Retro Reviews: Neil Young: Harvest

 

    I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. All the albums reviewed are indeed classic albums. 

Neil Young: Harvest (1972)

*****

Producers: Neil Young, Elliot Mazer, Henry Lewy, Jack Nitzsche

Musicians: Neil Young, Ben Keith, Tim Drummond, Kenny Buttrey, Teddy Irwin, John Harris, James McMahon, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Steven Stills, Graham Nash, Jack Nitzsche, London Symphony Orchestra

Songs: 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 (Between The Lines of Age)

Reviewed by Matthew Anthony Allair

    Neil’s new album feels like an amalgamation of what he had done with the three prior albums, while moving forward at the same time. This will likely be even more accessible than “Gold Rush” was. There’s country rock, folk, orchestral ballads, a few Crazy Horse sort of numbers towards the end, the quality remains fairly high. What makes Neil so interesting is the fact that he isn’t settling into one type of music or genre, but seems interested in a range, even with the success of CSNY’s Déjà vu, he seems willing to follow his muse. The range on this album is pretty surprising.

    The opening, “Out On The Weekend” sets up the tone with a slower mid-tempo, filled with Harmonica and country dobro. The piano and guitar driven “Harvest” follows the same country tone, but appearances can be deceiving as the next track, the astonishing “A Man Needs A Maid” is a introspective piano ballad with full symphony orchestra, and it’s fairly overpowering in an unexpected way. The track “Heart Of Gold” is already being the radio staple on the album, there’s a musical tension between certain passages and the more uplifting verses, as a country rock piece, it isn’t a surprise that ‘Heart’ feels so focused. After a false start, “Are You Ready For The Country?” is a piano blues number with Stills and Crosby offering the vocal backing.

    “Old Man is another standout like ‘Heart’, it opens side two. There’s some nice intricate acoustic work in the somber passages before the uplifting change over. There’s another significant shift with the orchestral “There’s A World”, the song is about as equal as ‘Maid’ from the first half. “Alabama” brings in the full band, at a slower tempo it feels like the companion to ‘Southern Man”, Crosby, Stills and Nash offer the vocal backing. Once again, the next track, the acoustic “The Needle and the Damage Done” performed live, is an astonishing lament for drug addiction. The closer, “Words (Between The Lines of Age)” is with the full band and a slower ballad with a dramatic edge within. This album is as close to perfection as one could hope for especially the second half. I don’t know where Neil will take us next, but I am curious to go on that journey.