me|last= Young|first= Scott|year= 1997|publisher= [[McClelland & Stewart]]|location= Toronto|isbn= 9780771090998|oclc= 36337856}}
    ==External links== {{wikiquote}} *[http://www.neilyoung.com/ Neil's Garage – Official website] *[http://www.csny.com/ Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young official website] *{{allmusicguide|11:kifoxqr5ldfe|Neil Young}} *{{imdb name|id=0949918|name=Neil Young}} *[http://www.youngtownmuseum.com/ Youngtown Rock and Roll Museum – Omemee, Ontario] *[http://moviesbooksandmusic.today.com/2009/05/02/crazy-horse-at-the-fillmore-1970/ Review of Crazy Horse at the Fillmore 1970] *[http://www.sugarmtn.org/ Sugar Mountain – a compilation of set lists from Neil Young's concert performances] * [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/neil-young/dont-be-denied/1152/ "Neil Young: Don't be Denied"], PBS, ''American Masters'', TV documentary, 2009 {{s-start}} {{s-ach|aw}} {{s-bef|before=[[John Prine]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Americana Music Association|AMA Artist of the Year]]|years=2006}} {{s-aft|after=[[Patty Griffin]]}} {{s-end}} {{Neil Young}} {{Buffalo Springfield}} {{CSNY}} {{Persondata |NAME= Young, Neil |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Young, Neil Percival |SHORT DESCRIPTION= Canadian Singer-songwriter |DATE OF BIRTH= November 12, 1945 |PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Toronto, Ontario|Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada |DATE OF DEATH= |PLACE OF DEATH= }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Neil}} [[Category:Neil Young| ]] [[Category:1945 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Americana Music Award winners]] [[Category:Anti-Iraq War activists]] [[Category:Anti-Vietnam War activists]] [[Category:Canadian country guitarists]] [[Category:Canadian country rock musicians]] [[Category:Canadian country singers]] [[Category:Canadian film directors]] [[Category:Canadian folk guitarists]] [[Category:Canadian folk singers]] [[Category:Canadian male singers]] [[Category:Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:Canadian rock guitarists]] [[Category:Canadian rock singers]] [[Category:Canadian singer-songwriters]] [[Category:Canadian environmentalists]] [[Category:Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States]] [[Category:Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young members]] [[Category:Juno Award winners]] [[Category:Lead guitarists]] [[Category:Musicians from Manitoba]] [[Category:Writers from Manitoba]] [[Category:Members of the Order of Manitoba]] [[Category:Neil Young and Crazy Horse members]] [[Category:Musicians from Ontario]] [[Category:Writers from Ontario]] [[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada]] [[Category:People with epilepsy]] [[Category:People from Toronto]] [[Category:People from Winnipeg]] [[Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees‎]] [[Category:MTV Video Music Awards winners]] {{Link GA|es}} {{Link GA|no}} [[br:Neil Young]] [[bg:НоĐčĐ» Đ™ŃŠĐœĐł]] [[ca:Neil Young]] [[cs:Neil Young]] [[cy:Neil Young]] [[da:Neil Young]] [[de:Neil Young]] [[el:Νηλ ΓÎčÎ±ÎœÎłÎș]] [[es:Neil Young]] [[eo:Neil Young]] [[eu:Neil Young]] [[fa:نیل ÛŒŰ§Ù†ÚŻ]] [[fr:Neil Young]] [[ga:Neil Young]] [[gl:Neil Young]] [[ko:닐 영]] [[id:Neil Young]] [[it:Neil Young]] [[he:Ś Ś™Śœ Ś™ŚŚ Ś’]] [[ka:ნილ იანგი]] [[hu:Neil Young]] [[nl:Neil Young]] [[ja:ăƒ‹ăƒŒăƒ«ăƒ»ăƒ€ăƒłă‚°]] [[no:Neil Young]] [[nn:Neil Young]] [[pl:Neil Young]] [[pt:Neil Young]] [[ro:Neil Young]] [[ru:ĐŻĐœĐł, ĐĐžĐ»]] [[sc:Neil Young]] [[simple:Neil Young]] [[sk:Neil Young]] [[fi:Neil Young]] [[sv:Neil Young]] [[th:àž™àž”àž„ àžąàž±àž‡]] [[tr:Neil Young]] [[uk:ĐŃ–Đ» ĐŻĐœĐł]] [[zh:ć°ŒçˆŸÂ·æ„Š]]" ["html"]=> string(68818) "

    {{Infobox musical artist| | Name = Neil Young| Img = Neil Young - Per Ole Hagen.jpg| Img_capt = Young performing in Oslo, Norway in 2009.| Img_size = 250| Landscape = yes| Background = solo_singer| Birth_name = Neil Percival Young| Alias = Bernard Shakey, Phil Perspective, Shakey Deal, Clyde Coil, Shakey, Joe Yankee,Charlie Rose video: " Neil Young." Joe Canuck| Born =
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada| Origin = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada| Genre = Rock, folk rock, hard rock, country rock|Instrument = Guitar, vocals, harmonica, keyboards, piano| Occupation = Musician, singer-songwriter, producer, screenwriter, director| Years_active = 1960–present| Label = Reprise, Motown, Geffen| Associated_acts = The Squires, The Mynah Birds, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crazy Horse, The Stray Gators, The Stills-Young Band, The Ducks, Northern Lights, Pearl Jam, Booker T. Jones, Phish, Dave Matthews| URL = neilyoung.com| Notable_instruments = "Old Black"
    Gibson 1956 Les Paul Goldtop
    Martin D-45
    Martin D-28
     | last = Zimmer
 | first = Dave
 | authorlink =
 | coauthors = Henry Diltz
 | title = Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography
 | publisher = Da Capo
 | date = 2008
 | location =
 | page = 362
 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=jDdLTRnuuuAC&pg=PA362
 | doi =
 | id =
 | isbn = 9780306816154
    }}

    Neil Percival Young,McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 37 OC, OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is considered to be one of the most influential musicians of his generation.[1] Neil Young. Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. allmusic. Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills, and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969. He then forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968. His career has spanned 50 years and 33 studio albums, with a continual exploration of musical styles. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website describes Young as "one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers". rockhall.com - Neil Young - Biography. Retrieved 2010-4-9. He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and secondly as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997. Young has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards, winning once in 2010.

