Neil Young is one of the most influential songwriters and guitarists of his generation, known for writing and recording such time-transcending songs as "Old Man," "Harvest Moon" and "Heart of Gold."

Synopsis
Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young arrived in the United States in the mid-1960s and co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield, jump-starting a musical career that has spanned more than 45 years. Young has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and is known for writing and recording such time-transcending songs as "Old Man," "Harvest Moon," "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)," "The Needle and the Damage Done," "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Heart of Gold"—a No. 1 hit. Outside of music, Young is a strong advocate for environmental and disability issues, demonstrated in his co-founding of the Benefit for Farm Aid and Bridge School Benefit Concerts.

Early Life
Neil Young was born on November 12, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Rassy and Scott Young. Young grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Before becoming one of the best-known musicans of his generation, he formed his first band, the Jades, while in junior high school. During that time, he also developed his characteristic melodic guitar style and use of the "whammy bar," creating a vibrato effect to accompany his unique and mournful, untrained, yet singular voice.

A few years later, in 1963, Young formed an instrumental and folk-rock band called the Squires. Never one for rigidity, he dropped out of high school and began performing in Fort William, and soon began recording demos with his four bandmates. It was during this time that Young first met Stephen Stills, who was touring with his band, the Company.

Musical Career
By the mid-1960s, Young decided to leave the Squires and begin touring the folk clubs in Winnipeg. While making his cafe rounds, he met fellow folk musician Joni Mitchell—who would later write the song "The Circle Game" in response to the Young's song, "Sugar Mountain." Also during this time, the rock band The Guess Who recorded one of Young's songs, "Flying on the Ground Is Wrong," which would become a Top 40 Canadian hit.

In 1966, Young moved to the United States with friend and bass player Bruce Palmer; the two packed their possesions into Young's black hearse and drove the long road to Los Angeles, California. There, Young and Palmer co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield, which also included Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Dewey Martin. Their first album, Buffalo Springfield, which included the Stills-authored hit song "For What It's Worth," was a best-seller and introduced both the band and Young to America. The band grew to attract a large following, and was acclaimed for its experimental and skilled instrumental pieces, inventive songwriting, and harmony-focuses vocal composition.

Although Buffalo Springfield fell apart after only a couple of years, the group managed to release two more albums, Buffalo Springfield Again and Last Time Around, in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Despite its short life, Buffalo Springfield was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. It was the first time that Young was enshrined—he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame again in 1995, for his solo work.

By the late-1960s, Young had again embarked on a solo career, backed by a group called Crazy Horse. In 1969, while still working as a solo artist, Young joined former Springfield member Stephen Stills and two other musicians, David Crosby and Graham Nash, to form the band Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Through a contractual agreement, Young was able to work as both a solo artist and a member of CSN&Y simulatenously. Just months after bringing Young into the mix, CSN&Y was invited to perform at the famous Woodstock Fesitval—their second live performance. The band's subsequent tour and album release, Déjà Vu, catapulted them to fame—so much so that they were often referred to as the "American Beatles."

Perhaps due to pressure, or perhaps due to his own ambitions, Young's relationship with Crosby, Stills and Nash soon became contentious. Young and Stills were often at odds over the direction of the band, and Young eventually parted ways in the early 1970s. Crosby, Stills and Nash continued on as a trio, and each of the three remaining members, like Young, became two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees; CSN&Y remains the only band to have all of its members inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame twice, though not all with each other.

After leaving CSN&Y, Young focused on his solo career, backed up again with Crazy Horse. He released several albums over the next three years, culminating with Harvest (1972), a hallmark work that contains the song "Heart of Gold," a No. 1 hit, and the only No. 1 song of Young's career, to date. CSN&Y reunited in 1974, and released a successful compilation album.

In 1979, Young released the album Rust Never Sleeps, which included the anthem "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)," and was both a commercial and critical success. In the 1980s, Young experimented with various styles of music, from computerized sequencers to country music, and most were neither critially nor commercially well-received.

