Neil Young Pictures, Biography, Profile, Facts, Discography, Filmography, more.

Coming to prominence with rock band Buffalo Springfield, and reaching his commercial peak during the singer songwriter boom of the early 1970s, his career is marked by experimentation and 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. 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.

In 1966, after an aborted record deal with the Rick James-fronted Mynah Birds, he and bass player Bruce Palmer relocated to Los Angeles, where he again met Stills. With the American Richie Furay they formed the Buffalo Springfield, taking their name from a manufacturer of heavy equipment such as steamrollers. Playing a mixture of folk, country, psychedelia and rock, and given a hard edge by the twin lead guitars of Stills and Young, the Springfield were a critical success, and the first record Buffalo Springfield (1967) sold well, supported by a hit single in Stills' political "For What It's Worth". During sessions for the follow-up, relations between the band deteriorated, with Stills and Young, the de facto leaders of the group, pulling in opposite directions. The tensions led to the abandonment of the record, provisionally titled Stampede, although some of the songs reappeared on Buffalo Springfield Again (1967). By then, Palmer had been arrested for possession of drugs and deported back to Canada, and Young had all but left the group; his compositions "Mr Soul", "Expecting to Fly" and the adventurous "Broken Arrow" are solo recordings in all but name.

Young's three songs on Buffalo Springfield Again can be seen as a model for his solo records. "Expecting to Fly" was a piece of confessional folk-rock, of a kind with many other records that emerged from the singer-songwriter movement. On the other hand "Mr Soul" was pure rock and roll driven by a fat guitar riff that owed more than a little to the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction". "Broken Arrow" was a lushly produced ballad. Young rejoined in time to help record a final, disappointing, album -- Last Time Around -- released in 1968.

Young signed with Reprise Records and released his eponymous debut album in early 1969. By the time the album was released, he had begun playing with a local band called the Rockets, which featured guitarist Danny Whitten, bassist Billy Talbot, and drummer Ralph Molina. Young renamed the group Crazy Horse and had them support him on his second album, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, which was recorded in just two weeks. Featuring such Young staples as "Cinnamon Girl" and "Down by the River," the album went gold. Following the completion of the record, he began jamming with Crosby, Stills & Nash, eventually joining the group for their spring 1970 album, Deja Vu. Although he was now part of Crosby, Stills & Nash, Young continued to record as a solo artist, releasing After the Gold Rush at the end of the year. After the Gold Rush, with its accompanying single "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," established Young as a solo star, and fame only increased through his association with CSN&Y.

Young recruited a new group of country-music session musicians, whom he christened The Stray Gators, and recorded a country rock record in Harvest (1972). Catching the mood that would soon lift The Eagles to superstardom, Harvest was a massive hit, producing the US number one single "Heart of Gold". Other songs returned to some usual Young themes: "Alabama" was an inferior rehash of "Southern Man"; "Words" featured a lengthy guitar workout with the band; and "The Needle and the Damage Done" chronicled Danny Whitten's descent into heroin addiction. The album's success caught Young off guard and his first instinct was to back away from stardom.

In 1973, Young formed The Santa Monica Flyers, with Crazy Horse's rhythm section augmented by Lofgren on guitar. Deeply affected by the drug-induced deaths of Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry, they recorded Tonight's the Night in 1973. Young had also recorded On the Beach (1974). Young's focus began to wander in 1976, as he recorded the duet album Long May You Run with Stephen Stills and then abandoned his partner midway through the supporting tour. The following year he recorded the country-rock-oriented American Stars 'n Bars, which featured vocals by Nicolette Larson, who was also prominent on 1978's Comes a Time. Prior to the release of Comes a Time, Young scrapped the country-rock album Homegrown and assembled the triple-album retrospective Decade. At the end of 1978, he embarked on an arena tour called Rust Never Sleeps, which was designed as a showcase for new songs. Half of the concert featured Young solo, the other half featured him with Crazy Horse. That was the pattern that Rust Never Sleeps, released in the summer of 1979, followed.

