The Neil Young Hit That Bothered Bob Dylan

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Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” was initially just a short interlude nestled within a different song, “A Man Needs a Maid,” before it became a triumphant stand-alone hit.

“That’s the way it originally came out,” Young told Guitar World in 2009. “It was just a little piano thing in the middle of a larger song. It just morphed. It just grew.”

Inspiration for the single, released in January 1972, had arrived in the form of a wordless tune. “I stole the idea for ‘Heart of Gold’ from ‘Love Is Real,’” Young later admitted to Dutch journalist Constant Meijers in 1974. The instrumental track by French orchestra leader Paul Mauriat had been a No. 1 hit on the U.S. easy listening chart in 1968.

As the decade turned, a lingering back injury led Young to focus more attention on his acoustic guitar, which was easier to play sitting down than an electric. He penned “Heart of Gold,” and invited James Taylor to play banjo on the recording, and Linda Ronstadt to sing backing vocals.

“Neil Young has those classic elements of sturdy song construction, but still gives you something new and unique,” Ronstadt said in Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography. “There’s just some completely classic support structures in his chord progressions — they often seem to run off the key of D — that are just so sturdy and so right, like Greek architecture. The strength of the classic traditional stuff, even though they’re completely unique, they’re all completely Neil.”

“Heart of Gold” rose swiftly to the top of the charts, becoming Young’s only No. 1 U.S. single. One of his primary influences, however, did not think the track sounded “completely Neil.” Bob Dylan, in between albums at the time and living in Phoenix, could not shake the feeling that the song sounded like something he himself would write.

“I used to hate it when it came on the radio,” Dylan told Spin in 1985. “I always liked Neil Young, but it bothered me every time I listened to ‘Heart of Gold.’ I think it was up at No. 1 for a long time, and I’d say, ‘Shit, that’s me. If it sounds like me, it should as well be me.’ … It seemed to me somebody else had taken my thing and had run away with it, you know, and I never got over it.”

Listen to Neil Young Perform ‘Heart of Gold’

This chart success helped make Young’s fourth studio LP Harvest the best-selling album of 1972, and Young one of the most recognizable names in early ’70s rock. It also took a significant emotional toll. Young’s back injury only got worse as he continued to tour, resulting in a slipped disk, an operation and strict orders from a doctor to spend no more than four hours a day on his feet.

“I tried to stay away from the success as much as possible,” Young told Rolling Stone’s Cameron Crowe in 1979. “And being laid up in bed gave me a lot of time to think about what had happened. I thought the popularity was good, but I also knew that something else was dying.”

Like Dylan after his infamous motorcycle accident, Young “became really reclusive.” He spent several months at home, partially nursing his ailing back, but also avoiding the limelight. Young eventually launched a three-month tour in the fall of 1972, every night of which was recorded and eventually released as Time Fades Away. But the trek was miserable: Financial discrepancies developed between Young and his backing band, his drinking habits ramped up and fans hoping to hear knockout hits like “Heart of Gold” were disappointed in the lackluster versions offered.

“I guess at that point I’d attained a lot of fame and everything that you dream about when you’re a teenager,” Young told Melody Maker in 1985. “I was still only 23 or 24, and I realized I had a long way to go – and this wasn’t going to be the most satisfying thing, just sittin’ around basking in the glory of having a hit record. It’s really a very shallow experience; it’s actually a very empty experience. It’s nothing concrete except ego-gratification, which is an extremely unnerving kind of feeling. So I think subconsciously I set out to destroy that and rip it down, before it surrounded me.”

When the tour was over, Young returned home, downtrodden. His long-awaited next album, 1974’s On the Beach, became the second installment in what would later be dubbed his “ditch trilogy” for their gloomy, dejected attitudes. For Young, “Heart of Gold” remained the crux of his evolution from Dylan-esque folkie to seasoned, if sometimes cynical, songwriter.

“[That] song put me in the middle of the road,” he wrote in the liner notes to his 1977 compilation album, Decade. “Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there.”

Neil Young Albums Ranked Neil Young is one of rock’s most brilliant, confounding, defiant and frustrating artists.

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Neil Young wants his music off Spotify over Joe Rogan’s podcast, vaccine misinformation

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(CNN) — Neil Young, an outspoken advocate for COVID-19 safety and prevention, doesn’t want his music to share a home with vaccine misinformation.