    Young's work is characterized by his distinctive guitar work"Young is a most distinctive guitarist and singer, using ghostly shards of feedback to taint his ringing guitar chords." "It's Young's distinctive, chunky rhythm guitar sound which defines the songs here Living with War." {{cite news
     | last = Brinn  | first = David  | title = Disc Reviews  | work = Jerusalem Post  | date = 2006-05-30  | url = http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1148482072145&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
 | accessdate = 2009-07-28}}"30 years on, Neil Young remains one of the most distinctive voices of his, or any other, generation." {{cite news   | last = Surkamp  | first = David  | title = Internal Fire From Neil Young Lights The Stage  | work = St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 | page = 4D  | date = 1992-09-15  | accessdate = 2009-07-28}} and signature [[falsetto]]/[[tenor]] singing voice.{{cite news   | last = Miller  | first = Edward  | title = The Nonsensical Truth of the Falsetto Voice: Listening to Sigur RĂłs  | work = Popular Musicology Online
 | issn = 1357-0951   | date = 2003  | url = http://www.popular-musicology-online.com/issues/02/miller.html  | accessdate = 2010-05-26}}{{cite news   | last = Sinclair  | first = Scott  | title = Neil Young - Fork In The Road  | work = Popular Musicology Online
 | date = 2009-04-04  | url = http://www.musicomh.com/albums/neil-young-4_0409.htm  | accessdate = 2010-05-26}} Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments, including piano and harmonica, his [[clawhammer]] acoustic guitar and often idiosyncratic electric guitar playing are the defining characteristics of a sometimes ragged, sometimes melodic sound. While Young has experimented with differing music styles, including [[swing music|swing]] and [[electronic music]] throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into two primary styles: either [[Acoustic music|acoustic]] folk and country rock, or amplified hard rock in collaboration with the band [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]. Young has also adopted elements from newer styles such as [[alternative rock]] and [[grunge]]. His influence on the latter caused some to dub him the "[[List of honorific titles in popular music|Godfather of Grunge]]"."It had already been noted that Neil Young was an important influence on grunge musicians, and in the mid- 1990s it became common to see Neil Young described as 'the godfather of grunge'." in {{Cite book| last = Echard | first = William | title = Neil Young and the Poetics of Energy | publisher = [[Indiana University Press]] | year = 2005 | page = 43 | isbn = 9780253217684| postscript = }}


    Young has directed (or co-directed) a number of films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY/DĂ©jĂ  Vu (2008). He is currently working on a documentary about electric car technology, tentatively titled Linc/Volt. The project involves a 1959 Lincoln Continental converted to hybrid technology, which Young plans to drive to Washington, D.C. as an environmentalist example to lawmakers there.

    Young is an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and the welfare of small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the benefit concert Farm Aid. In 1986, Young helped found The Bridge School, Welcome to The Bridge School an educational organization for children with severe verbal and physical disabilities, and its annual supporting Bridge School Benefit concerts, together with his wife Pegi Young (née Morton). Young has three children: Sons Zeke (born during his relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress) and Ben who were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and daughter Amber Jean, like Young himself, with epilepsy. Young lives on his ranch in La Honda, California. Although he has lived in northern California since the 1970s and sings as frequently about U.S. themes and subjects as he does about his native country, he retains Canadian citizenship, which he has never wanted to relinquish. On July 14, 2006, Young was awarded the Order of Manitoba. On December 30, 2009, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

    Biography

    Early years: 1945–1966

    Neil Percival Young was born in Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada at 6:45 AM on 12 November 1945. His father, Scott Young (1918-2005) was a journalist and sportswriter who would later rise to notoriety in Canada for his work, whilst his mother, Edna "Rassy" Young (1918-1990), was of American, French and Irish ancestry. They got married in 1940, with their first son, Robert 'Bob' Young, being born in 1942. Not long after Neil's birth, the family decided to move to the rural town of Omemee, Ontario, which Neil would later fondly describe as a "Sleepy little place."McDonough 2002. p. 22-42. Omemee later established the Youngtown Museum in tribute to Young. Youngtown Rock and Roll Museum), Young was diagnosed with diabetes as a child, Neil Young Biography – Discography, Music, Lyrics, Album, CD, Career, Famous Works, and Awards and also suffered from a bout of polio in 1951, in what was the last major outbreak of the disease in Ontario.McDonough 2002. p. 44. Following his recovery, the Young family went on holiday to Florida in the United States in 1952, and upon returning to Canada soon decided to move away from Omemee and into the city of Toronto, before relocating to Pickering, which was just east of Toronto, and then again to north Toronto soon after. It was during this period that Young began to take an interest in popular music that he heard on the radio, and also began to rear chickens in order to sell their eggs.McDonough 2002. p. 46-54. When Neil was twelve, his father, who had been having a number of extra-marital affairs, left his mother, a particularly confrontational and headstrong woman, and she subsequently asked for, and received, a divorce some years later, in 1960. Due to the break up of the family, Neil went to live with his mother, who moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, whilst his brother Bob stayed with his father in Toronto.McDonough 2002. p. 55-68.During the mid-fifties, at around the age of ten or eleven, Young was drawn to a variety of musical genres including rock and roll, rockabilly, doo-wop, R&B, country, and western pop. He would listen to pop music broadcast on the CHUM radio station via his transistor radio.McDonough 2002. p. 50-51. Young has stated in interviews that growing up he idolized Elvis Presley and strived to be just like him, later referencing him in a number of his lyrics.Ostrosser, David. "Neil Young Interview on Guitars." Guitare & Claviers Magazine. Neil Young News, 17 April 1992. Web. Other early musical influences included Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Chantels, The Monotones, Ronnie Self, The Fleetwoods, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Gogi Grant.McDonough 2002. p. 52-53. Meanwhile, he first began to play music himself on a plastic ukelele, before, as he would later relate, going on to "a better ukelele to a banjo ukelele to a baritone ukelele - everything but a guitar."McDonough 2002. p. 58-59.

    Neil and his mother settled into the working class suburb of Fort Rouge where the shy, dry-humoured youth enrolled at Earl Grey Junior High School. It was there that he formed his first band the Jades, and met Ken Koblun, later to join him in the Squires. While attending Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, he played in several instrumental rock bands. Young's first stable band was called the Squires, with Ken Koblun, Jeff Wuckert and Bill Edmondson on drums, who had a local hit called "The Sultan." Young dropped out of high schoolMcDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 103 and also played in Fort William (now part of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario), where they recorded a series of demos produced by a local producer named Ray Dee, whom Young called "the original Briggs."McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 105 While there, Young first encountered Stephen Stills. In the 2006 film Heart of Gold Young relates how he used to spend time as a teenager at Falcon Lake, Manitoba where he would endlessly plug coins into the jukebox to hear Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds".

    After leaving the Squires, Neil worked folk clubs in Winnipeg, where he first met Joni Mitchell.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 96 Here he wrote some of his earliest and most enduring folk songs such as "Sugar Mountain", about lost youth. Mitchell wrote "The Circle Game" in response. Winnipeg band The Guess Who (Randy Bachman being their lead guitarist) had a Top 40 Canadian hit with Young's "Flying on the Ground is Wrong," which was Young's first major hit as a songwriter.

