Harvest (album)
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| Harvest | |||||
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| Studio album by Neil Young | |||||
| Released | February 25, 1972 | ||||
| Recorded | Jan.-Sept. 1971 at Quadraphonic Studios, Nashville; Barking Town Hall, London and Broken Arrow Studio No. 2, Woodside, CA | ||||
| Genre | Rock, folk rock, country rock | ||||
| Length | 37:11 | ||||
| Label | Reprise | ||||
| Producer | Neil Young Elliot Mazer Henry Lewy Jack Nitzsche |
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Harvest is an album by Neil Young, which was the best-selling album of 1972. The album featured several high calibre guests, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, David Crosby and James Taylor. Harvest hit #1 on the Billboard Music Charts (North America) pop albums chart, spawning two hit singles, "Old Man", which peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Heart of Gold", which peaked at #1.
After the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young split, Young recruited a new group of country session musicians, which he christened The Stray Gators and recorded a country rock record in Harvest. The record was a massive hit, producing a US number one single in "Heart of Gold". Other songs returned to some usual Young themes: "Alabama" was "an unblushing rehash of 'Southern Man'";[1] and "The Needle and the Damage Done" was a lament for great artists who had died of heroin addiction. The album's success caught Young off guard and his first instinct was to back away from stardom. He would later write that the record "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."[2]
"Words (Between the Lines of Age)", the last song on the album, featured a lengthy guitar workout with the band. It has a typical Neil Young structure consisting of four chords during the multiple improvised solos. The song is notable for alternating between a standard 4/4 time signature for verses and choruses and an unusual 11(3+3+3+2)/8 for interludes.
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[edit] Reception
In 1998 Q magazine readers voted Harvest the 64th greatest album of all time. In 1996, 2000 and 2005, Chart polled readers to determine the 50 greatest Canadian albums of all time — Harvest placed second in all three polls, losing the top spot to Joni Mitchell's Blue in 2000, and to Sloan's Twice Removed in the other two polls. In 2003, Rolling Stone named Harvest the 78th greatest album of all time. In 2007, Harvest was named the #1 Canadian Album of All Time in Bob Mersereau's book The Top 100 Canadian Albums.
According to a Rolling Stone interview, Young had wanted the album sleeve to biodegrade after the shrink-wrap was broken, but was overruled by the record company on the basis of expense and the possible product loss due to shipping accidents.
[edit] DVD-Audio Edition
In 2002 (the 30th Anniversary of the album) Harvest was digitally remixed and remastered for the DVD-Audio format. The new 5.1 mix was a minor subject of controversy due to its unconventional panning (with the vocals in the centre of the room and the drums in the rear speakers).
[edit] 2009 Remastering
Harvest is due to be released as a HDCD-encoded remastered version on July 14, 2009.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Side one
- "Out on the Weekend" – 4:34
- "Harvest" – 3:11
- "A Man Needs a Maid" – 4:05
- "Heart of Gold" – 3:07
- "Are You Ready for the Country?" – 3:23
[edit] Side two
- "Old Man" – 3:24
- "There's a World" – 2:59
- "Alabama" – 4:02
- "The Needle and the Damage Done" – 2:03
- "Words (Between the Lines of Age)" – 6:40
All songs written by Neil Young.
[edit] Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Billboard 200 | 1 |
| Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart |
[edit] Personnel
- Neil Young with The Stray Gators:
- Neil Young: guitar, piano, harmonica, vocal
- Ben Keith: pedal steel guitar
- Kenny Buttrey: drums
- Tim Drummond: bass
- Jack Nitzsche: piano, slide guitar
- John Harris: piano
- Teddy Irwin: guitar
- James McMahon: piano
- James Taylor: banjo-guitar, vocal
- David Crosby: vocal
- Graham Nash: vocal
- Linda Ronstadt: vocal
- Stephen Stills: vocal
- "A Man Needs a Maid" & "There's a World":
- Neil Young: piano, vocal
- The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Meecham
[edit] References
- ^ So characterized by Jim Miller in Rolling Stone; quoted in Inglis, Sam (2003), Harvest, pp. 93-94. The Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0826414958.
- ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, p. 308. Billboard Books. ISBN 0823076776.
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) |
[edit] External links
| Preceded by American Pie by Don McLean |
Billboard 200 number-one album March 11 - March 24, 1972 |
Succeeded by America by America |
| Preceded by American Pie by Don McLean |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album June 19 - June 25, 1972 |
Succeeded by Machine Head by Deep Purple |
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