In a now-deleted post on his website, Young asked his managers and record label to remove his music from Spotify because he said the music and podcast platform is “spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe this disinformation spread by them.” (Rolling Stone originally reported the text of the deleted post.)

Neil Young’s 10 best albums ranked in order of greatness

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There is no better time to get into Neil Young. The acclaimed singer-songwriter is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Over the past years, the legendary guitarist and songwriter has provided a refreshing outlook on progressive politics equipped with a back catalogue that could make Bob Dylan blush. The artist has become, once again, one of the foremost voices in his arena. While, of course, we would suggest that delving into his whopping 42 studio albums is certainly worth your while, and may even see you through most of your adult life without repeating a single track, if you’re time-poor then we have ten of the singer’s greatest albums.

To have spent over five decades at the top of the rock world is a feat not many artists can achieve. Neil Young has done it not with gimmicks or pop prowess but by continuously writing songs which are deliberate, artistic and authentic. There are few artists that feel as genuine as Neil Young. Not plagued by ego or individualism, Young hasn’t just been one of the starring songwriters of his five decades in the limelight but he’s also been just as happy to take a back seat and let the band take the praise.

Hardly any artists have been as prolific as Neil Young during their career. Never deterred by workload or expectation, Young has always been his own master and has made sure that everything he has done has been an accurate reflection of him. Whether that’s being involved with Farm Aid from the beginning or working hard for The Bridge School, Young is normally the ageing rocker that makes you feel good about rock and roll.

“I don’t like to be labelled, to be anything. I’ve made the mistake before myself of labelling my music, but it’s counter-productive,” Young once said in a quote which typifies his approach to music. “The thing about my music is, there really is no point,” he added, nonchalantly. “I just do what I do. I like to make music.” And he sure did make a lot of it.

Taking a look at his back catalogue and you can see both how and why Young garnered so many fans during his time in the limelight. While his singles and singular songs are plentiful and rich, with enough nourishment to keep a smile on your face and a song in your heart, it is within the art form of ‘the album’ that Young truly shines like nobody else.

As such, we’ve narrowed down his Neil Young’s mammoth canon of work to ten of the best albums.

Neil Young’s 10 best albums:

10. Freedom (1989)

Like many of his 1960s contemporaries, Neil Young struggled to find his place in the ’80s. The glitz and glitter balls of the decade soon gave way to the pursuit of electronic advancement and that meant music too. Folk artists like Young faltered when trying to assert themselves as they had done in the prior two decades. Young, however, did eventually find his groove.

Rather than try to fit in with a changing world, Young decided on Freedom from 1989, that he would push through the confines of pop and deliver a powerful and poignant record. It was so full of rage and discontent that many have championed it as the foundational stone of the grunge movement that was to follow it.

As well as ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’, the obvious hit, the LP also included ‘Crime in the City’ and the classic crunch of ‘On Broadway’.

9. Time Fades Away (1973)

After Young finally managed to crack the charts he decided, like any true musical innovator would, that he would deliver perhaps his most chaotic LP. Charged with malicious intent, the album is buzzing with possibility and Young’s displeasure at his newfound fame.

As well as being a middle-finger to the mass market audiences who had just filled his bank account, Young uses Time Fades Away also delivers some of his best songs. There is the churning rock of ‘Last Dance’, the piano beauty of ‘The Bridge’ and his open-book song ‘Don’t Be Denied’.

This is an album that can melt away a morning on start one’s day afresh.

8. Sleeps With Angels (1994)

While Young was being resolutely championed as the forefather of grunge by the time Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana and the de facto grunge God, committed suicide he was struck down by despair. Cobain had quoted a Young lyric in his suicide note and it left the songwriter bereft. The title track of the album was his response.

The album could rightly be adored simply for the title track, such is its power. It sees Young affirming his role as a cantankerous rocker, displeased with the creativity he saw in front of him. If he was the daddy of grunge then he was back to whip a few people into shape.

It’s a bleak moment in Young’s career but nevertheless, it’s a wonderful album that can make a true fan feel both warm, comforted and suspenseful.

7. Zuma (1975)

When Neil Young reunited with Crazy Horse for Zuma, they produced a much lighter LP than the record that had preceded it. It saw Young once again try to find his own groove in a new world. The seventh studio album of Young’s career, it peaked at number 25 on the Billboard charts.

As well as the fabulous ‘Barstool Blues’, ‘Through My Sails’ and the historical epic ‘Cortex the Killer’, the album is imbued with a sense of desperation for life. Written after the loss of Danny Whitten, Crazy Horse’s leading man, the group needed to realign and Zuma is the result.

