Neil youg newbie!

[Ti-Ron]

Ok quite simple, I just hear heart of gold and his version of all along the watchtower and that guy totaly blow me ! WOW! It's amazing! I love old rock/folk music but how I missed him? Don't know but know I'm addicted! For those who know him better than me, can you suggest me a great first cd to get into is music? He did a lot with other bands and by himself so what is the better way to get inot?

I'm waiting for your suggestions!

Thanks!sdsre

[traynor_garnet]

I'm a MASSIVE Neil Young fan.

The best place to start is with "Harvest" or "After the Goldrush." These are his two biggest albums, the ones that really made him a huge star. Otherwise you might want to try "Decade" which is a greatest hits collection of his 60s and 70s stuff.

Man, you have SOOOOOOOO much great music to discover.

TG

[simescan]

Here is a list of the songs on the "Harvest" album:

Out On The Weekend
Harvest
A Man Needs A Maid
Heart Of Gold
Are You Ready For The Country
Old Man
There's A World
Alabama
The Needle And The Damage Done
Words

......I still have the LP....

[Ti-Ron]

Man, you have SOOOOOOOO much great music to discover.

TG

I know that! Life's probably too short to discover all the music around in this world! I will probably die during a show or playing guitar! ;)
Thanks for all your suggestions guys!
Have a nice week-end!

[Mooh]

Mirrorball
Ragged Glory
Rust Never Sleeps
Year Of The Horse
Unplugged
Greatest Hits

For two or three years I played bass in a Neil Young tribute band and we were always surprised at how many bookings we got in such a small market...people love Neil...they'll even dance to the stuff!

Peace, Mooh.

[dwagar]

Neil should be required listening for all Canadians.

What's the name of the Live release from the late 60's?

I've got it here somewhere. His voice is hauntingly perfect on this one.
===
here it is. Massey Hall 1971
CD and DVD in one package, awesome deal, beautiful stuff.

[zontar]

An often overlooked gem of Neil's is reactor.
It's a great listen.
Often people writing about Neil Young's 1987 album Life as his first with Crazy Horse since Rust Never Sleeps--However reactor was in between those two.

T-Bone is a great song for jamming on.

[RIFF WRATH]

hey bud...I believe he has over 40 albums....was with Crosby Stills & Nash for a while.....you are in for a whole lots of listening fun
cheers
RIFF

[traynor_garnet]

An often overlooked gem of Neil's is reactor.
It's a great listen.
Often people writing about Neil Young's 1987 album Life as his first with Crazy Horse since Rust Never Sleeps--However reactor was in between those two.

T-Bone is a great song for jamming on.

There are a lot of great "hidden" Neil Young albums but I wouldn't recommend Reactor for someone starting out. My personal faves are Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night, Zuma, On the Beach, but I wouldn't recommend them to a newbie.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Freedom. Another one of my faves. I think both Freedom and Prairie Wind are late career masterpieces. Most of the other post 1990 stuff is unnecessary with some real misses along the way.

TG

[traynor_garnet]

Harvest Moon is a great album. Have you ever heard Neko Case's version of "Dreaming Man"?

BTW, TG, I assume you're aware that there is a massive box set CD/DVD set coming out soon? All B-sides and unreleased stuff. There's some reference to it on Neil's official site. No firm date, but they say it's coming in 2007. Maybe it's been postponed. I'm not sure. I think it covers 1965-72 or something like that. It's supposed to be the first of several, I think. It's vol. 1 of the archive series (note that first released recording from the Archive series was labelled as vol. 2).

Harvest Moon was the first album I didn't buy (if that makes sense). It came out just after the peak of my late teen early 20s Neil fanaticism and "Ragged Glory" (the preceding album) was kind of a let down. I should really look into picking it up.

Regarding the box set, I've been waiting forever. Man, what is the hold up? I cannot believe they are going to miss the Xmas shopping season: weird.

TG

[zontar]

There are a lot of great "hidden" Neil Young albums but I wouldn't recommend Reactor for someone starting out. My personal faves are Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night, Zuma, On the Beach, but I wouldn't recommend them to a newbie.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Freedom. Another one of my faves. I think both Freedom and Prairie Wind are late career masterpieces. Most of the other post 1990 stuff is unnecessary with some real misses along the way.

TG
Why not?
It's pure Neil, it's eclectic, it's fun to listen to.
It's everything Neil is--well except for angry man, maybe.

[traynor_garnet]

Why not?
It's pure Neil, it's eclectic, it's fun to listen to.
It's everything Neil is--well except for angry man, maybe.


It's simply not as accessible or catchy to a new listener. Many better place to start as a newbie.

TG

[zontar]

I found it extremely catchy, and also most of the songs are easy & fun to play.

I don't see how it's not accessible.
It's actually my favorite Neil Young album, and has been from the first time I listened to it.

It just never got the airplay.

But if you haven't heard a lot of Neil Young, you might not know that.

[traynor_garnet]

I found it extremely catchy, and also most of the songs are easy & fun to play.

I don't see how it's not accessible.
It's actually my favorite Neil Young album, and has been from the first time I listened to it.

It just never got the airplay.

But if you haven't heard a lot of Neil Young, you might not know that.

Just as jroberts said, no hits and no familiarity. As an owner of about 30 Neil Young albums, I still think there are way better places to start. If you dig the album that's cool.

TG

[dwagar]

only Neil Young could have the balls to record a one note guitar solo (Cinnamon Girl)
and it took a Canadian to write a song about the National Guard killing students on campus (Ohio)

Don't forget Buffalo Springfield (Mr Soul), and IMO C,S,N was nothing until it became C,S,N & Y

[Sneaky]

Another good Neil Young starter is Decade (a greatest hits album from the late 70's)

Pete

[zontar]

Another good Neil Young starter is Decade (a greatest hits album from the late 70's)

Pete

Decade's great in that it covers solo work as well as group work.

I still stand by reactor, in how I interpret the question.
This is about introducing someone to Neil Young--whether the song was a hit or not--it's still new to that person--so I fail to see how accessibility is a problem.

And i'm used to seeing people be unaware of ignore reactor.

[gurianguy]

Neil Young with Crazy Horse. His second album. Cinnamon Girl, Down by The River etc. It doesn't get much better than that. Trust me on this one.

[Milkman]

Neil Young is among Canada's most treasured artists and rightly so. Personally I love his acoustic guitar and piano tunes the best.

Harvest
After The Goldrush
Comes a Time
Live at Massey Hall


I also love some of his more recent songs. Philidelphia is bloody beautiful.


You gotta love Neil.

Just a suggestion, but you might want to check out Gordon Lightfoot as well.

Beautiful songs and some smoking guitar playing. Another Canadian legend.

[Ti-Ron]

I went with a "sure starter" value! I found in a used store a little best of! I was really suprise that I know a couple of song on it like rocking in a free world! I really love his sound and voice! A good discovery for christmas!

Milkman: I put him on my list!

[Gunny]

Off topic comment - by the way I really like Neil... remember the Canadian African relief session produced by David Foster? Foster tells Neil that he's off key. Neil replies "that's my sound, man!"