    In 1965 Young toured Canada as a solo artist. In 1966, while in Toronto, he joined the Rick James-fronted Mynah Birds. The band managed to secure a record deal with the Motown label, but as their first album was being recorded, James was arrested for being AWOL from the Naval Reserve.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 139 After the Mynah Birds disbanded, Young and bass player Bruce Palmer relocated to Los Angeles. Young admitted in a 2009 interview that he was in the United States illegally until receiving a green card in 1970.

    Buffalo Springfield (1967–1968)

    Once they reached Los Angeles, Young and Palmer met up with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, and Dewey Martin to form Buffalo Springfield. A mixture of folk, country, psychedelia, and rock lent a hard edge by the twin lead guitars of Stills and Young made Buffalo Springfield a critical success, and their first record Buffalo Springfield (1967) sold well after Stills' topical song "For What It's Worth" became a hit, aided by Young's melodic harmonics played on electric guitar.

    Distrust of their management, as well as the arrest and deportation of Palmer, exacerbated the already strained relations among the group members and led to Buffalo Springfield's demise. A second album, Buffalo Springfield Again, was released in late 1967, but two of Young’s three contributions were solo tracks recorded apart from the rest of the group.

    In many ways, these three songs on Buffalo Springfield Again are harbingers of much of Young's later work in that, although they all share deeply personal, almost idiosyncratic lyrics, they also present three very different musical approaches to the arrangement of what is essentially an original folk song. "Mr Soul" is the only Young song of the three that all five members of the group perform together. In contrast, "Broken Arrow" was confessional folk rock of a kind that would characterize much of the music that emerged from the singer-songwriter movement. Young’s experimental production intersperses each verse with snippets of sound from other sources, including opening the song with a sound bite of Dewey Martin singing "Mr. Soul" and closing it with the thumping of a heartbeat. "Expecting to Fly" was a lushly produced ballad featuring a string arrangement that Young's co-producer for the track, Jack Nitzsche, would dub "symphonic pop."

    In May 1968, the band split up for good, but in order to fulfill a contractual obligation, a final album Last Time Around was released, primarily from recordings made earlier that year. Young contributed the songs "On the Way Home" and "I Am a Child", singing lead on the latter. In 1997, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Young did not appear at the ceremony.

    Crazy Horse & CSNY (1968–1970)

    Main articles: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Crazy Horse
    left|thumb|250px|Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young perform at the PNC Arts Center, August 2006.After the breakup of Buffalo Springfield, Young signed a solo deal with Reprise Records, home of his colleague and friend Joni Mitchell, with whom he shared a manager, Elliot Roberts, who manages Young to this day. Young and Roberts immediately began work on Young's first solo record, Neil Young (November 1968), which received mixed reviews. In a 1970 interview, Young deprecated the album as being "overdubbed rather than played," and the quest for music that expresses the spontaneity of the moment has long been a feature of his career. Nevertheless, the album contains some songs that remain a staple of his live shows, most notably "The Loner".

    For his next album, Young recruited three musicians from a band called The Rockets: Danny Whitten on guitar, Billy Talbot on bass guitar, and Ralph Molina on drums. These three took the name Crazy Horse (after the historical figure of the same name), and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (May 1969), is credited to "Neil Young with Crazy Horse." Recorded in just two weeks, the album opens with one of Young's most familiar songs, "Cinnamon Girl," and is dominated by two more, "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Down by the River," that feature lengthy jams showcasing Young's idiosyncratic guitar soloing accompanied sympathetically by Crazy Horse. Young reportedly wrote all three songs on the same day, while nursing a high fever of in bed.

    Shortly after the release of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Young reunited with Stephen Stills by joining Crosby, Stills, & Nash, who had already released one album as a trio. Young was originally offered a position as a sideman, but agreed to join only if he received full membership, and the group – winners of the 1969 "Best New Artist" Grammy Award – was renamed Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 313 The quartet debuted in Chicago on August 16, 1969, and later performed at the famous Woodstock Festival, during which Young skipped the acoustic set and refused to be filmed during the electric set, even telling the cameramen: "One of you fuckin' guys comes near me and I'm gonna fuckin' hit you with my guitar".McDonough, Jimmy (2002) pp. 318–320 During the making of their first album, DĂ©jĂ  Vu, the musicians frequently argued, particularly Young and Stills, who both fought for control. Stills continued throughout their lifelong relationship to criticize Young, saying that he "wanted to play folk music in a rock band".McDonough, Jimmy (2002), p. 324 Despite the tension, Young's tenure with CSN&Y coincided with the band's most creative and successful period, and greatly contributed to his subsequent success as a solo artist.

    "Ohio" was written following the Kent State massacre on May 4, 1970, and was a staple of anti-war rallies in the 1970s. The song was quickly recorded by CSNY and immediately released as a single, even though CSNY's "Teach Your Children" was still climbing the singles charts. Many believe that the release of "Ohio" as a single cut into the sales of "Teach Your Children" and prevented that song from reaching the top ten. In the late 1970s and for much of the 1980s, Young refrained from performing "Ohio" live, as he considered the song to be dated. In the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Young revived the song in concert, often dedicating it to the Chinese students who were killed in the massacre. Crosby, Stills & Nash, as a trio, also returned the song to their live repertoire around the same time, even though Young had provided the lead vocals on the original recording.

    Also that year, Young released his third solo album, After the Gold Rush (1970), which featured, among others, a young Nils Lofgren, Stephen Stills, and CSNY bassist Greg Reeves. Young also recorded some tracks with Crazy Horse, but dismissed them early in the sessions. Aided by his newfound fame with CSNY, the album was a commercial breakthrough for Young and contains some of his best known work. Notable tracks include the title track, with dream-like lyrics that run a gamut of subjects from drugs and interpersonal relationships to environmental concerns, as well as Young’s controversial and acerbic condemnation of racism in "Southern Man", which, along with a later song entitled "Alabama," later prompted Lynyrd Skynyrd to decry Young by name in the lyrics to "Sweet Home Alabama". The respectful rivalry and friendship between Young and Skynyrd front man Ronnie Van Zant would serve as a recurring theme in the Drive-By Truckers' 2001 concept album Southern Rock Opera.

    First solo album: Harvest (1971–1972)

    With CSNY splitting up and Crazy Horse having signed their own record deal, Young began the year 1971 with a solo tour entitled "Journey Through the Past." Later, he recruited a new group of country-music session musicians, whom he christened The Stray Gators, to record much of the new material that had been premiered on tour for the album Harvest (1972). Harvest was a massive hit and "Heart of Gold" became a US number one single. It remains the only No. 1 hit in his long career.