It’s an album that has long gone down in history as one of the greats and will, no doubt, be regarded as some of Young’s finer work until the end of time.

6. Tonight’s the Night (1975)

The 1960s were a wild ride and by the time Young reached the middle of the new decade he had gone a similar route to most of his contemporaries. It meant that Young had drowned his aspirations for free-love and free-thinking in gallons of tequila, found himself a good dealer and set up shop. It took the death of Danny Whitten to sharpen up.

Tonight’s The Night sees Young explore his own feelings towards sobriety as well as expertly conveying his grief with touching honesty. While the drunken chaos of the LP is hard to deny, there’s a sense of foreboding that is unavoidable. But there’s one moment when Young’s voice cracks on ‘Mellow My Mind’ and lets the truth and beauty of the song shine through the mistake.

It’s one of his most arresting moments on a record that is positively brimming with such tales.

5. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)

Neil Young’s 1969 debut with Crazy Horse is one of the most potent records of Young’s established career. Considering its comparative lowly position, it speaks highly of Young’s talents that he has so many high-class albums to choose from. Few records across the world of music can match this one blow for blow.

The record contains a group of songs that Young had written while under the influence of a debilitating fever. As well as the title track, Young composed ‘Cinnamon Girl’ and its killer riff, ‘Down By the River’ and all its jams and even the lyrical angst of ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ all while suffering from hallucinations.

It is one of the most engrossing albums in Young’s entire canon as it dips between the singer finding himself as an artist and the artist struggling to be a pop star.

4. After the Gold Rush (1970)

The sixties were a wild time and when Neil Young opened his eyes on January 1st 1970, we like to think his bleary eyes were perfectly trained on his guitar, aiming to have an album as brilliant as After The Gold Rush as quickly as possible. That’s because it is hard not to see this album as a hangover from the counter-culture vibes that permeated the prior decade.

‘Don’t Let It Bring You Down’ is perhaps the archetypal moment of the album. Stark and distressed, despite the title, Young confirmed it was a song that was “guaranteed to bring you down”.

While the LP was routinely rolled over by some of the biggest publications of the day in the reviews, Young’s songwriting power has transcended generations and time to become one of the best albums ever made.

3. On the Beach (1974)

As part of the Ditch Trilogy, you can naturally expect On the Beach to be a bleak affair, despite the apparent sunny setting of the LP. The album is largely thought of as one of the most despairing albums ever made and sometimes seen as Young waving goodbye to despair, having been recorded after but released before Tonight’s The Night.

There are some grand moments on the album and while ‘Ambulance Blues’ is certainly one of Young’s best songs, it’s hard to see past the titular track. ‘On the Beach’ is a stoned and superior view on the sunnier side of life, no matter how melancholy the melody may be.

It’s a triumph of an album and certainly deserves revisiting. Chances are it will confirm everything you’ve been told about the talent of Neil Young.

2. Rust Never Sleeps (1979)

One of Neil Young’s finest attributes, as well as being a consummate songwriter, was his incredible performances on stage. It makes sense then that one of his best albums is a composition of his time both in the studio and in front of an audience. Rust Never Sleeps was recorded on stage in 1978 and later overdubbed in the studio but not a single drop of magic was spilt in the transfer.

Young has always kept up a remarkably high standard on his work but he flushes out a warmer more formidable tone on Rust Never Sleeps. The first side of the record, dripping in folk-rock purity and delicately breathtaking before it, Young kicks things up a notch on the second side. There are nods to the punk movement around him on ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)’ and ‘Thriller’.

Without doubt, the best song on the album is the saga ‘Powderfinger’, which still to this day is doused in mystique, violence and familial bonds. It’s a showstopper.

1. Harvest (1972)

After ‘Heart of Gold’ went to number one, there was always a great chance that the album would follow —such were the charts in those days. Even still, the record became Young’s only number one album and, for that reason alone, it could be considered his finest album. Luckily, for the anti-populists around, the LP is also simply brimming with incredible songs too.

It featured the London Symphony Orchestra on two tracks and vocals by noted guests David Crosby, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Stills, and James Taylor. It was proof that Young was transcending the ideals of ‘the rock star’ and was now exploring the possibilities of pop music. Though the record is largely acoustic it swings through genres and styles with effortless grace.