Rust Never Sleeps had restored Young to his past glory, but he perversely decided to trash his goodwill in 1980 with Hawks & Doves, a collection of acoustic songs that bore the influence of conservative, right-wing politics. In 1981, Young released the heavy rock album Re-Ac-tor, which received poor reviews. Following its release, he left Reprise for the fledgling Geffen Records, where he was promised lots of money and artistic freedom. Young decided to push his Geffen contract to the limit, releasing the electronic Trans, where his voice was recorded through a computerized vocoder, later that year. The album and its accompanying, technology-dependent tour were received with bewildered, negative reviews.

Re-ac-tor (1981) was another set with Crazy Horse, with a mask of distortion and feedback obscuring a relatively weak selection of songs, but his strangest record of the decade came with 1982's Trans. Recorded almost entirely electronically with the instruments and vocals modified by effects such as vocoder and a reliance on synthesizers, it is often considered Young's attempt to experiment with technology that might give his son Ben, who has severe cerebral palsy and cannot speak, a way to communicate. Old Ways (1985) saw a return to country music, recorded with a group of friends and session musicians, but the songs were largely tepid, whereas Landing on Water (1986) was an equally unsatisfying amalgam of his older styles, '80s synthesiser pop and Trans-era experimentation. Even the resumption of his partnership with Crazy Horse on 1987's Life failed to raise him from the artistic doldrums.

Young produced This Note's for You (1988) with a new band, The Bluenotes. Accompanied by a witty video which parodied corporate rock, the pretensions of advertising and Michael Jackson in particular, the song was initially banned by MTV before being put into heavy rotation and finally given the MTV Video Music Award for Best Video of the Year for 1989.

Weld and the Sonic Youth tour helped position Neil Young as an alternative and grunge rock forefather, but he decided to abandon loud music for its 1992 follow-up, Harvest Moon. An explicit sequel to his 1972 breakthrough, Harvest Moon became Young's biggest hit in years, and he supported the record with an appearance on MTV Unplugged, which was released the following year as an album. Also in 1993, Geffen released the rarities collection Lucky Thirteen. The following year, he released Sleeps With Angels, which was hailed as a masterpiece in some quarters. Following its release, Young began jamming with Pearl Jam, eventually recording an album with the Seattle band in early 1995. The resulting record, Mirror Ball, was released to positive reviews in the summer of 1995.

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 & 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.

Young's 2001 single "Let's Roll", was 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 shift towards political commentary became more pronounced with the advent of the Iraq War and Young's next project, an anti-Bush rock opera.

Young toured extensively with the Greendale material throughout 2003 and 2004--first with a solo, acoustic version in Europe, then with a full-cast stage show in North America, Japan, and Australia.

Young spent the latter portion of 2004 giving a series of intimate acoustic concerts in various cities with his wife, Pegi, who is a trained vocalist. Reports out of the Young camp in early 2005 had him booking time in a Northern California recording studio to work on material that is a closely held secret.

Neil Young Trivia / Timeline:

Hospitalized after suffering a brain hemorrhage in April 2005.

One of his major hobbies is collecting model trains.

In his 1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech, he thanked Kurt Cobain for inspiring him to renew his dedication to making music. Eddie Vedder, once the target of criticism by Cobain, introduced him.

Some of his best known songs include "Cinnamon Girl", "Down by the River", "Heart of Gold", "After the Gold Rush", "Hey Hey, My My", and "Rockin' In The Free World".

In Spin magazine's list of the top 100 Alternative Albums in 1995, Tonight's The Night (1975) came in at #14, and Rust Never Sleeps (1979) came in at #61.

Guitarist and singer for rock group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

The melody for his song "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)" is taken from the Old English folk song, "O Waly, Waly". He is known to close his concerts with this song.

Called Carrie Snodgress after he'd seen her in the movie Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970). In "A Man Needs A Maid", he sings: "I fell in love with the actress / She was playing a part I could understand". The relationship lasted until 1975.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 (as a member of Buffalo Springfield).

Part-owner of Lionel LLC, producer of Lionel toy trains.

Left Buffalo Springfield prior to their appearance on the Tonight Show in 1967. He was replaced for that gig, as well as their appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, by his future bandmate in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, David Crosby.

Raised in Omemee, Ontario. Scott Young Public School in Omemee is named after his father.

He was voted the 34th Greatest Artist of all time in Rock 'n' Roll by Rolling Stone.

His songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama" were attacks on racism in the Southern USA. The songs were 'answered' by Lynyrd Skynyrd with their song "Sweet Home Alabama". Some have interpreted Young's "Walk On" as an answer on his turn, although others think it's more likely the lyrics in "Walk On" refer to Crosby, Stills and Nash. After Ronnie Van Zandt and Steve Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in a plane crash (1977), Neil Young performed a rare live version of "Alabama" at Bicentennial Park, Miami, Florida on 11-12-1977, for Children's Hospital Charity with The Gone With The Wind Orchestra and he changed the lyric chorus from "Alabama" to "Sweet Home Alabama".

In the early 1960s Neil played in a rock band with future R&B artist Rick James in Canada. James was AWOL from the Army and hiding out from the authorities. Prior to signing a record deal, James was extradicted and jailed. Of course, Young and James never worked together musically after this.

Quotations by Neil Young:

"It's better to burn out than to fade away."

My my, hey hey. Rock and roll is here to stay.

Remember when you used to watch TV in the Sixties and you'd see Perry Como in a cashmere sweater? That's what rock'n'roll is becoming. It's your parents' music.

All that stuff about heavy metal and hard rock, I don't subscribe to any of that. It's all just music. I mean, the heavy metal from the Seventies sounds nothing like the stuff from the Eighties, and that sounds nothing like the stuff from the Nineties. Who's to say what is and isn't a certain type of music.

"Live music is better."

Neil Young Discography:

1960s/70s Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs:

1969 Neil Young Reprise

1969 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Warner

1970 After the Gold Rush Reprise

1972 Harvest Warner

1973 Time Fades Away Warner

1974 On the Beach Warner

1975 Tonight's the Night Warner

1975 Zuma Warner

1976 Long May You Run (with Stephen Stills) Warner

1977 American Stars 'N Bars Warner

1978 Comes a Time Reprise

1979 Rust Never Sleeps Reprise

1980s Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs:

1980 Hawks & Doves Warner

1981 Re-ac-tor Warner

1983 Trans Geffen

1983 Everybody's Rockin' Geffen

1985 Old Ways Geffen

1986 Landing on Water Geffen

1987 Life Geffen

1988 This Note's for You Reprise

1989 Freedom Reprise

1989 Eldorado Alex Imports

1990s Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs:

1990 Ragged Glory Reprise

1992 Harvest Moon Warner

1994 Sleeps With Angels Reprise

1995 Mirror Ball Warner

1996 Dead Man Vapor

1996 Broken Arrow Reprise

2000s Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs:

2000 Silver & Gold Reprise

2002 Are You Passionate? Vapor

2003 Greendale Reprise

Live Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs:

1972 Journey Through the Past Warner

1979 Live Rust Warner

1991 Arc Reprise

1991 Weld Warner

1991 Arc-Weld Warner

1993 Unplugged Warner

1997 Year of the Horse Reprise

2000 Road Rock, Vol. 1: Friends & Relatives Reprise

Compilation Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs:

1977 Decade Reprise

1987 The Best of Neil Young Warner

1993 Lucky Thirteen Geffen

Interview Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs:

1979 The Warner Bros. Music Show Warner

1991 Ragged Glory Words + Music Special Reprise

2000 Words and Music Reprise

2002 Maximum Chrome Dreams

1970s/80s Neil Young Videos & Neil Young DVDs:

