Your (current) favourite Neil Young songs?

[cse]

Clare Newsome:Neil Young sits in the same category as Bob
Dylan for me - highly talented songwriters (poets, even) that should
leave the singing to someone else.

I've just created a playlist of classic Dylan covers to convert to a Revox reel that'll get a lot of play.

I should explore doing the same with some of Neil's great songs....

Ditto Van Morrison

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Andrew Everard:
Charlie Jefferson:I'll get back to Kent, Bangs and MacDonald and see how it should be done, perhaps.

Ah well, if you're going to consult a law partnership...

Yes, it's one of the more liberal practices I've encountered. Currently, only one vaguely extant member.

 

[BillDay66]

Birds

Barstool Blues

Transformer Man + Hurricane from unplugged

Cant compare his voice to Dylan's, Neil can hold a note ..if the mood takes him, whereas Bob seems to have given up trying long ago

I still love the new records that both of them churn out ....not exactly easy listening though is it. Took my better half to see Dylan about 7 years ago on the basis that 'the guy is a legend, we must go!'

I have been reliably informed that legend or not, we wont be going again

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Saw Neil Young & Crazy Horse at the Phoenix Festival in 1996.

Came on, went straight into "Hey Hey My My...", and boy was it loud, but clear as a bell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA-DjpLitCA

It was a strange gig, just the ends of the songs lasted 20-30 min (seriously)

The good bits more than outweighed the over indulgent duller bits though, and I'm so glad I was there.

He's also my favourite guitarist of all time, just everything up to 11, and hammer the **** out of it. Brilliant

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW:
Saw Neil Young & Crazy Horse at the Phoenix Festival in 1996.

Came on, went straight into "Hey Hey My My...", and boy was it loud, but clear as a bell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA-DjpLitCA

It was a strange gig, just the ends of the songs lasted 20-30 min (seriously)

The good bits more than outweighed the over indulgent duller bits though, and I'm so glad I was there.

He's also my favourite guitarist of all time, just everything up to 11, and hammer the **** out of it. Brilliant

Sounds like quite a gig. A friend of mine was there too, and he waxed lyrical for many weeks about the extended song routine.

Yep, Neil's one of my favourite guitarists too. I listened to Weld last night on vinyl and it was an eviscerating experience. The songs are secondary to the noise. The wonderful noise.

Then I listened to his mostly gentler playing with Nils Lofgren on the After The Goldrush album, and that's beautiful too.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Did you check out the You Tube link?

You can tell how loud and awesome it sounded by the looks on the audience faces, it was something special that I've never witnessed since, and I've been to a lot of gigs

I've heard that Neil really rated it too, and I remember him coming on stage for the encore, and shaking his bum at the audience, which is not something you really expect from Neil Young.

He also did some acoustic solo stuff at Phoenix, which was also brilliant.

I've never understood the bad singer label, I think he's a good singer with a distinctive style, but certainly not out of tune.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:His contribution to this must be some of his finest work ever.
Heresy , I tell you , heresy . " Old Man " my fav Young song .

Did you know " It's Going to Take a Lot of Love " was written by him ? After all these years , I did not know that . I thought it was done by a female vocalist ( forget her name } in the 70s . When Neil sings this song it just doesn't sound right . Really not worth a spin . Imo .

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW:
Did you check out the You Tube link?

You can tell how loud and awesome it sounded by the looks on the audience faces, it was something special that I've never witnessed since, and I've been to a lot of gigs

I've heard that Neil really rated it too, and I remember him coming on stage for the encore, and shaking his bum at the audience, which is not something you really expect from Neil Young.

He also did some acoustic solo stuff at Phoenix, which was also brilliant.

I've never understood the bad singer label, I think he's a good singer with a distinctive style, but certainly not out of tune.

Yes I did check the link. It's great footage - Neil & Crazy Horse in full flight.

I agree, he's not a bad singer at all. It's just his pitch that tends to put some people off, I suppose.

Another evening of Neil beckons, but where to start? Rust Never Sleeps, Side Two, methinks.

 

[Lost Angeles]

Current favourite "Ordinary People". I like long tracks.
Old Favourite "Needle and the Damage Done"

 

[Simon Lucas]

Good job you put that qualification in the question, Charlie. Tough to answer otherwise.
For today, though:

Winterlong (appeared on some Tonight's The Night acetates, apparently, but otherwise on Decade)
Silver & Gold (Silver & Gold)
Cinammon Girl (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere)
Tonight's The Night Part 1 (Tonight's The Night)
Don't Cry (Freedom)
Revolution Blues (On The Beach)
Danger Bird (Zuma)

But my favourite Neil solo is on the title track of Warren Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene. Ignore the foul 1987 production values of the sound in general - it's a hair-raising piece of playing.

