Perfectly capturing both the dying optimism of San Francisco’s counterculture and the burgeoning cynicism of the Watergate generation, Harvest stands as the commercial pinnacle of the West Coast country-rock scene — a U.S. and UK No. 1 that defined an era. Auguring Young’s 1970s creative peak, the album drew on harmonies from Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, and struck commercial gold with “Heart Of Gold,” a song so successful it would haunt Young for the next three decades, driving him purposely away from the mainstream and toward the ditch. “This song put me in the middle of the road,” he famously wrote. “Traveling there soon became a bore.”
Beyond its hit single, Harvest contains some of the most arresting writing of Young’s career — the slow-burning scorn of “Alabama” cuts deep as an acerbic denunciation of Southern corruption, “The Needle And The Damage Done” is a haunting and devastatingly personal portrait of addiction, and “Old Man” remains a touching homage to the caretaker of Young’s ranch. The album occasionally threatens to veer into country mawkishness, but its creator’s extraordinary songwriting instincts always pull it back. Timeless, deeply human, and beautifully crafted, Harvest is the coming-of-age record of the Baby Boomer generation.
“Harvest yielded Young’s only Number One hit… and helped set the stage for the Seventies soft-rock explosion.”
— Rolling Stone, 2003
Neil Young – Harvest (1972)
| # | Title | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Out On The Weekend | 4:35 |
| 02 | Harvest | 3:03 |
| 03 | A Man Needs A Maid | 4:00 |
| 04 | Heart Of Gold | 3:05 |
| 05 | Are You Ready For The Country | 3:21 |
| 06 | Old Man | 3:22 |
| 07 | There’s A World | 3:00 |
| 08 | Alabama | 4:00 |
| 09 | The Needle And The Damage Done | 2:00 |
| 10 | Words (Between The Lines Of Age) | 6:40 |