1972 In Concert at the BBC BBC

1979 Rust Never Sleeps

1982 Human Highway Warner

1986 Solo Trans Pioneer

1986 In Berlin Rhino

1990s Neil Young Videos & Neil Young DVDs:

1990 Freedom Warner Reprise

1991 Weld Warner

1991 Ragged Glory

1993 Unplugged Warner

1995 The Complex Sessions Warner

1999 Year of the Horse POLYGRAM

2000s Neil Young Videos & Neil Young DVDs:

2000 Silver & Gold Warner

2000 Friends and Relatives: Red Rocks Live... Warner

2001 Road Rock, Vol. 1 Reprise

2004 Greendale Sanctuary

Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs - Buffalo Springfield:

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield (1967) Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Vocals, Remastering

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield Again (1967) Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Producer

Buffalo Springfield Last Time Around (1968) Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals

Buffalo Springfield Best of Buffalo Springfield..... (1969) Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Producer

Buffalo Springfield Expecting to Fly (1970) Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals

Buffalo Springfield/Neil... Buffalo Springfield [Collection] (1973) Producer

Buffalo Springfield Box Set (2001) Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Arranger, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Producer, Remixing

Buffalo Springfield Star Collection Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals

Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young:

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Déjà Vu (1970) Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals, Producer, Performer

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Four Way Street (1971) Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals, Producer, Performer

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young So Far (1974) Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals, Producer

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Replay (1980) Producer

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young American Dream (1988) Guitar, Harmonica, Percussion, Piano, Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Vocals

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash [Box Set] (1991) Guitar (Acoustic), Bass, Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Producer.

Crosby Stills & Nash Carry On (1998) Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Harmonica, Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Producer

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Looking Forward (1999) Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Producer, Tiple, Mixing

Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs - Neil Young Appearances B-H:

Randy Bachman Any Road (1993) Guitar, Vocals, Engineer

Randy Bachman Merge (1995) Guitar, Vocals

The Band Last Waltz (1978) Guitar, Vocals

Beat Farmers Loud and Plowed and...LIVE!! (1990) Composer

Blue Öyster Cult Bad Channels (1992) Bass, Vocals

Booker T. & the MG's Time Is Tight [1998] (1998) Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals

Tracy Chapman Collection (2001) Guitar (Acoustic), Piano

Julian Cope 20 Mothers (1995) Author

Crazy Horse Crazy Moon (1978) Guitar, Vocals, Producer, Associate Producer

David Crosby If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971) Vocals (bckgr)

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert (1993) Guitar, Vocals, Performer

Elyse Elyse (1968) Guitar, Vocals

The Fallen Angels Happy Ever After (1999) Performer

Farm Aid Farm Aid: Keep America Growing,... (2000) Harmonica, Organ (Pump)

Emmylou Harris Christmas Album (Light in the... (1979) Harmony Vocals

Emmylou Harris Duets (1990) Vocals

Emmylou Harris Wrecking Ball (1995) Harmonica, Harmony Vocals

The Hour Glass Hour Glass [BGO] (2001) Liner Notes

Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs - Neil Young Appearances K-P:

Ben Keith and Friends Seven Gates: A Christmas Album (1994) Organ, Guitar, Vocals, Producer

Rusty Kershaw Now & Then (1992) Vocals (bckgr), Performer

Kitten for Christian Privilege of Your Company (2003) Guitar

Nils Lofgren Crooked Line (1992) Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals

Nils Lofgren Soft Fun, Tough Tears (1997) Vocals, Performer

Nils Lofgren Ultimate Collection (1999) Harmonica, Vocals

Loretta Translation (2003) Assistant, Mixing Engineer

Mercury Rev Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp #1 (1998) Performer

