Neil Young

Importance to music

from his roots back to a coffeehouse folkie, Neil Young has led a long and winding career. He's been a cult hero, a chart-topping a rock star and everything in between. At various times, he has performed folk, country, garage-rock, and grunge. His biggest album, "Harvest" (1972), apothesized the laid-back singer/songwriter genre he helped invent. He has been an influence to other artists such as Wilco, Sun Volt, The Jayhawks, and Lucinda Williams.

Timeline

November 12, 1945: Neil Young is born in Toronto, Canada.

January 23, 1969: In the wake of ’s demise, Neil Young releases his self-titled first solo album, which fails to make Billboard’s Top 200 album chart

May 27, 1969: Only five months after his debut album, Neil Young releases ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere,’ the first of many with Crazy Horse.

March 17, 1970: ‘Deja Vu,’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, is released. With the addition of Neil Young giving the band a more electric edge, the album goes to #1 and sells more than 7 million copies.

September 16, 1970: Neil Young’s third solo album, ‘After the Gold Rush,’ is released. It peaks at #8 and yields a major hit, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.”

March 11, 1972: Neil Young’s fourth solo album, ‘Harvest,’ tops the album charts for the first of two weeks. Having sold more than 4 million copies, it remains his best-selling album.

March 18, 1972: “Heart of Gold,” by Neil Young—and featuring Linda Ronstadt and on harmony vocals—tops the singles charts.

May 3, 1972: “Old Man,” by Neil Young, peaks at #31 on the pop chart. It is the third and last time Young will crack the Top Forty

October 14, 1973: ‘Time Fades Away’, the first of three consecutive Neil Young albums that break with the mellow sound of the best-selling ‘Harvest,’ is released.

August 15, 1974: Neil Young taps into the spirit of Seventies malaise with ‘On the Beach,’ which ‘Rolling Stone’ calls “the most despairing album of the decade.”

July 16, 1975: Neil Young’s ‘Tonight’s the Night,’ inspired by and dedicated to a pair of musical acquaintances who died of drug overdoses, is released.

November 25, 1976: Neil Young performs “Helpless” at ‘The Last Waltz,’ ’s farewell concert.

December 17, 1977: ‘Decade,’ a triple-album Neil Young retrospective personally assembled by the artist, is released.

October 18, 1978: ‘Comes a Time’, by Neil Young, is released. One of Young’s most personal and intimate works, it peaks at #7 – a chart showing surpassed only by 1972’s Harvest (#1) and 1995’s Mirror Ball (#5)

July 19, 1979: ‘Rust Never Sleeps,’ by Neil Young, is released. It peaks at #8 and is certified platinum (one million sales) a year later.

November 19, 1981: ‘Re-ac-tor,’ Neil Young’s 16th and final album for Reprise Records – until his return to the label in 1988 – is released.

January 13, 1983: Neil Young kicks off his association with a new label, Geffen Records, with ‘Trans,’ an album of heavily synthesized, computer-generated songs interspersed with breezy love songs. It reaches #17, his best showing until ‘Harvest Moon’ peaks at #16 in 1992.

September 20, 1985: ‘Old Ways,’ a straightforward country-flavored album by Neil Young, is released.

April 21, 1988: Marking his return to Reprise Record, Neil Young releases ‘This Note’s for You,’ a bluesy, swinging album featuring a full horn section.

September 6, 1989: MTV presents “The 1989 MTV Video Music Awards” live from the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.” Arsenio Hall is the host and Neil Young’s “This Note’s For You” takes home Video of the Year.

September 22, 1989: Neil Young releases ‘Freedom,’ his best album in a decade. A blistering performance of the opening track, “Rockin’ in the Free World,” on ‘Saturday Night Live’ is regarded as one of that show’s best performances.

September 23, 1990: ‘Ragged Glory,’ an electric return to form by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, is released.

October 24, 1992: Twenty years after the release of his milestone ‘Harvest,’ Neil Young issues a sequel, ‘Harvest Moon.’ It becomes his first million-seller since 1979’s ‘Rust Never Sleeps.’

July 15, 1993: Neil Young’s ‘Unplugged’ CD and video are released. Recorded on February 7th in Los Angeles and first aired on MTV in March, it is an all-acoustic 14-song set.

March 21, 1994: Neil Young’s Grammy-nominated “Philadelphia,” from the AIDS-themed movie of the same name, loses to Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia’ (also on the soundtrack), for Best Song from a Motion Picture.

July 25, 1994: Neil Young releases ‘Sleeps With Angels,’ whose harder-edged sound nods to Seattle grunge-rockers and pays tribute to the late Kurt Cobain.

January 12, 1995: Neil Young is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the tenth annual induction dinner. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is his presenter.

May 26, 1995: Neil Young’s ‘Mirror Ball,’ an album recorded in Seattle with Pearl Jam, is released.

May 27, 1996: ‘Broken Arrow,’ which reunites Neil Young with Crazy Horse, is released.

April 25, 2000: Neil Young releases ‘Silver & Gold,’ one of his most intimate and personal albums.

November 21, 2000: ‘Road Rock Volume 1,’ a live album credited to Neil Young, Friends & Relatives, is released.

10 interesting facts

1. Neil's father gave him a ukelele for Chrisrmas when he was just a young boy.
2. He can be compared to Tom Petty and The Byrds
3. He is influenced by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and The Beetles
4. His mother was a quiz show panelist
5. His father was a sports writer for the 'Toronto Sun'
6. He has been in multiple bands, other than being a solo artist
7. His long feedback-filled solos owe a debut to Jimi Hendrix, in spirit if not strictly in style
8. His ride became bumpy in the Eighties, due to his switch from Reprise to Geffen Records
9. In 1985' Young performed at the Live Aid fundraising extravaganza and thenbecame one of the organizers and participants in Farm Aid, a yearly concert and consciousness-raising event
10. Him and his wife, Pegi, founded San Francisco's Bridge School, a learning center for handicapped children with communication disabilities

Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl Video