Neil Young (born with Toronto the November 12th 1945) is a Auteur-compositeur-interprète and a Guitariste of Folk, Country and Canadian Rock. It became one of the most respected and influential musicians of its generation. Commercially, its apogee is at the beginning of the Années 1970 with albums solo like After the Gold Rush or Harvest in addition to its role in the very popular group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

The “trademark” of Neil Young is easily recognizable, in particular by its high-perched voice and its very personal texts. Its songs concern two quite distinct styles most of the time: the first, a Folk - crossbred Rock'n'roll acoustic of Country with songs like Heart Off Gold or Long May You Run , and the second, a form of Hard rock and Grunge before the hour, music throbbing and hypnotic with the saturated guitars that one finds in Cinnamon Girl , Southern Man or Rockin' in the Free World , often associated with Crazy Horse, the group which accompanies it most of its career.

He also ventured in other repertories: Drunk, swing, Electronic music and Rockabilly. It is regarded as one of the largest guitarists to be itself expressed in these various styles.

Biography

Neil Young knew many difficult moments in her life: grave diseases, of the parents divorced, divorce, two boys reached of handicaps engine and mental and the brutal disappearance of friends. In spite of all these personal tragedies, Neil Young has continued her career of musician for more than 40 years. Each album is particularly marked by the context of the present moment.

Beginnings: Buffalo Springfield

Young appeared on the international music scene with the group Buffalo Springfield in 1966.
This group of Folk-rock'n'roll was initially composed by Neil Young, Steven Stills, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin and Bruce Palmer.

A career solo

In 1969, Young turns to a career solo. He carries out a very beautiful first album folk-rock'n'roll: " Neil Young " .
With its group Crazy Horse, it records a second album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere , then After the Gold Rush (1970). It obtains a phenomenal success with Harvest in 1972, number 1 in the USA and in GB. In France, Neil Young receives for this album the Price of " the Academy Charles Cros ". The three musicians of Crazy Horse (Danny Whitten, Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot) formed since 1962 the hard core of the " Rockets" , a group of bar, before Neil Young does not recruit them for a round and its second album solo. Crazy Horse will have accompanied Neil Young on 11 by her albums and many rounds.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

It joined in 1969 the trio Crosby, Stills and Nash and appears with the Festival of Woodstock but refuses to be filmed. Together, they will create a little later celebrates it album Déjà considering . For more than 30 years they have collaborated together episodically.

The black period

Very touched by the death of Danny Whitten, the handicap of his/her son and the addiction with cocaine, dark Neil Young in a depression. Moreover, he suffers from epileptic fits. During this period, it enriches its discography by major albums impressed of a dark pessimism: Time Insipid Away (1973), One The Beach (1974) and Tonight' S the Night (1975).

Rust never sleeps

After excellent the Zuma (1975), all seems to better be and appear other albums: American Stars 'N Bars (1977) and remarkable the Comes has Time (1978), Rust Never Sleeps and Live Rust (1979). In 1975 Young receives from the guitarist Grant Boatright a Martin D28 which will accompany it from now on on the majority by the titles accoustic. He meets his new partner, Pegi, in 1978.

Second black period followed by the Geffen eclipse

Since the publication of Live Rust , Neil Young is considered by the critics as one of the essential authors of the décennie.
It takes retreat with the music for better devoting itself to its private life, in particular with its second wire, suffering like the elder one of a serious handicap. It however continues to record albums. Two albums considered as minors appear: Hawks and doves (1980) and Re-ac-tor (1981). The public not informed does not include/understand pas.
In 1982, Neil Young signs an new agreement with David Geffen. It was dependant with Reprise again since its first album solo. Geffen promised a total artistic freedom to him… and refused the album " Island In The Sun " with the profit of Trans . The public does not include/understand anything with this electronic coffee-table book. The following was again refused by Geffen, too pretexting it country and not enough rock' N roll. Neil Young thus made an album rockabilly Everybody' S Rockin (1983), to the great displeasure of the fans! It was not completed, but left nevertheless… Appear then very unequal albums: Old Ways (1985), Landing One Toilets (1986) and Life (1987). Not rancorous, Neil Young will make in 1993 an excellent compilation of the period " Geffen" : Lucky Thirteen with five news. It is the second anthology since " Decade " in 1977.

The revival

It is only at the end of this difficult period that it carries out several discs in the line of the first. One will have been able to be astonished that after many vexations, it did not make this decision earlier. The Geffen period will have been for the Canadian the era of the " do not import-quoi" , incompetent to find the large flame rock'n'roll. It will have been however for him one moment of creative freedom, and probably, with leaving fabulous decade 70, a time of " calme" and of return to the sources. The albums Old Ways and that sounding rock'n'roll roll are not there to point out it. Leave This Note' S For You (1988), Freedom (1989), Harvest Moon (1992), Sleeps with Angels (1994), Greendale (2003), Prairie Wind (2005) and Living with War (2006). This last disc being a proclamation anti Bush particularly corrosive. The last album of Neil Young, Chromium Dreams II (2007), is in the line of the albums mixing trott them country and the more electric compositions. Young once again shows by this album that it is one of the rare legends of the rock'n'roll to be itself constantly renewed throughout his career and to keep such a continuous inspiration.

Conclusion

Neil Young always refused the media exposure and the celebrity, having the will to create a music without compromise, so much so that it has sometimes, by very experimental projects, left perplexed critics and public.

Under the pseudonym of “Bernard Shakey”, Young carried out four films: documentary the Journey Through the Past (1972), the concert filmed Rust Never Sleeps (1979) and films of fiction Human Highway (1982) and Greendale (2003).

He is also defender of causes such as the safeguarding of the Environnement and was the cofounder in the concert of charity Farm Aid to come to assistance of the American farmer S. In April 2006, it protests against the American foreign policy and leaves the album Living with War which denounces it. On its site, many vidéos anti-war of artists like Esther Galil, Bruce Springsteen, etc

The realizer Jonathan Demme produced documentary on Young: Neil Young: Heart off Gold . Jim Jarmush, also, carried out documentary to him, entitled Year off the Horse .

Honors

Artist honoured on several occasions, it entered to the Canadian Music Hall off Famed and to the Rock-and-roll Hall off Famed , like with the classification of the “larger artists rock'n'roll” of the American television channel VH1, published in 2000, with the 30e position. In 2007, in the book The Signal 100 Canadian Albums, written by the author and music lover Bob Mersereau who probed 600 musicians, critics, disc jockeys and record dealers to establish a classification of the 100 best Canadian albums, the album " Harvest " of Neil Young arrives in 1st position.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine place 6 albums of Neil Young among the 500 best albums of all times. Young being classified 83ème of the 100 best guitarists of all times.

Discography

With Buffalo Springfield

  • Buffalo Springfield , Atco (January 1967)
  • Buffalo Springfield Again , Atco (February 1967)
  • Last Time Around , Atco (August 1968)
  • The Best - Retrospective , Atco (1969)
  • Buffalo Springfield Box Set , Warner (2001)

Albums studios

Film original soundtracks

Recordings as a public

With Stephen Stills

  • Long May You Run , Taken again (1976)

Within Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

With Pearl Jam

Compilations

Abandoned projects

  • Homegrown - (1975);
  • Chromium Dreams - (1977).
  • new Titles: War song ,

Participations

Catalog of films

  • Realizer

    • Greendale (2003)
    • Human Highway (1982)
    • Journey Through the Past (1972)

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