20 Country Albums Every Rock Fan Should Listen To
13. Harvest - Neil Young
Neil Young has had enough road dog stories in rock and roll for 10 other musicians' lifetimes. Along with being the bonafied solo star that he is, his influence as both the Godfather of Grunge and a soul brother to Crosby Stills and Nash has put him somewhere between a living legend and rock eccentric depending on which day you catch him. However, if you want to find out where he started to get his footing, it all came back to the sounds of country.
After a few records recorded with Crazy Horse, Young set out to make Harvest as a more downtempo record, complete with folk stars like James Taylor providing backing instrumentation. While the actual instruments might be a bit different this time around, the rock star Young is at heart hasn't changed, with songs like the Needle and the Damage Done providing jaded beauty and the epic finale of A Man Needs a Maid having the same bombast of a barnburner.
Right alongside the more blunt material like Old Man and Alabama, we also have the song Heart of Gold, which became both one of Young's biggest hits and an accidental albatross around his neck that stuck with him for nearly the rest of his career. Harvest was far from the last time that Young was going to experiment with a different style, and yet when it comes to country rock, not too many people have been able to top this.