    Another notable song was "The Needle and the Damage Done", a somber lament on the pain caused by heroin addiction, inspired in part by the heavy heroin use of Crazy Horse member Danny Whitten, who eventually died of an overdose. Williamson, p. 42.[http://books.google.com/books?id=KPOsu8JOHO8C&pg=PA279 Taylor p. 279.

    The album's success caught Young off guard, and his first instinct was to back away from stardom. In the handwritten liner notes to the Decade compilation, Young famously described "Heart of Gold" as the song that "put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there."

    On September 8, 1972, the actress Carrie Snodgress, with whom he had been living, gave birth to Neil Young's first child. The boy, Zeke, was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Young fell in love with Snodgress after seeing her in a movie, Diary of a Mad Housewife on television after which Young wrote the song "A Man Needs a Maid" from the Harvest album, featuring the lyric "I fell in love with the actress/she was playing a part that I could understand."

    The Ditch Trilogy (1972–1974)

    Although a new tour had been planned to follow up on the success of Harvest, it became apparent during rehearsals that Danny Whitten could not function due to drug abuse. On November 18, 1972, shortly after he was fired from the tour preparations, Whitten was found dead of an overdose. Young described the incident to Rolling Stone’s Cameron Crowe in 1975: Neil Young: The RS Interview "[2] were rehearsing with him and he just couldn't cut it. He couldn't remember anything. He was too out of it. Too far gone. I had to tell him to go back to L.A. 'It's not happening, man. You're not together enough.' He just said, 'I've got nowhere else to go, man. How am I gonna tell my friends?' And he split. That night the coroner called me from L.A. and told me he'd OD'd. That blew my mind. I loved Danny. I felt responsible. And from there, I had to go right out on this huge tour of huge arenas. I was very nervous and ... insecure."

    The album made in the aftermath of this incident, Time Fades Away (1973), has often been described by Young as "my least favorite record," and it is, in fact, one of only two of Young’s early recordings that has yet to be officially re-released on CD (the other being the soundtrack album Journey Through the Past). The album was recorded live over a tour where Young struggled with his voice and called David Crosby and Graham Nash to help perform the music. The tour featured Linda Ronstadt as the opening act. Time Fades Away occupies a unique position in Young’s discography as the first of three albums known collectively as the "Ditch Trilogy".

    In the second half of 1973, Young formed The Santa Monica Flyers, with Crazy Horse's rhythm section augmented by Nils Lofgren on guitar. Deeply affected by the drug-induced deaths of Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry, Young recorded Tonight's the Night. The album's dark tone and rawness led Reprise to delay and Young had to pressure them for two years before they would release it.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 430 It received mixed reviews at the time, but is now regarded as a landmark album. In Young's own opinion, it was the closest he ever came to art.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 433

    While his record company delayed the release of Tonight's the Night, Young recorded On the Beach (1974), which dealt with themes such as the downside of fame and the Californian lifestyle. Like Time Fades Away and Tonight's the Night, it sold poorly but eventually became a critical favorite, presenting some of Young's most original work. A review of the 2003 re-release on CD of On the Beach described the music as "mesmerizing, harrowing, lucid, and bleary".

    Return to prominence (1975–1979)

    After completing On the Beach, Young reunited with Harvest producer Elliot Mazer to record another acoustic album, Homegrown. Most of the songs were written after Young's breakup with Snodgress, and thus the tone of the album was somewhat dark. Though the album was entirely completed, Young decided to drop the album and release Tonight's the Night instead, at the suggestion of The Band bassist Rick Danko.McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 469 Young further explained his move by saying: "It was a little too personal ... it scared me". on November 9, 1976.]]Young reformed Crazy Horse with Frank Sampedro on guitar as his backup band for Zuma (1975). Many of the songs are overtly concerned with failed relationships, and even the epic "Cortez the Killer", outwardly a retelling of the Spanish conquest of Mexico from the viewpoint of the Aztecs, can be seen as an allegory of love lost.The following year, Young reunited with Stephen Stills for the album Long May You Run (1976), credited to The Stills-Young Band; the follow-up tour was ended midway through by Young, who sent Stills a telegram that read: "Funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach, Neil."McDonough, Jimmy (2002) p. 502

    left|thumb|The Last Waltz, Young performing with Bob Dylan and Band, among others in 1976.]In 1976, Young performed with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and numerous other rock musicians in the high profile all-star concert The Last Waltz, the final performance by The Band. The release of Martin Scorsese's movie of the concert was delayed while Scorsese unwillingly re-edited it to obscure the lump of cocaine that was clearly visible hanging from Young's nose during his performance of "Helpless." Exclaim! Canada's Music Authority

    American Stars 'N Bars (1977) contained two songs originally recorded for Homegrown album, "Homegrown" and "Star of Bethlehem," as well as newer material, including the future concert staple "Like A Hurricane". Performers included Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Young protégé Nicolette Larson along with Crazy Horse. Also in 1977, Young released Decade: a personally selected career summary of material spanning every aspect of his various interests and affiliations, including a handful of unreleased songs. Comes a Time (1978) also featured Nicolette Larson and Crazy Horse and became Young's most commercially accessible album in quite some time, marked by a return to his folk roots. In 1978 much of the filming was done for Young's film Human Highway. Over four years Young would spend $3,000,000 of his own money on production. This also marked the beginning of his brief collaboration with the band Devo.Jimmy McDonough, Shakey, Anchor Books, 2002, p.575-7

    Young next set out on the lengthy "Rust Never Sleeps" tour, in which each concert was divided into a solo acoustic set and an electric set with Crazy Horse. Much of the electric set was later seen as a response to punk rock's burgeoning popularity. "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" compared the changing public perception of Johnny Rotten with that of the recently deceased Elvis Presley, who himself had once been disparaged as a dangerous influence only to later become an icon. Rotten, meanwhile, returned the favour by playing one of Young's records on a London radio show. The accompanying albums Rust Never Sleeps (new material, culled from live recordings, but featuring studio overdubs) and Live Rust (a mixture of old and new, and a genuine concert recording) captured the two sides of the concerts, with solo acoustic songs on side A, and fierce, uptempo, electric songs on side B. A movie version of the concerts, also called Rust Never Sleeps (1979), was directed by Young under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey. Young worked with rock artist Jim Evans to create the poster art for the film, using the "Star Wars" Jawas as a theme.

    Young was suddenly relevant again, and the readers and critics of Rolling Stone voted him Artist of the Year for 1979 (along with The Who), selected Rust Never Sleeps as Album Of The Year, and voted him Male Vocalist of the Year as well. The Village Voice, meanwhile, honored Young as the Artist of the Decade.

