Album: Neil Young
Recorded: August-October 1968
Released: November 1968
Recorded: August-October 1968
Released: November 1968
Songs / length: 10 / 35:32
According to his biography Shakey, Young describes recording his first solo album as a "lonely experience", and it's no coincidence that the album's key song is called The Loner. With his best friend Bruce Palmer deported back to Canada, Young teamed up with Jack Nitzsche and Carol Kaye of The Wrecking Crew, Nitzsche's protégé Ry Cooder and producer David Briggs to record the album. Much of the LP's orchestration, such as the lovely French horns on Old Laughing Lady, are Nitzsche's handiwork.
The album sticks to a strict formula, with both sides opening with an instrumental and closing with an epic. Side 1 is much the stronger to my mind. Emperor of Wyoming has a lovely country & western vibe, reminiscent of Buffalo Springfield, while side 1 closer Old Laughing Lady is one of the record's highlights, its moody guitar chords fitting perfectly with the theme of alienation. You get the feeling Young is looking for escape from the Hollywood music scene, and this city vs country theme comes to the fore on Here We Are In The Years. He's also looking for love, as he testifies on one of the LP's stronger songs I've Been Waiting For You, but for now seems a bit lost, and on Last Trip To Tulsa we can hear him trying to emerge from Dylan's shadow.
The record has many of Young's trademark features – vibrato guitar sound, lovely melodies and guitar tones, vulnerability in his voice and his lyrics – but the production lets it down. In his autobiography, Waging Heavy Peace, Young says that his label Reprise "fucked up" his first solo record, using it as an experiment for its new Haeco-CSG system, which was designed to make music played on mono equipment have a stereo sound, but in fact just made it sound tinny. Despite a remix and re-release of the album a few months later, Young felt that the original magic had been lost.
Highlights: The Loner, Old Laughing Lady, Here We Are In The Years
Album rating: B-
According to his biography Shakey, Young describes recording his first solo album as a "lonely experience", and it's no coincidence that the album's key song is called The Loner. With his best friend Bruce Palmer deported back to Canada, Young teamed up with Jack Nitzsche and Carol Kaye of The Wrecking Crew, Nitzsche's protégé Ry Cooder and producer David Briggs to record the album. Much of the LP's orchestration, such as the lovely French horns on Old Laughing Lady, are Nitzsche's handiwork.
The album sticks to a strict formula, with both sides opening with an instrumental and closing with an epic. Side 1 is much the stronger to my mind. Emperor of Wyoming has a lovely country & western vibe, reminiscent of Buffalo Springfield, while side 1 closer Old Laughing Lady is one of the record's highlights, its moody guitar chords fitting perfectly with the theme of alienation. You get the feeling Young is looking for escape from the Hollywood music scene, and this city vs country theme comes to the fore on Here We Are In The Years. He's also looking for love, as he testifies on one of the LP's stronger songs I've Been Waiting For You, but for now seems a bit lost, and on Last Trip To Tulsa we can hear him trying to emerge from Dylan's shadow.
The record has many of Young's trademark features – vibrato guitar sound, lovely melodies and guitar tones, vulnerability in his voice and his lyrics – but the production lets it down. In his autobiography, Waging Heavy Peace, Young says that his label Reprise "fucked up" his first solo record, using it as an experiment for its new Haeco-CSG system, which was designed to make music played on mono equipment have a stereo sound, but in fact just made it sound tinny. Despite a remix and re-release of the album a few months later, Young felt that the original magic had been lost.
Highlights: The Loner, Old Laughing Lady, Here We Are In The Years
Album rating: B-
Here's my Early Years (Archives Vol.1 Discs 0-3 + this album) playlist
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