Neil Young: Encyclopedia II - Neil Young - Early years

Neil Young - Early years

Young was born in Toronto; his father was sportswriter and novelist Scott Young and his mother Rassy Young. Having first played in high school instrumental rock bands in Winnipeg (one of whom, the Squires, had a local hit with "The Sultan") he began to work the folk clubs in Winnipeg, where he befriended guitarist Stephen Stills and Joni Mitchell.

Before fame, Young spent a summer in Thunder Bay, Ontario, playing at local clubs and gigs.

In 1966, after an aborted record deal (on the Motown label) with the Rick James-fronted Mynah Birds, Young and bass player Bruce Palmer relocated to Los Angeles, where he again met Stills. With the American Richie Furay, they formed Buffalo Springfield, taking their name from a manufacturer of heavy equipment such as steamrollers. Playing a mixture of folk, country, psychedelia, and rock; and given a hard edge by the twin lead guitars of Stills and Young, Buffalo Springfield was a critical success, and the first record Buffalo Springfield (1967) sold well, supported by a hit single in Stills' political "For What It's Worth."

During sessions for the follow-up, relations between the band deteriorated, with Stills and Young, the de facto leaders of the group, pulling in opposite directions. The tensions led to the abandonment of the record, provisionally titled Stampede, although some of the songs reappeared on Buffalo Springfield Again (1967). By then, Palmer had been arrested for possession of drugs and deported back to Canada, and Young had all but left the group; his compositions "Mr Soul", "Expecting to Fly", and the adventurous "Broken Arrow" are solo recordings in all but name. Despite that, the album was well received.

These three songs on Buffalo Springfield Again can be seen as a model for Young's solo records. "Expecting to Fly" was a piece of confessional folk rock, of a kind with many other records that emerged from the singer-songwriter movement. On the other hand "Mr Soul" was pure rock and roll, driven by a fat guitar riff that owed more than a little to the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction". "Broken Arrow" was a lushly produced ballad, with a string arrangement of the kind Young's producer, Jack Nitzsche, would dub "symphonic pop." Along with country music, Young's solo career would tend to flit among these disparate forms.

By 1968, the band had split up permanently. Due to contractual obligations, a final album Last Time Around, comprised of previously unused recordings, was released. At this point, Young had already signed a solo deal with Reprise Records (home of his compatriot, Joni Mitchell, with whom he shared a manager, Elliot Roberts).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early years", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki