One of the most influential, prolific, and significant musicians in the history of rock music is Neil Young, a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. He is well renowned for his social and political engagement and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
Over the course of his career, Young has recorded more than fifty studio albums, spanning a variety of musical genres like folk, rock, country, blues, and even electronic music. He addresses issues like love, peace, justice, and the environment in his songs.
Back in November 2022, Neil shared some of his opinion on getting old. He also decided to make a documentary that showcases the making of his album ‘Harvest’. Also, it included some of the highlights of his 77th birthday. He was with Howard Stern at the Howard Stern Show and shared his 77th birthday experience. He said,
“It was fantastic. Stephen Stills was there, and Joni Mitchell was there and all my friends and my family, everybody. It was cool. I’m not freaking out, but there was something going on. I don’t know, maybe when you see that you know when I just made this movie about Harvest and I watched it you know. And everybody, it’s gone. I’m the only one who’s not gone.”
Stern also goes over Harvest, which he describes as Young’s most revolutionary album. That’s when Young also commented, “Well you gonna see how we did it and us doing it. But there’ll be other takes, not the takes you’re used to, and all the stuff that I did in my barn.
And then I did some of the, you know, with the London Symphony Orchestra, but we recorded that. We filmed it when I hear the orchestration, you know, a man needs to make one of my favorite songs he ever wrote. That’s ‘You’ on a piano, but then it builds. I mean, ‘You’ did multiple takes. You didn’t just right out of the box do it.”
Young added that they had to perform it several times since there were timing issues between him and the orchestra. He claimed that it would be shown solely in his next documentary movie. Stern’s question regarding a clip of “Alabama” from the upcoming film, in which Crosby and Stills are seen singing the song, brought the interview to a close.
Young said, “I need these guys to sing this because they can sing.”
Be sure to check the whole interview down below.