In 1989, Young released the album Freedom, which includes the song "Rockin' in the Free World." The alternative song is often credited with starting grunge music, and earned Young the moniker "Godfather of Grunge," especially after the band Pearl Jam adopted the song and performed it with Young at the 1993 MTV Video Awards. The 1990s also found Young playing with Booker T., touring with Sonic Youth and Pearl Jam, and reuniting with Crazy Horse to record Harvest Moon. Young returned to his roots to create the album, which includes a compilation of folk-rock tunes.

The 2000s found Young reflecting the souls of America, from the patriotic song, "Let's Roll," inspired by the heroism shown after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, to the antiwar-themed album Living with War.

Other Projects
In the 1980s, Young was heavily preoccupied with taking care of his son, Ben, who suffered from cerebal palsy, as did his older son, Zeke.

Young, an avid model-train collector, created a 700-foot model train track within a barn on his property—an idea he developed as a way to interact with Ben. Young developed special controllers for the train set, allowing his son to control switching and power using a paddle system. The controls later formed the basis for a company called Liontech. In 1995, when the Lionel company was facing bankruptcy, Young put together an investment group to purchase the train company so that he might continue his research and development.

Young's experience with cerebal palsy—as well as the epilepsy of his daughter, Amber Jean, which Neil also struggled with—resulted in Neil and his then-wife, Pegi, founding the Bridge School in San Francisco, a center for children with communication disabilities in the 1980s. The yearly concert benefit for the Bridge School, started in 1986, has attracted thousands of concertgoers and featured many major artists, including Eddie Vedder, Beck, Dave Matthews and Carlos Santana. Young also became heavily involved in advocating for environmental issues by participaing in the organization of yearly concerts for Farm Aid.

Recent Years
In June 2012, following a nine-year break from album-creation, Young released Americana—a collaboration with his longtime back-up band, Crazy Horse, and the 34th studio album of Young's career. Young's prior solo album with Crazy Horse was 2003's Greendale. Americana focuses on electric guitar riffs and features many standard and patriotic folk songs, including "Oh, Susanna," "Clementine" and "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain."

Young seems to have always challenged himself musically, and challenged his audience emotionally, by experimenting with musical styles and genres. His musical versatility, as well as his refusal to stay in one place, or with one band, have bolstered his endurance in a culture that is often influenced by the newest fad. Young once said about his growth as a musician, "As I get older, I get smaller. I see other parts of the world I didn't see before. Other points of view. I see outside myself more."

ΠΗΓΗ
http://www.biography.com/people/neil-young-9539612#related-video-gallery

ΠΟΛΥ ΠΕΡΙΣΣΟΤΕΡΑ ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΚΑ ΕΔΩ:
Neil Young

Σ Χ Ε Τ Ι Κ Α

Neil Young

Neil Young-Bio

http://neilyoung.warnerreprise.com/storytone/row/

Facebook-Neil Young

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/neil-young-mn0000379125

Ordinary People - Neil Young Lyrics Analysis:
http://thrasherswheat.org/fot/op.htm

Νιλ Γιανγκ: Να δικαστεί ο Τζορτζ Μπους

Discography

Neil Young (1968)
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
After the Gold Rush (1970)
Harvest (1972)
Time Fades Away (1973)
On the Beach (1974)
Tonight's the Night (1975)
Zuma (1975)
Long May You Run (1976)
American Stars 'n Bars (1977)
Comes a Time (1978)
Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
Hawks & Doves (1980)
Re-ac-tor (1981)
Trans (1982)
Everybody's Rockin' (1983)
Old Ways (1985)
Landing on Water (1986)
Life (1987)
This Note's for You (1988)
Eldorado (1989)
Freedom (1989)
Ragged Glory (1990)
Harvest Moon (1992)
Sleeps with Angels (1994)
Mirror Ball (1995)
Broken Arrow (1996)
Silver & Gold (2000)
Are You Passionate? (2002)
Greendale (2003)
Prairie Wind (2005)
Living with War (2006)
Living with War: "In the Beginning" (2006)
Chrome Dreams II (2007)
Fork in the Road (2009)
Le Noise (2010)
Americana (2012)
Psychedelic Pill (2012)
A Letter Home (2014)
Storytone (2014)

ΕΝΔΕΙΚΤΙΚΑ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΑ ΚΟΜΜΑΤΙΑ

''Heart of Gold'' by Neil Young

I want to live,
I want to give
I've been a miner
for a heart of gold.
It's these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean
for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind,
it's such a fine line
That keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keep me searching
for a heart of gold
You keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm growing old.
I've been a miner
for a heart of gold.

