Artist Playlists
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Canadian legend Neil Young is known for his distinctive tenor, soulful lyrics, and a ragged musical mix of psychedelic rock, folk, blues, and country. He first made his name as a co-founder of Buffalo Springfield before joining up with Crosby, Stills, and Nash. As a solo artist, he's enjoyed one of the most creatively vibrant careers in rock history, repeatedly recognised as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. This collection captures Young at an early peak in his solo career, riding high on a near-flawless string of albums recorded from the late ‘60s through the mid ‘70s. - Zane sits down with Rick Rubin and Neil Young at the notorious Shangri-La in Malibu.
- Watching career-spanning videos of Neil Young means witnessing his titanic artistic development. You can see the scrappy young folk troubadour alone onstage crooning "Old Man" in 1971, catch him making history 14 years later delivering "The Needle and the Damage Done" at Live Aid then behold a righteously rockin' elder statesman zooming down the highway singing 2009's "Johnny Magic". As you watch Neil evolve, you can feel the way rock ’n‘ roll matured along with him.
- Neil Young opens up when he turns down the volume. Recorded when he was 24, “Don't Let It Bring You Down” is spellbinding in its mature marriage of quivering falsetto and deep, rich strumming. Jump forward to “Harvest Moon” from Dreamin' Man Live '92, and his sensitive, melancholic voice enchants even more.
- Whenever Neil Young plugs in, fuzz-caked guitar rock is sure to follow. His boldest live moments came with Crazy Horse—his 1991 version of “Rockin' In the Free World” is an onslaught of piercing notes and throbbing walls of distortion. “Southern Man”—recorded with CSNY—allows him to stretch out, boasting beautiful, jazzy improvisations with Stephen Stills.
- As testament to Neil Young's universal appeal, his tunes have seeped into wildly divergent genres. Where Waylon Jennings' version of “Are You Ready for the Country” is hard-strutting outlaw country, Saint Etienne's “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” is slinky, house-kissed alt-dance. Further proof comes with Loop's “Cinnamon Girl”, which blasts Young's axe squalls into space rock.
- Neil Young's vision is shaped by the folk revival and the British Invasion. Bob Dylan's defiant poetry on the civil rights anthem “Blowin' In the Wind” steered his early lyrics, and the Stones' fuzzy “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction” exposed him to snarling riffs. Young also has a love for twang, as seen in Hank Williams' honky-tonk heartbreaker “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry”.
- Every corner of Neil Young's catalogue is suffused with a tension between touching songs and bold experiments. Laced with weepy lap steel, “Out on the Weekend” is one of his most gorgeous folk ballads; the sci-fi disco pulse powering “Transformer Man” couldn't be more different. Then there's the 2012 guitar epic “Walk Like a Giant”, which proves Young's squall rumbles more with age.
- From his earliest days with Buffalo Springfield through his solo career's countless twists and turns, Neil Young has covered more artistic ground than just about anyone. Along the way, his haunting singer/songwriter tunes and howling noise-rock anthems have inspired everyone from Tom Petty and Fleet Foxes to Sonic Youth and Nirvana.