“Harvest” by Neil Young - album review

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TJR says

America’s best-selling album of 1972 has plenty going for it. The usual brand of agreeable head-nodding Americana is present early doors on tracks like “Out on the Weekend” and “Heart Of Gold”. The mid-section has “A Man Needs A Maid” and “There’s A World”, both of which benefit enormously from the accompaniment by the London Symphony Orchestra and the arrangements by Jack Nitzsche. Neil gets into trouble with many in “Alabama” as he takes a covert dig at racism. It’s right-on, even if a bit boring musically. Much more appealing as a performance is “The Needle and the Damage Done”, which Young elects to be represented by an acoustic version recorded live in concert back in January 1971. It’s all the more poignant for being delivered so starkly. The song is inspired by the heroin addiction of his friend, and Crazy Horse bandmate, Danny Whitten; he loves the guy but can’t stand to watch the debilitating effect the addiction is having on his talent. In a horrible twist of fate, Whitten would be dead before the year was out on a drugs-related misadventure. “Words (Between the Lines of Age)” closes the album gloriously, as the slow-paced rocker meanders for almost 7 minutes on pure vibe and feeling, with fantastic contributions from Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar) and Jack Nitzsche (piano). Right here, the philosophical dreamer is in fine form.

The Jukebox Rebel
03–Feb–2016

Tracklist
A1 [04:35] 7.0.png Neil Young - Out On The Weekend (Neil Young) Folk Rock / Americana
A2 [03:11] 5.7.png Neil Young - Harvest (Neil Young) Country
A3 [04:05] 7.1.png Neil Young - A Man Needs A Maid (Neil Young) Songwriter
A4 [03:07] 6.4.png Neil Young - Heart Of Gold (Neil Young) Folk Rock / Americana
A5 [03:33] 5.2.png Neil Young - Are You Ready For The Country? (Neil Young) Country
B1 [03:24] 5.9.png Neil Young - Old Man (Neil Young) Folk Rock / Americana
B2 [02:59] 6.6.png Neil Young - There’s A World (Neil Young) Songwriter
B3 [04:02] 4.8.png Neil Young - Alabama (Neil Young) Folk Rock / Americana
B4 [02:03] 7.2.png Neil Young - The Needle And The Damage Done [live ’71] (Neil Young) Folk
B5 [06:40] 8.2.png Neil Young - Words (Between The Lines Of Age) (Neil Young) Rock

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