Neil Young

Neil Young

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: January 1969
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Reprise / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KOG
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,920 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Emperor of Wyoming

2. Loner

3. If I Could Have Her Tonight

4. I've Been Waiting for You

5. Old Laughing Lady

6. String Quartet from Whiskey Boot Hill

7. Here We Are in the Years

8. What Did You Do to My Life?

9. I've Loved Her So Long

10. Last Trip to Tulsa

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Released in early 1969, Neil Young's first solo album is essentially an extension of "Broken Arrow" and "Expecting to Fly," his two most inventive contributions to Buffalo Springfield. Jack Nitzsche arranged and produced several of the tracks, fusing haunting strings and even funky female backing vocals to acoustic-oriented songs like "Here We Are in the Years" and "The Old Laughing Lady." "The Loner" is the one song from Neil Young to achieve classic-rock immortality, but "I've Been Waiting for You" is almost as good, and the rambling "Last Trip to Tulsa" presages the dark acoustic epics of On the Beach. Though it's not an essential album, Neil Young-like the man himself-is rarely less than interesting. --Dan Epstein

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An understated, but fabulous, debut from a legend., August 27, 2000

By	Gary Gardner "Your resident dillettante" (Ellsworth, ME United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After a few years of coming and going with Buffalo Springfield, the "first American supergroup," Neil Young parted ways for good in 1967 with his band. In 1968, with Crazy Horse pianist Jack Nietsche arrangement, Young's self-titled debut was unleashed. Out of all his following albums, "Neil Young" is the most cohesive, mainly because Nietsche helped keep the budding artist on track. It probably has more overdubs than anything that Young did with the Springfield, and certainly everything since Granpa Crispy struck out on his own. The album starts off, ironically, with one of Nietsche's own compositions, "The Emperor of Wyoming," a nice, pleasant country instrumental. "The Loner" follows, and now we are clearly in Neil's world of angst and paranoia. "The Old Laughing Lady" is a great track, with female background vocals reminiscent of anything done for Motown, despite the fact the song is clearly not a Motown product. Besides the aforementioned, Neil's other songs of longing, like "If I Could Have Her Tonight" and "What Did You Do to My Life," make this a thrilling ride. The final track, "The Last Trip to Tulsa," is Young accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. The track is about nine minutes long, with the most arcane, non-sensical lyrics I have ever heard. The crazier the song become lyrically, the harder Young strums his guitar, until you think the strings will crack under the strain. With Nietsche's brilliant arranging, "Neil Young" is a fine start to a long, storied career.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This album is like a glittering jewel box of precious gems, July 24, 2001

By	Suzssanna (UK.) - See all my reviews

This album is Neil Young at his very best and is in my top ten of classic albums. it has everything, Neil's perfect voice, perfect timing,outstandingly beautiful guitar playing by Neil. The album begins with 'The emperor of Wyoming' a pretty piece of music that is quite relaxing to listen too, the next song is a real classic, 'The Loner' Neil vocals on this song is really exciting to listen too as he delivers a smooth, emotional song about a man who has not and cannot get over his lover who has left him. The next 2 song 'If I Could Have Her Tonight', 'I've Been Waiting for You' are a really wonderful and he delivers them in a sensitive and uniquley beautiful way, that only he can, each song is like diamonds and pearls, gems or contemporary jewelr, truly solid gold. The following song 'The Old Laughing Lady' is a very pretty song with beautiful background music, he sings it so wonderfully. 'String Quartet from Whiskey' is a nice song, and like the others it has Neils unique style written all over it. The following three songs 'Here We Are in the Years', 'What Did You Do to My Life?' and 'I've Loved Her So Long' are stunningly beautiful and so delicatly sung, these songs are diamond cut perfection from Neil. And now to the last but never yhe least song 'The Last Trip to Tulsa' this song is exceptionally sensitive, so emotional, perfect guitar playing from Neil, it like a diamonds, rubies and emeralds all in on cluster, it is among the most beautiful songs that I have ever listened too, it just makes you drift to that place called paradise. This ablum is like gold, and the lyrics are so delicatly beautiful. Yes, I love it.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consistent Melodies, February 12, 2005

By	Charles Calvert "charliecal" (Santa Cruz, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Neil was at the height of his powers when he wrote the songs on this CD. There are no klunkers here, every song has a strong melody and intriguing lyrics.

I find this album compares favorably with the more famous Beach Boys or Beatles albums that came out at the same time. Like the Beach Boys and the Beatles, the rich melodies are the primary appeal of the album. Every song is good, though they are almost all sad, with lots of sweet, heartfelt chords and notes.

The production of this album is a source of frequent comment. In my opinion, the CD is better mixed than the original vinyl. I'll have to confess however, that when I was listening to this album as a teenager, I had a poor stereo. It may simply be that the great sonic equipment we can buy now does justice to an album that couldn't be heard properly on a cheap stereo. Certainly it seems to me that Neil's voice is louder in this mix than the way I remember it from my youth. Also the songs seem to have more of an edge to them, so that the rockers come out with a bit more punch. Some of the instruments seem to stand out more clearly now.

The melodies from this album are so strong that I would compare it favorably against many other good records from any point in rock history. However, you have to understand that this is Neil Young, and the album is moody, a bit introverted, even quite dark at times. But I listen to it for the lush production, the warm bittersweet chords, and the beautiful melodies. Plus, I like Neil's youthful melancholy. It rings true to me.