    Experimental years (1980s)

    The 1980s were often difficult times for Young, both personally and professionally. At the start of the decade, distracted by domestic medical concerns relating to his second disabled son, Ben, Young had little time to spend on writing and recording. After providing the incidental music to a 1980 biopic of Hunter S. Thompson entitled Where the Buffalo Roam, Young released Hawks & Doves, a short record pieced together from sessions going back to 1974. 1981's Re-ac-tor, an electric album recorded with Crazy Horse, also included material from the 1970s. Young did not tour in support of either album; in total, he played only one show, a set at the 1980 Bread and Roses Festival in Berkeley, between the end of his 1978 tour with Crazy Horse and the start of his tour with the Trans Band in mid-1982.

    {{Quote box|width=246px|align=right|quote="The 80s were really good. The 80s were like, artistically, very strong for me, because I knew no boundaries and was experimenting with everything that I could come across, sometimes with great success, sometimes with terrible results, but nonetheless I was able to do this, and I was able to realise that I wasn’t in a box, and I wanted to establish that."|source=Neil YoungYoung, Neil. Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied. BBC Four.
    }}


    The 1982 album Trans, which incorporated vocoders, synthesizers, and electronic beats, was Young's first for new label Geffen Records (distributed at the time by Warner Bros. Records, whose parent Warner Music Group owns most of Young's solo and band catalog) and represented a distinct stylistic departure. Young later revealed that an inspiration for the album was the theme of technology and communication with his son Ben, who has severe cerebral palsy and cannot speak. An extensive tour preceded the release of the album, and was documented by the video Neil Young in Berlin, which saw release in 1986.

    Young's next album, 1983's Everybody's Rockin', included several rockabilly covers and clocked in at less than twenty-five minutes in length. Young was backed by the Shocking Pinks for the supporting U.S. tour. Trans had already drawn the ire of label head David Geffen for its lack of commercial appeal, and with Everybody's Rockin' following only seven months later, Geffen Records sued Young for making music "unrepresentative" of himself. The album was also notable as the first for which Young made commercial music videos – Tim Pope directed the videos for "Wonderin'" and "Cry, Cry, Cry". Also premiered in 1983, though little seen, was the eclectic full-length comedy film Human Highway, co-directed and co-written by Young, and starring Young and members of Devo.

    1984 was the first year without a Neil Young album since the start of Young's musical career with Buffalo Springfield in 1966. Young's lack of productivity was largely due to the ongoing legal battle with Geffen, although he was also frustrated that the label had rejected his 1982 country album Old Ways. It was also the year when Young's third child, his second with wife Pegi was born; his daughter Amber Jean, a child who was later diagnosed with inherited epilepsy. Young spent most of 1984 and all of 1985 touring for Old Ways with his country band, the International Harvesters. The album was finally released in an altered form midway through 1985. Young also appeared at that year's Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, collaborating with Crosby, Stills and Nash for the quartet's first performance for a paying audience in over ten years.

    Young's last two albums for Geffen were more conventional in genre, although they incorporated production techniques like synthesizers and echoing drums that were previously uncommon in Young's music. Young recorded 1986's Landing on Water without Crazy Horse, but reunited with the band for the subsequent year-long tour and final Geffen album, Life, which emerged in 1987. Young's album sales dwindled steadily throughout the eighties; today Life remains his all-time-least successful studio album, with an estimated four hundred thousand sales worldwide.As of June, 2008

    Switching back to his old label Reprise Records, Young continued to tour relentlessly, assembling a new blues band called The Bluenotes in mid-1987 (a legal dispute with musician Harold Melvin forced the eventual rechristening of the band as Ten Men Working midway through the tour). The addition of a brass section provided a new jazzier sound, and the title track of 1988's This Note's For You became Young's first hit single of the decade. Accompanied by a video that parodied corporate rock, the pretensions of advertising, and Michael Jackson, the song was initially unofficially banned by MTV for mentioning the brand names of some of their sponsors. Young wrote an open letter, "What does the M in MTV stand for: music or money?" Despite this, the video was eventually named best video of the year by the network in 1989. Shakey: Neil Young's Biography By James McDonough, Jimmy McDonough. Pages 24–32 Retrieved 2009-03-28. By comparison, the major music cable network of Young's home nation, Muchmusic, ran the video immediately.

    Young reunited with Crosby, Stills and Nash to record the 1988 album American Dream and play two benefit concerts late in the year, but the group did not embark upon a full tour. The album was only the second-ever studio record for the quartet.

    Re-return to prominence (1990s)

    thumb|left|190px|Young performing in 1996 in Finland]

    Young's 1989 single "Rockin' in the Free World", which hit #2 on the U.S. charts, and accompanying album, Freedom, rocketed him back into the popular consciousness after a decade of sometimes-difficult genre experiments. The album's lyrics were often overtly political; "Rockin' in the Free World" deals with homelessness, terrorism, and environmental degradation, implicitly criticizing the government policies of President George H.W. Bush.

    The use of heavy feedback and distortion on several Freedom tracks was reminiscent of the Rust Never Sleeps album, and foreshadowed the imminent rise of grunge. The rising stars of the genre, including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, frequently cited Young as a major influence, contributing to his popular revival. A tribute album called A Tribute to Neil Young was released in 1989, featuring covers by alternative and grunge acts including Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, Soul Asylum, Dinosaur Jr, and the Pixies.

    Young's 1990 album Ragged Glory, recorded with Crazy Horse in a barn on his Northern California ranch, continued this distortion-heavy aesthetic. Young toured for the album with Orange County, California country-punk band Social Distortion and alternative rock elder statesmen Sonic Youth as support, much to the consternation of many of his old fans. Weld, a two-disc live album documenting the tour, was released in 1991. Sonic Youth's influence was most evident on Arc, a 35-minute collage of feedback and distortion spliced together at the suggestion of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and originally packaged with some versions of Weld.

    1992's Harvest Moon marked an abrupt return to the country and folk-rock stylings of Harvest and reunited him with some of the musicians from that album, including singers Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor. The title track was a minor hit and the record was well received by critics, winning the Juno Award for Album of the Year in 1994. Young also contributed to Randy Bachman's nostalgic 1992 tune "Prairie Town," and garnered a 1993 Academy Award nomination for his song "Philadelphia", from the soundtrack of the Jonathan Demme movie of the same name. An MTV Unplugged performance and album emerged in 1993. Later that year, Young collaborated with Booker T. and the M.G.s for a summer tour of Europe and North America. Some European shows ended with a rendition of "Rockin' in the Free World" played with Pearl Jam, foreshadowing their eventual full-scale collaboration two years later.

