Comes a Time

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	A
Rolling Stone	(positive)
Rolling Stone

Comes a Time is the ninth album by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young, released in 1978. It is a return to the country/folk rock sound of Harvest (1972). "Comes a Time" is also the title song and a single release from the album.

Production

The album originally started out as a solo record, but when Young played it for Reprise executives they asked him if he would consider adding rhythm tracks to what he already had. Young agreed, and the end product was Comes a Time. Two songs ("Look Out For My Love" and "Lotta Love") were backed by Crazy Horse, resulting in them having a distinctively raw sound compared to the smooth production of the rest of the album. "Human Highway" was written several years prior to the album's release, and originally presented to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1974 for a proposed studio album by the group which never came to be. Much of the album features harmony vocals from Nicolette Larson. She also shares lead vocals with Young on "Motorcycle Mama".

For years, it was rumoured that Young had purchased some 200,000 copies of the album because he was unhappy with the sound, owing to damage that occurred to the master tape during shipment to the mixing facility. The version of the album most widely available today was personally remixed by Young from the safety copy of the original master. In a March 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Young revealed that he, in fact, used the 200,000 LPs as shingles for a barn roof.

Track listing

All songs written by Neil Young, except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Goin' Back"	4:43
2.	"Comes a Time"	3:05
3.	"Look Out for My Love"	4:06
4.	"Lotta Love"	2:38
5.	"Peace of Mind"	4:11

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Human Highway"		3:09
7.	"Already One"		4:53
8.	"Field of Opportunity"		3:08
9.	"Motorcycle Mama"		3:08
10.	"Four Strong Winds"	Ian Tyson	4:07

Personnel

• Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocals, production
• Frank Sampedro – guitar, piano, vocals (on tracks 3 and 4)
• Billy Talbot – bass, vocals (on tracks 3 and 4)
• Ralph Molina – drums, vocals (on tracks 3 and 4)
• Tim Mulligan – saxophone
• Nicolette Larson – harmony vocals (except on tracks 3 and 4)
• Ben Keith – steel guitar
• Karl Himmel – drums
• Tim Drummond – bass
• Spooner Oldham – piano
• Rufus Thibodeaux – fiddle
• Joe Osborn – bass
• Larrie Londin – drums
• J. J. Cale – electric guitar
• Farrel Morris – percussion
• Rita Fey – autoharp
• Grant Boatwright, John Christopher, Jerry Shook, Vic Jordan, Steve Gibson, Dale Sellers, Ray Edenton – acoustic guitars
• Shelly Kurland, Stephanie Woolf, Marvin Chantry, Roy Christensen, Gary Vanosdale, Carl Goroditzby, George Binkley, Steve Smith, Larry Harvin, Larry Lasson, Carol Walker, Rebecca Lynch, Virginia Ghristensen, Maryanna Harvin, George Kosmola, Martha Mccrory, Chuck Cochran – strings

Technical

• Ben Keith – production (except on tracks 3, 4 and 8)
• Tim Mulligan – production (except on track 7)
• David Briggs – production (on tracks 3 and 4)
• Tim Mulligan, Michael Laskow, David McKinley, Danny Hilly, Mike Porter, Denny Purcell, Rich "Hoss" Adler, Ernie Winfrey, Gabby Garcia, Paul Kaminsky – engineering
• Elliot Roberts – direction
• Tom Wilkes – art direction
• Coley Coleman – photography

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1978	Billboard Pop Albums	7

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1978	"Four Strong Winds"	Billboard Pop Singles	61

External links

• Comes a Time at MySpace (streamed copy)
• Samples from Amazon.com