 

[matthewpiano]

Very difficult to choose favourites from such a superb catalogue of songs but a few highlights for me would be:

The Needle and the Damage Done
Fountainebleau
Lost In Space
Like A Hurricane
Cowgirl in the Sand
Down By The River
Old Man
Southern Man
Heart of Gold
Alabama

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Simon Lucas:
Good job you put that qualification in the question, Charlie. Tough to answer otherwise.
For today, though:

Winterlong (appeared on some Tonight's The Night acetates, apparently, but otherwise on Decade)
Silver & Gold (Silver & Gold)
Cinammon Girl (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere)
Tonight's The Night Part 1 (Tonight's The Night)
Don't Cry (Freedom)
Revolution Blues (On The Beach)
Danger Bird (Zuma)

But my favourite Neil solo is on the title track of Warren Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene. Ignore the foul 1987 production values of the sound in general - it's a hair-raising piece of playing.

I love the solo on Sentimental Hygiene. Isn't that the essence of Neil right there?

I'd also forgotten how good Danger Bird sounds. Your mention of Winterlong made me dig out the Pixies version, which is wonderful too.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

matthewpiano:Very difficult to choose favourites from such a superb catalogue of songs but a few highlights for me would be:

The Needle and the Damage Done
Fountainebleau
Lost In Space
Like A Hurricane
Cowgirl in the Sand
Down By The River
Old Man
Southern Man
Heart of Gold
Alabama

Lost In Space! A forgotten (by me, at least) gem hidden away on an uneven album. One of my first Neil albums bought at the time of release, when I was 13 or 14.

"Out on the ocean floor. . ."

 

[6th.replicant]

Saw NY at Isle of Whyte '09, first time I'd seen him live - yoiks, what a performer and what a guitarist! Went to see him two weeks later in Hyde Park.

Down By The River - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Heart Of Gold - Harvest

Words (Between The Lines Of Age) - Harvest

Revolution Blues - On The Beach

Only Love Can Break Your Heart - After The Goldrush

Keep On Rockin' In The Free World - Freedom

Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) [live] - Rust Never Sleeps

Hitchhiker - Le Noise

Ohio - Neil Young Greatest Hits & Archives Vol I

Johnny Magic - Fork In The Road

 

[cse]

1. Love in mind - Live at Massey Hall 1971 (possibly the greatest album, certainlly amazingly recorded).

2. On the Beach - On the Beach.

3. Natural Beauty - Harvest Moon.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

cse:
1. Love in mind - Live at Massey Hall 1971 (possibly the greatest album, certainlly amazingly recorded).

2. On the Beach - On the Beach.

3. Natural Beauty - Harvest Moon.

I've been playing the Blu-ray version of Massey Hall today, and yes it's a stunning recording. I don't know what they've done to the 40 year old tapes to make it all sound so natural and full.

I love the airing of songs that would later become famous on Harvest. Heard in this context, it really throws Neil's songwriting craft into sharp relief. The lack of recognition on the audience's part only adds to the thrill and sense of an artist not merely going through the motions and/or his greatest hits.

 

[survivor]

I certainly have been `groovin` to Neil and for quite some time too. When I`m flicking through the albums on my MP3 player I find it difficult to not keep stopping on the Neil Young albums more than any other artist.

Current favourites:

`Powderfinger` (Rust Never Sleeps and Weld versions) I`d love to make a music video of this song.

`Cortez The Killer` (Zuma and Weld versions)

`Danger Bird` (Zuma)

`Out On The Weekend` (Harvest)

`Heart Of Gold` (Harvest)

`Hey Hey, My My` (Weld)

`Southern Man` (After The Gold Rush)

`Four Strong Winds` (Comes A Time) I know he didn`t write this one but I love his version.

Albums I`ve been listening too recently have been `Massey Live `71`, `Harvest`, `Comes A Time` and `Chrome Dreams 2`.

Neil Young is the man!

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:
Neil Young sits in the same category as Bob Dylan for me - highly talented songwriters (poets, even) that should leave the singing to someone else.

I've just created a playlist of classic Dylan covers to convert to a Revox reel that'll get a lot of play.

I should explore doing the same with some of Neil's great songs....

My wife would totally agree with you on the Bob Dylan thing. She'll let me play nearly anyting when she is in the house apart from him. It pained her when her mum bought me the Bootleg Series boxset for Christmas a few years ago.