| |
Neil Young
After Neil Young left the Californian folk-rock band Buffalo Springfield in 1968, he slowly established himself as one of the most influential and idiosyncratic singer/songwriters of his generation. Young's body of work ranks second only to Bob Dylan in terms of depth, and he was able to sustain his critical reputation, as well as record sales, for a longer period of time than Dylan, partially because of his willfully perverse work ethic. From the beginning of his solo career in the late '60s until the late '90s, he never stopped writing, recording, and performing; his official catalog only represented a portion of his work, since he kept countless tapes of unreleased songs in his vaults. Just as importantly, Young continually explored new musical territory, from rockabilly and the blues to electronic music. But these stylistic exercises only gained depth when compared to his two primary styles: gentle folk and country-rock, and crushingly loud electric guitar rock, which he frequently recorded with the Californian garage band Crazy Horse. Throughout his career, Young alternated between these two extremes, and both proved equally influential; there were just as many simply singer/songwriters as there were grunge and country-rock bands claiming to be influenced by Neil Young. Despite his enormous catalog and influence, Young continued to move forward, writing new songs and exploring new music in his fourth decade as a performing artist. That restless spirit ensured that he was one of the few rock veterans as vital in his old age as he was in his youth.
Neil Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer and guitarist. Coming to prominence with pop band Buffalo Springfield, and reaching his commercial peak during the singer songwriter boom of the early 1970s, his career is marked by experimentation and for his frequent stylistic changes, that have often left critics, audiences (and in one notable case, his record label) baffled. His back catalogue includes folk and country, hard rock, rockabilly, garage rock (which saw him tagged "The Godfather of Grunge") and electronica. Despite this, he retains a core audience of devoted followers.
Young is recognizable for his distinct high-pitched, nasal voice. In addition to electric and acoustic guitars, he has occasionally performed on piano and organ, and frequently complemented singing with the harmonica.
Young was born in Toronto; his father is sportswriter and novelist Scott Young. Having first played in high school instrumental rock bands in Winnipeg (one of whom, the Squires, had a local hit with "The Sultan") he began to work the folk clubs of Toronto, where he befriended guitarist Stephen Stills.
|
|
| |
Artist Biography - Neil Young
|
 He was back with Crazy Horse for 1994's Sleeps with Angels, a much darker record. The title track told the story of Kurt Cobain's suicide, after Young had tried to contact the singer prior to his death. Cobain had quoted Young's "It's better to burn out than fade away" in his suicide note. Others dealt with drive-by killings ("Driveby"), environmentalism ("Piece of Crap") and Young's own vision of America (the archetypal car metaphor of "Trans Am"). Still admired by the prime movers of grunge, Young jammed with Pearl Jam at the MTV Music Awards, which led to a joint tour, with the band and producer Brendan O'Brien backing Young. The accompanying album, Mirror Ball (1995), recorded as live in the studio captured their loose rock sound.
After composing an abstract, distorted feedback-led guitar instrumental soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Dead Man he recorded a series of loose jams with Crazy Horse, that eventually appeared as the disappointing Broken Arrow. This return to Crazy Horse was prompted by the death of mentor, friend and long time producer David Briggs in late 1995. The subsequent tours of Europe and North America in 1996 resulted in both a live album and a tour documentary directed by Jim Jarmusch. Both releases took the name "Year of the Horse".
The decade ended with Looking Forward, another reunion with Crosby, Stills and Nash, that only occasionally rose above the perfunctory. The subsequent tour of the United States and Canada with the reformed super quartet was a huge success and brought in earnings of 42.1 million dollars, making it the 8th best grossing tour of 2000.
Neil's next album, the subtle, understated, acoustic Silver & Gold (2000), was a marked improvement. It was also his most personal record for a long time, a trend which continued on the inferior Are You Passionate? (2002), an album of love songs dedicated to his wife, Pegi, which also included his 2001 single "Let's Roll", a tribute to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the passengers and crew on Flight 93 in particular. At the America: A Tribute to Heroes concert he performed a cover version of John Lennon's "Imagine".
Young's latest album Greendale, which was recorded with Horse members Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina, is a rock opera that chronicles the saga of a California family torn asunder by post-9/11 America. This tale of the Green family also resulted in a movie called Greendale written and directed by Neil Young (again using his "Bernard Shakey" pseudonym) and starring a few of his friends that act out and lip-synch the songs from the album.
Young was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1982. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; firstly in 1995 for his solo work and again in 1997 as a member of the Buffalo Springfield.
He has also directed three movies, under his pseudonym Bernard Shakey: Journey Through the Past (1979), Human Highway (1982), and Greendale (2003). He is one of the founders of Farm Aid, and remains on their board of directors. He owns Vapor Records, who have signed such artists as Jonathan Richman and Catatonia. Since 1995 he has been part owner of Lionel, LLC, a company which makes toy trains and railroads. In a "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list in the June 1996 issue of Mojo magazine, Young was ranked number 9.
In the summer of 1996, he reunited with Crazy Horse for Broken Arrow and supported it with a brief tour. That tour was documented in Jim Jarmusch's 1997 film The Year of the Horse, which was accompanied by a double-disc live album. In 1999, Young reunited with Crosby, Stills & Nash for the first time in a decade, supporting their Looking Forward LP with the supergroup's first tour in a quarter century. A new solo effort, Silver and Gold, followed in the spring of 2000. In recognition of his 2000 summer tour, Young released the live album Road Rock, Vol. 1 the following fall, showcasing a spectacular two night account of Young's performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO, in September 2000. A DVD version titled ed Rocks Live was issued that December, including 12 tracks initially unavailable on Road Rock, Vol. 1.
|
| |
|
For more information , enjoy the official homepage of Neil Young
|
|
|