Neil Young - "Ordinary People"

In a dusty town

a clock struck high noon,

Two men stood face to face.

One wore black and one wore white,

But of fear there wasn't a trace.

Two hundred years later

two hot rods drag race

through the very same place,

And a half a million people,

moved in to pick up the pace.

A factory full of people,

Makin' parts to go to outer space.

A train load of people,

They were aimin' for another place.

Out of town people.

There's a man in the window

with a big cigar,

Says everything's for sale.

The house and the boat

and the railroad car.

The owner's gotta go to jail.

He acquired these things

from a life of crime,

Now he's selling them

to raise his bail.

He was rippin' off the people.

Sellin' guns to the underground.

Tryin' to help the people,

Lose their ass

for a piece of ground.

Rippin' off the people.

Skimmin' the top when

there was no one around.

Tryin' to help the people.

He was dealing antiques

in a hardware store,

But he sure had a lot to hide.

He had a backroom full

of the guns of war,

And a ton of ammunition besides.

Well, he walked with a cane,

Kept a bolt on the door

with five pit bulls inside.

Just a warning to the people,

Who might try to break in at night.

Protection from the people,

Selling safety

in the darkest night.

Tryin' to help the people.

Get the drugs

to the street all right.

Ordinary people.

Well, it's hard to say

where a man goes wrong,

Might be here

and it might be there.

What starts out weak

might get too strong,

If you can't tell foul from fair.

But it's hard to judge

from an angry throng,

Of hands stretched into the air.

The vigilante people.

Takin' law into their own hands.

Conscientious people.

Crackin' down on

the druglord's land.

Government people.

Confiscatin' all

the dealer's land.

Patch-of-ground people.

Down at the factory,

they're puttin' new windows in.

The vandals made a mess of things,

And the homeless

just walked right in.

Well, they worked here once,

and they live here now,

But they might work here again,

They're ordinary people.

And they're livin' in a nightmare.

Hard workin' people.

And they don't know

how they got there.

Ordinary people.

And they think that you don't care.

Hard workin' people.

Down on the assembly line,

they keep puttin'

the same thing out.

But the people today,

they just ain't buyin'.

Nobody can figure it out.

Well, they try like hell

to build a quality end,

They're workin' hard

without a doubt,

They're ordinary people.

And the dollar's

what it's all about.

Hard workin' people.

But the customers are walkin' out.

Lee Iacocca people.

Yeah, they look

but they just don't buy.

Hard workin' people.

***

Two out of work models

and a fashion slave,

Try to dance away

the Michelob night.

The bartender poured

himself another drink,

While two drunks sat

watchin' the fight.

The champ went down,

then he got up again,

And then he went out like a light.

He was fightin' for the people,

But his timing wasn't right.

For Las Vegas people,

Who came to see a Las Vegas fight.

High rollin' people,

Takin' limos

though the neon night.

Fightin' for the people.

And then a new Rolls Royce

and a company car,

They went flyin' down the street.

Each one tryin'

to make it to the gate,

Before employees manned the fleet.

The trucks full of products

for the modern home,

Set to roll out into the street,

Of downtown people,

Tryin' to make their way to work.

Nose-to-the-stone people,

Some are saints, and some are jerks.

Hard workin' people,

Stoppin' for a drink

on the way to work.

Alcoholic people,

Yeah, they're takin' it

one day, one day at a time.

Out on the railroad track,

they're cleanin' up number 9.

They're scrubbin' the boiler down,

well, she really is lookin' fine.

Ah, she's lookin' so good,

they're gonna

bring her back on line.

Ordinary people.

They're gonna bring

the good things back.

Nose-to-the stone people.

Put the business back on track.

Ordinary people,

I got faith in the regular kind.

Hard workin' people.

Patch-of-ground people.