    In 1994 Young again collaborated with Crazy Horse for Sleeps with Angels, a record whose dark, somber mood was influenced by Kurt Cobain's death earlier that year; the title track in particular dealt with Cobain's life and death, without mentioning him by name. Cobain had quoted Young's lyric "It's better to burn out than fade away" (a line from "My My, Hey Hey ") in his suicide note, causing Young to then on emphasize the line "'cause once you're gone you can't come back" when performing the song. Young had reportedly made repeated attempts to contact Cobain prior to his death. Still enamored with the grunge scene, Young reconnected with Pearl Jam in 1995 for the live-in-the-studio album Mirror Ball and a tour of Europe with the band and producer Brendan O'Brien backing Young. 1995 also marked Young's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he was inducted by Eddie Vedder.

    }}

    Young's next collaborative partner was filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, who asked Young to compose a soundtrack to his 1995 black and white western film Dead Man. Young's instrumental soundtrack was improvised while he watched the film alone in a studio. The death of longtime mentor, friend, and producer David Briggs in late 1995 prompted Young to reconnect with Crazy Horse the following year for the album and tour Broken Arrow. A Jarmusch-directed concert film and live album of the tour, Year of the Horse, emerged in 1997. From 1996–97 Young and Crazy Horse toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, including a stint as part of the H.O.R.D.E. Festival's sixth annual tour.

    In 1998, Young renewed his collaboration with rock band Phish, sharing the stage at the annual Farm Aid concert and then at Young's Bridge School Benefit, where he joined headliners Phish for renditions of "Helpless" and "I Shall Be Released." Hyperrust: Bridge Benefit XII Phish declined Young's later invitation to be his backing band on his 1999 North American tour.

    The decade ended with the release in late 1999 of Looking Forward, another reunion with Crosby, Stills and Nash. The subsequent tour of the United States and Canada with the reformed super quartet earned $42.1 million, making it the eighth largest grossing tour of 2000.

    Renewed activism and brush with death (2000s)

    Neil Young continued to release new material at a rapid pace through the first decade of the new millennium. The studio album Silver & Gold and live album Road Rock Vol. 1 were released in 2000 and were both accompanied by live concert films. His 2001 single "Let's Roll" was a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, and the passengers and crew on Flight 93 in particular. At the " A Tribute to Heroes" benefit concert for the victims of the attacks, Young performed John Lennon's "Imagine" and accompanied Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready on the song "Long Road", a Pearl Jam song that was written with Young during the Mirrorball sessions. "Let's Roll" was included on 2002's Are You Passionate?, an album mostly composed of mellow love songs dedicated to Young's wife, Pegi.

    In 2003, Young released Greendale, a concept album recorded with Crazy Horse members Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina. The songs loosely revolved around the murder of a police officer in a small town in California and its effects on the town's inhabitants. Young, under the pseudonym "Bernard Shakey", directed an accompanying film of the same name, featuring actors lip-synching to the music from the album. Young toured extensively with the Greendale material throughout 2003 and 2004, first with a solo, acoustic version in Europe, then with a full-cast stage show in North America, Japan, and Australia. Young began using biodiesel on the 2004 Greendale tour, powering his trucks and tour buses with the fuel. "Our Greendale tour is now ozone friendly,” Young said. “I plan to continue to use this government approved and regulated fuel exclusively from now on to prove that it is possible to deliver the goods anywhere in North America without using foreign oil, while being environmentally responsible.”[3] Young spent the latter portion of 2004 giving a series of intimate acoustic concerts in various cities with his wife, who is a trained vocalist and guitar player.

    In March 2005, while working on the Prairie Wind album in Nashville, Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. He was treated successfully with a minimally invasive neuroradiological procedure, performed in a New York hospital on March 29. Two days afterwards, Young passed out on a New York street from bleeding from the femoral artery, which surgeons had used to access the aneurysm. The complication forced Young to cancel his scheduled appearance at the Juno Awards telecast in Winnipeg, but within months he was back on stage, appearing at the close of the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario on July 2. During the performance, he debuted a new song, a soft hymn called "When God Made Me". Young's brush with death influenced Prairie Wind's themes of retrospection and mortality. The album's live premiere in Nashville was immortalized by filmmaker Jonathan Demme in the 2006 film Heart of Gold.

    Young's renewed activism manifested itself in the 2006 album Living With War, which was hastily recorded and released in less than a month. The album's overtly political songs rebuked U.S. President George W. Bush and the War in Iraq and included the provocatively titled "Let's Impeach the President". Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited for the supporting "Freedom Of Speech Tour '06". CSNY DĂ©jĂ  Vu, a concert film of the tour directed by Young was released in 2008, along with an accompanying live album.

    While Young had never been a stranger to eco-friendly lyrics, themes of environmentalist spirituality and activism became increasingly prominent in his work throughout the 1990s and 2000s, especially on Greendale and Living With War." New Neil Young Video 'After The Garden' Visits 'An Inconvenient Truth'," Marketwire (July 21, 2006). The trend continued on 2007's Chrome Dreams II, with lyrics exploring Young's personal eco-spirituality. In 2008, Young revealed his latest project, the production of a hybrid-engine 1959 Lincoln called Lincvolt. A new album loosely based on the Lincvolt project, Fork in the Road, was released on April 7, 2009.

    A Jonathan Demme concert film from a 2007 concert at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, called the Neil Young Trunk Show premiered on March 21, 2009, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas. It was featured at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2009 and was released in the US on March 19, 2010 to critical acclaim. Neil Young Trunk Show review (Blast Magazine, 9 March 2010) Demme receives Coolidge Award, premiers Trunk Showthumb|right|Young performing in Germany in 2009.]Young's most recent album appearance was on the album Potato Hole, released on April 21, 2009 by Memphis organ player Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. & the MG's fame. Young plays guitar on nine of the album's ten instrumental tracks, alongside Drive-By Truckers, who already had three guitar players, giving some songs on the album a total of five guitar tracks. Jones contributed guitars on a couple of tracks.

    Young continues to tour extensively. In 2009, he headlined the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England, at Hard Rock Calling in London (where he was joined onstage by Paul McCartney for a rendition of "A Day in the Life") and, after years of unsuccessful booking attempts, the Isle of Wight Festival in addition to performances at the Big Day Out festival in New Zealand and Australia and the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona.

    New performances (2010s)

    On January 22, 2010, Young performed "Long May You Run" on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. On the same night, he and Dave Matthews performed the Hank Williams song "Alone and Forsaken", for the A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief charity telethon, in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Young performed "Long May You Run" at the closing ceremony of the 2010 Olympic winter games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In May 2010, it was announced Young has begun working on a new studio album that will be produced by Daniel Lanois. This was revealed by David Crosby, who said that the album "will be a very heartfelt record. I expect it will be a very special record." Neil Young working on new album with Bob Dylan and U2 producer. www.nme.com. May 4, 2010. On May 18th 2010, Young embarked upon a North American solo tour to promote his upcoming album, Le Noise, playing a mix of older songs and new material. Although billed as a solo acoustic tour, Young has also played some songs on electric guitars, including Old Black.