Joni Mitchell Hejira (1976) Harmonica

The Monkees/Original... Head (1968) Guitar

The Monkees Instant Replay (1969) Guitar

The Monkees Listen to the Band (1991) Guitar

The Monkees Anthology (1998) Guitar

Mott the Hoople All the Young Dudes [Box] (1998) Writer

Willie Nelson Half Nelson (1985) Vocals, Producer, Performer

Willie Nelson Revolutions of Time: The Journey... (1995) Producer

Pearl Jam Merkinball (1995) Organ, Guitar, Vocals, Organ (Pump)

Neil Young Albums & Neil Young CDs - Neil Young Appearances R-Z:

David Rea Feelin' Good (1985) Producer, Engineer

David Rea Brass Ring (1993) Producer, Engineer

Robbie Robertson Storyville (1991) Vocals (bckgr)

Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou... Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (1999) Harmonica, Vocals (bckgr)

Buffy Sainte-Marie She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina (1971)

Joanne Shenandoah Eagle Cries (2001) Guitar (Electric)

Stealin Horses Stealin' Horses (1985) Harmonica

Stephen Stills Best of Stephen Stills (1977) Guitar, Vocals

Rob Wasserman Trios (1994) Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Handclapping

Weezer Christmas CD (2000) Engineer

Warren Zevon Sentimental Hygiene (1987) Guitar

Warren Zevon Transverse City (1989) Guitar, Harmony Vocals, Harmony

Warren Zevon I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (An... (1996) Guitar, Vocals (bckgr)

Warren Zevon Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon (2002) Harmony Vocals

Neil Young Filmography:

As Composer:

Prairie Wind

"80s" (2005) TV Series (song "This Note's for You")

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) (song "Rockin' in the Free World")

Greendale (2003) (song)

Acústico MTV: Legião Urbana (2001) (TV) (songs "On The Way Home" and "Rise")

Shallow Hal (2001) (song "After the Gold Rush") ... aka Schwer verliebt (Germany)

Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001) (song "Old Man")

Almost Famous (2000) (songs "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" and "Cortez The Killer") ... aka Untitled: Almost Famous the Bootleg Cut (USA: director's cut (DVD title))

Wonder Boys (2000) (song "Old Man") ... aka Wonder Boys, Die (Germany) ... aka Wonderboys - Lauter Wunderknaben (Germany: TV title)

American Beauty (1999) (song "Don't Let It Bring You Down")

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) (song "Expecting to Fly")

Year of the Horse (1997) ... aka Year of the Horse: Neil Young and Crazy Horse Live (USA: complete title)

Jerry Maguire (1996) (song "World on a String")

Bewerbungen (1996) (TV) (song)

... aka Interview (USA)

Dead Man (1995) ... aka Dead Man (Germany) ... aka Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (USA)

The Complex Sessions (1994) (song)

Philadelphia (1993) (end title "Philadelphia")

Directo al corazón (1991) (song "Love to Burn")

Weld (1990) (song)

Freedom (1989) (song)

Made in Heaven (1987) (songs)

Neil Young in Berlin (1983) (V) (song)

Neil Young: Human Highway (1982) (song)

Silence of the North (1981) (original song)

Out of the Blue (1980) (title theme) ... aka No Looking Back (USA: TV title) ... aka Plus rien à perdre (Canada: French title)

Where the Buffalo Roam (1980)

The Last Waltz (1978) (song)

American Boy: A Profile of: Steven Prince (1978) (song) ... aka American Boy

Liza with a 'Z' (1972) (TV) (song "My Mammy") ... aka Singer Presents Liza with A Z (USA)

Dark spring (1971) (song)

The Strawberry Statement (1970) (song "Helpless")

Changes (1969) (songs)

As Actor:

Greendale (2003) (as Bernard Shakey) .... Wayne Newton

Love at Large (1990) .... Rick

Weld (1990) .... Neil Young

Freedom (1989) .... Neil Young

'68 (1988) .... Westy(motorcycle shop

Made in Heaven (1987) .... Truck driver

Neil Young: Human Highway (1982) .... Lionel Switch