Songs about life, death, love and loss are explored with the delicacy that Young was becoming famed for. While other acts had sought to extend their careers by going harder than ever before, Young takes a softer approach and discovers gold while doing so.

Songs like ‘Out on the Weekend’, ‘Heart of Gold’ and ‘Old Man’ are all the proof you need of Harvest is Neil Young’s best album ever.

Listen to the complete playlist of Neil Young’s ten best albums below.

Neil Young shares documentary about new Crazy Horse LP ‘Barn’ on YouTube

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Neil Young and Crazy Horse released a new album, Barn, in 2020 (order on deluxe vinyl). It was named after the barn where they recorded the album, and Neil has now shared a full-length documentary about it. A Band A Brotherhood A Barn was directed by Neil’s wife, Daryl Hannah, and it’s free to stream via YouTube. Here’s the official synopsis:

BARN the documentary film, directed by Daryl Hannah (dhlovelife), catches a rare intimate glimpse of this legendary band as they make music in a restored 19th-century log barn under the full moon. The film captures Neil and the Horse in an organic way, their easy irreverent humor, their brotherhood, and of course their music, as it was created. BARN intentionally lingers on single shots for entire songs, showing there are no tricks, revealing the raw, organic, and spontaneous process of the music bursting to life from unexpected moments. Exquisite changes of light and weather dance in the remote meadow where the barn sits, adding a sweet, mystical magic as the music thumps, reverberates, and echoes. The film is infused with the gratitude and joy that permeated the whole experience.

Watch the documentary below.

You can get the deluxe edition of Barn and lots of other classic Neil Young albums on vinyl in the BV shop.

Neil Young Net Worth: ‘Powderfinger’ Singer Still Earns Millions Per Year

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KEY POINTS Neil Young rose to fame in the 1960s

“Old Man,” “Harvest Moon” and “Heart of Gold” are among his hit songs

He sold 50% of the rights to his 1,180 songs for $150 million

Neil Young, who recently demanded that his music be removed from Spotify due to alleged vaccine misinformation on the platform, still earns millions of dollars from his songs each year.

The 76-year-old Canadian-American singer-songwriter, known for recording “Old Man,” “Harvest Moon” and “Heart of Gold,” rose to prominence in the 1960s. Over the years, he has become one of the most successful and famous musicians of all time, and clear proof of this is his massive wealth.

Currently, Young has an estimated net worth of $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

As a solo artist, he released his first self-titled album in 1969. He later formed the band Crazy Horse and collaborated with them on his second solo album, “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.”

His next album “After the Gold Rush,” which featured “Tell Me Why” and “Southern Man,” became his first solo one to crack the top 10 in the U.S. Young outdid himself the next year with his album “Harvest,” which contains the songs “The Needle and the Damage Done,” “Old Man” and “Heart of Gold,” as it hit no. 1 and become the bestselling album in the U.S. for 1972.

Aside from Crazy Horse, Young became part of other bands such as Buffalo Springfield, Stills and Nash & Young throughout his career as an artist.

To date, Young has released almost 50 studio albums and more than 20 live albums, of which 18 have been certified gold, seven are platinum and three are multi-platinum.

Last year, Young sold 50% of the rights to his 1,180 songs to investment company Hipgnosis Songs Fund for $150 million, the BBC reported.

Aside from being a singer-songwriter, Young is also an entrepreneur. He was a part-owner of Lionel, a company that specializes in model trains and related accessories. In 2008, Young lost all of his shares in the company as it went bankrupt.

Young also helped create Pono, an online music download and streaming service. In 2017, Pono was forced to shut down after its operating company, Omnifone, was bought out by Apple.

In 1970, Young purchased Broken Arrow Ranch, a 1,000-acre property in La Honda, California, for $350,000. He subsequently expanded the property by buying thousands of additional acres.

He listed his longtime home in Hawaii for $24.5 million in 2015 and eventually sold the property in 2018 for $20 million.

In 2016, Young purchased a home in Malibu, California, from his girlfriend Darryl Hannah for $3.6 million, but it was destroyed two years later in the Woolsey fire.

In a now-deleted post on his website Monday, Young, an outspoken advocate for COVID-19 safety and prevention, asked his managers and record label to remove his music from Spotify because he said the platform is “spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe this disinformation spread by them,” according to Rolling Stone.

“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” Young said in Monday’s post, referring to Joe Rogan, who has made frequent false and inaccurate claims surrounding vaccines and COVID-19 on his podcast.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / KEVIN WINTER