    Young currently lives in La Honda, California on the 1500-acre (6 kmÂČ) Broken Arrow Ranch, purchased in 1970 for $350,000 and named after one of his early Buffalo Springfield songs.

    Archives project

    As far back as 1988, Young spoke in interviews of his efforts to compile his unreleased material and to remaster his existing catalog. The first installment, entitled The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972, was originally planned for a 2007 release but was delayed, and released on June 2, 2009.

    Three performances from the Performance Series of the archives were released individually before The Archives Vol. 1. Live at the Fillmore East, a selection of song from a 1970 gig with Crazy Horse, was released in 2006. Live at Massey Hall 1971, a solo acoustic set from Toronto's Massey Hall, saw release in 2007. Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968, an early solo performance and, chronologically, the first disc in the performance series, emerged late in 2008.

    In an interview in 2008, Neil Young discussed Toast, an album originally recorded with Crazy Horse in San Francisco in 2000 but never released. The album will be part of the Special Edition Series of the Archives. No release date currently exists for Toast.

    On July 14, 2009, Young's first four solo albums were reissued as remastered HDCD discs and digital downloads as discs 1–4 of the Original Release Series of the Archives.

    Awards and recognitions

    • Canadian Music Hall of Fame, 1982
    • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. First in 1995 for his solo work, with an induction speech given by Eddie Vedder, and again in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield.


    As one of the original founders of Farm Aid, he remains an active member of the board of directors. For one weekend each October, in Mountain View, California, he and his wife host the Bridge School Concerts, which have been drawing international talent and sell-out crowds for nearly two decades with some of the biggest names in rock having performed at the event including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, The Who, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Tom Waits, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Sir Paul McCartney and Dave Mathews . The concerts are a benefit for the Bridge School, which develops and uses advanced technologies to aid in the instruction of children with disabilities. Young's involvement stems at least partially from the fact that both of his sons have cerebral palsy and his daughter, like Young himself, has epilepsy.

    Young was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for his song "Philadelphia" from the film Philadelphia. Bruce Springsteen won the award for his song "Streets of Philadelphia" from the same film. In his acceptance speech, Springsteen said that "the award really deserved to be shared by the other nominee's song." That same night, Tom Hanks accepted the Oscar for Best Actor and gave credit for his inspiration to the song "Philadelphia".

    He was part owner of Lionel, LLC, a company that makes toy trains and model railroad accessories. In 2008 Lionel emerged from bankruptcy and his shares of the company were wiped out. At this time his status with Lionel is unknown, according to Lionel CEO Jerry Calabrese he is still a consultant for Lionel. He was instrumental in the design of the Lionel Legacy control system for model trains and it is believed he will continue to develop the system. Young has been named as co-inventor on seven U.S. Patents related to model trains., , , , , ,

    Young has twice received honorary doctorates. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1992, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from San Francisco State University in 2006. The latter honour was shared with his wife Pegi for their creation of the Bridge School. In 2006, Young was given Manitoba's highest civilian honour, when he was appointed to the Order of Manitoba. In 2009, he was then given Canada's highest civilian honour, when he was appointed to the Order of Canada.

    Rolling Stone magazine in 2000, ranked Young thirty-fourth in its list of the 500 greatest artists of all time, and in 2003, included five of his albums in its list of 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2000, Young was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/00_neil_young.xml.htm|title=Neil Young – 2000 Inductee|publisher=Canada's Walk of Fame|accessdate=2008-11-13}}In 2006, Paste magazine compiled a "Greatest Living Songwriters" list; Young was ranked second behind Bob Dylan. (While Young and Dylan have occasionally played together in concert, they have never collaborated on a song together, or played on each others' records). He ranked thirty-ninth on VH1's 100 Greatest Artist of Hard Rock that same year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame explained that while Young has "avoided sticking to one style for very long, the unifying factors throughout Young’s peripatetic musical journey have been his unmistakable voice, his raw and expressive guitar playing, and his consummate songwriting skill."

    Young's willingness to be politically outspoken and socially conscious allowed him to influence such important artists as Blind Melon, Phish, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. Young is referred to as "the Godfather of Grunge" because of the influence he had on Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder and the entire grunge movement. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam inducted Young into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, citing him as a huge influence. Young is cited as being a significant influence on experimental rock artists Sonic Youth and Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Yorke recounted of first hearing Young after sending a demo tape into a magazine when he was 16, who favourably compared his singing voice to Young's. Unaware of Young at that time, he bought After the Gold Rush, and "immediately fell in love" with his work, calling it "extraordinary". Dave Matthews lists Neil Young as one of his favorite and most inspirational songwriters and covers his songs on occasion. The British Indie band The Bluetones named their number one debut album after the song "Expecting to Fly" (written by Young when still with Buffalo Springfield and have covered the song while touring. Young also inspired Oasis singer-songwriter Noel Gallagher, with Gallagher covering "My My, Hey Hey (Into the Black)" on the live album Familiar to Millions.

    The Australian rock group Powderfinger named themselves after Young's song "Powderfinger" from Young's Rust Never Sleeps. The members of the Constantines have occasionally played Neil Young tribute shows under the name Horsey Craze. While in Winnipeg on November 2, 2008 during the Canadian leg of his tour, Bob Dylan visited Young's former home in River Heights, where Young spent some of his teenage years. Dylan was interested in seeing the room where some of Young's first songs were composed.

    Jason Bond, an East Carolina University biologist, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider in 2007 and named it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi after Young, his favorite singer (a previous similar case was the dinousaur Masiakasaurus knopfleri named after the musician Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits).

    In 2001, Young was awarded the Spirit of Liberty award from the civil liberties group People for the American Way. Young was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, 2010, two nights prior to the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. In addition was also nominated for two Grammy Awards; Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance ("Fork In The Road") and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package Young Archives Vol. I (1963–1972)". Young won the latter Grammy Award. In 2010, Young was ranked #26 in Gibson.com’s Top 50 Guitarists of All Time. Gibson.com Top 50 Guitarists of All Time – 30 to 21

    Juno Awards

    {|class="wikitable"|-! Year! Category! Nominated work! Result|-| 2008 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Chrome Dreams II || |-| 2007 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Living With War || |-| rowspan=3 | 2006 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Prairie Wind || |-| Jack Richardson Producer of the Year || "The Painter" || |-| Songwriter of the Year || "The Painter", "When God Made Me", "Prairie Wind" || |-| rowspan=2 | 2001 || Best Male Artist || Neil Young || |-| Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo || Silver & Gold || |-| 1997 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| rowspan=2 | 1996 || Best Rock Album || Mirror Ball || |-| Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| rowspan=3 | 1995 || Songwriter of the Year || Neil Young || |-| Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| Entertainer of the Year || Neil Young || |-| rowspan=2 | 1994 || Single of the Year || "Harvest Moon" || |-| Album of the Year || Harvest Moon || |-| rowspan=2 | 1993 || Songwriter of the Year || Neil Young || |-| Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1991 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1990 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1989 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1986 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1982 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1981 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1980 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1979 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |-| 1975 || Composer of the Year || Neil Young || |}

    Instruments

    , Italy]]

    Guitars

    In 2003, Rolling Stone listed Young at eighty-third in its ranking of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", describing him as a "restless experimenter...who transform[5] the most obvious music into something revelatory." Young is a collector of second-hand guitars, but in recording and performing, he frequently uses just a few instruments, as is explained by his longtime guitar technician Larry Cragg in the film Heart of Gold. They include:
    • 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. Nicknamed "Old Black", this is Young's primary electric guitar and is featured on Rust Never Sleeps and other albums. Old Black got its name from an amateur paintjob applied to the originally gold body of the instrument, sometime before Neil acquired the guitar in the late 1960s. In 1972, a mini humbucker pickup from a Gibson Firebird was installed in the lead/treble position. This pickup, severely microphonic, is considered a crucial component of Neil's sound. A Bigsby vibrato tailpiece was installed as early as 1969, and can be heard during the opening of "Cowgirl in the Sand" from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.
    • Martin D-45. His primary steel-string acoustic guitar, used to write "Old Man" and many other songs. It was one of four instruments bought by Stephen Stills for himself and his band-mates in CSNY in order to celebrate their first full concert at the Greek Theater in 1969.
    • Martin D-28. Nicknamed "Hank" after its previous owner, Hank Williams. Hank Williams, Jr., had traded it for some shotguns; it went through a succession of other owners until it was located by Young's longtime friend Grant Boatwright. The guitar was purchased by Young from Tut Taylor. Young has toured with it for over 30 years. A story about the guitar and the song it inspired, "This Old Guitar," can be seen about 50 minutes into the film Heart of Gold. It is Young's primary guitar for Prairie Wind.
    • Vintage Martin D-18: Young used an old D-18 throughout his early days performing in coffee houses in Canada and on some early Buffalo Springfield work, before he received the D-45 from Stills. The guitar has often been used to carry "dropped standard tuning" (DGCFAD) which Young often uses in concert. This allowed him to perform songs such as "Ambulance Blues" and "Don't let it Bring You Down" live without having to tune all 6 strings onstage.


    Other notable (or odd) instruments played by Young include:
    • Vagabond Travel Guitar, used for "Let's Impeach the President" on The Colbert Report.
    • Taylor 855 12-string, used in the first half of Rust Never Sleeps.
    • 1927 Gibson Mastertone, a six-string banjo tuned like a guitar, used on many recordings and played by James Taylor on "Old Man."
    • Gretsch 6120 (Chet Atkins model). Before Young bought Old Black, this was his primary electric guitar during his Buffalo Springfield days.
    • Gretsch White Falcon. Young purchased a late 1950s model near the end of the Buffalo Springfield era; in 1969 he bought a stereo version of the same vintage guitar from Stephen Stills, and this instrument is featured prominently during Young's early '70s period, and can be heard on tracks like "Ohio," "Southern Man," "Alabama," and "L.A.". It was Young's primary electric guitar during the Harvest era, since Young's deteriorating back condition (eventually fixed with surgery) made playing the much heavier Les Paul difficult.David Simons, "Recording Harvest: The Making of Neil Young's Classic 1972 Album." Acoustic Guitar 103 (July 2001): 38–40. This particular White Falcon is the stereo 6137, in which the signal from the three bass strings is separated from the signal from the three treble strings. Young typically plays this guitar in this stereo mode, sending the separate signals to two different amps, a Fender Deluxe and either a Fender Tremolux or a low-powered Tweed Fender Twin. The separation of the signals is most prominently heard on the Harvest song "Words."
    • Gibson Flying V, on the Time Fades Away tour.
    • Fender Broadcaster, on the Tonight's the Night album and tour.


    Amplification

    Young uses various vintage Fender Tweed Deluxe amplifiers. His preferred amplifier for electric guitar is the Fender Deluxe, specifically a Tweed-era model from 1959. He purchased his first vintage Deluxe in 1967 for $50 from the drummer of Crazy Horse, Ralph Molina, and has since acquired nearly 450 different examples, all from the same era, but he maintains that it's the original model that sounds superior and is crucial to his trademark sound. The Tweed Deluxe is almost always used in conjunction with a late-1950's Magnatone 280 (similar to the amp used by Lonnie Mack and Buddy Holly). The Magnatone and the Deluxe are paired together in a most unusual manner: the external speaker jack from the Deluxe sends the amped signal through a volume potentiometer and directly into the input of the Magnatone. The Magnatone is notable for its true pitch-bending vibrato capabilities, which can be heard as an electric piano amplifier on "See the Sky About to Rain". A notable and unique accessory to Young's Deluxe is the Whizzer, a device created specifically for Young, which physically changes the amplifier's settings to pre-set combinations. This device is connected to footswitches operable by Young onstage in the manner of an effects pedal.

    Discography

    See also the discographies for Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young


    See also

    • Scott Young Public School
    • Music of Canada
    • Canadian rock


    Notes

    References



    External links



    {{Persondata|NAME= Young, Neil|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Young, Neil Percival|SHORT DESCRIPTION= Canadian Singer-songwriter|DATE OF BIRTH= November 12, 1945|PLACE OF BIRTH=Toronto, Ontario, Canada|DATE OF DEATH=|PLACE OF DEATH=}} 1945 birthsLiving peopleAmericana Music Award winnersAnti-Iraq War activistsAnti-Vietnam War activistsCanadian country guitaristsCanadian country rock musiciansCanadian country singersCanadian film directorsCanadian folk guitaristsCanadian folk singersCanadian male singersCanadian Music Hall of Fame inducteesCanadian rock guitaristsCanadian rock singersCanadian singer-songwritersCanadian environmentalistsCanadian expatriate musicians in the United StatesCrosby, Stills, Nash & Young membersJuno Award winnersLead guitaristsMusicians from ManitobaWriters from ManitobaMembers of the Order of ManitobaNeil Young and Crazy Horse membersMusicians from OntarioWriters from OntarioOfficers of the Order of CanadaPeople with epilepsyPeople from TorontoPeople from WinnipegRock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees‎

    MTV Video Music Awards winners

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