Neil Young - "Driftin' Back"

Hey now now, hey now now

I'm driftin' back

Hey now now, hey now now

I'm driftin' back

Dreaming about the way things sound now

Write about them in my book

Worry that you can't hear me now

And feel the time I took

To help you feel this feeling

Let you ride along

Dreaming about the way you feel now

When you hear my song

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

In my meditation

I block out all my thoughts

When they come back I push them out

Like Jesus had a rock

They pushed in front of this cave now

They rolled across the ground

Hey now now, hey now now

They rolled across the ground

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

I'm driftin' back

Here's how I got my mantra

Gave them thirty five bucks now

Gave it to the Maharishi

It went to the organisation

Excuse my religion

Dreaming ‘bout the way things feel now

Write it in my book

Blocking out all the thoughts now

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

Hey now now, hey now now

I'm driftin' back

Hey now now, hey now now

I'm driftin' back

I used to dig Picasso

Hey now now, hey now now

I used to dig Picasso

Then the big tech giant came along

And turned him into wallpaper

Hey now now, hey now now

I used to dig Picasso

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

Don't want my mp3

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

I'm driftin' back

When you hear my song now

You only get five percent

You used to get it all

Blocking out my anger

Blocking out my thoughts

Blocking out my anger now

Blocking out my thoughts

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

Gonna get me a hip hop haircut

Gonna get a hip hop haircut

Hey now now, hey now now

Blocking out my anger

Finding my religion

I might be a Pagan

I'm driftin' back

(...4)

Neil Young - "All Those Dreams" (Orchestral)

When the morning comes and you’re still sleeping

With all those dreams in your pretty head

I light a fire while the sun comes creeping

All across the meadow bed

The old clock has stopped, no longer ticking

No longer counting every second

Out by the car, our snowman's melting

Nothing can bring ‘em back now

His smile a twig and his nose a cucumber

His eyes two pinecones looking out

We got pictures of him like two little kids laughing

In the snow we were walking hand in hand

We went looking for a big surprise

And when we found before our eyes

Two white elks grazing on the green

We heard the honkers coming

Landing on the lake of summer

Nesting there and waiting for a dream

When the morning comes and you’re still sleeping

With all those dreams in your pretty head

I light a fire and the sun comes creeping

All across the meadow bed

Neil Young - "I Want To Drive My Car"

I wanna drive my car, I wanna drive my car

Further and further on down the road

I wanna drive my car

I need a place to go, I need a place to go

Further and further on down the road

I need a place to go

I gotta find my way, I gotta find my way

Further and further on down the road

I gotta find my way

I wanna drive my car, I wanna drive my car

Further and further on down the road

I wanna drive my car

I gotta find some fuel, I gotta find some fuel

Further and further on down the road

I gotta find some fuel

Neil Young-"After The Goldrush"

Well, I dreamed I saw the knights

In armor coming,

Saying something about a queen.

There were peasants singing and

Drummers drumming

And the archer split the tree.

There was a fanfare blowing

To the sun

That was floating on the breeze.

Look at Mother Nature on the run

In the nineteen seventies.

Look at Mother Nature on the run

In the nineteen seventies.

I was lying in a burned out basement

With the full moon in my eyes.

I was hoping for replacement

When the sun burst thru the sky.

There was a band playing in my head

And I felt like getting high.

I was thinking about what a

Friend had said

I was hoping it was a lie.

Thinking about what a

Friend had said

I was hoping it was a lie.

Well, I dreamed I saw the silver

Space ships flying

In the yellow haze of the sun,

There were children crying

And colors flying

All around the chosen ones.

All in a dream, all in a dream

The loading had begun.

They were flying Mother Nature's

Silver seed to a new home in the sun.

Flying Mother Nature's

Silver seed to a new home.

Harvest Moon-"Harvest Moon"

Come a little bit closer

Hear what I have to say

Just like children sleepin'

We could dream this night away.

But there's a full moon risin'

Let's go dancin' in the light

We know where the music's playin'

Let's go out and feel the night.

Because I'm still in love with you

I want to see you dance again

Because I'm still in love with you

On this harvest moon.

When we were strangers

I watched you from afar

When we were lovers

I loved you with all my heart.

But now it's gettin' late

And the moon is climbin' high

I want to celebrate

See it shinin' in your eye.

Because I'm still in love with you

I want to see you dance again

Because I'm still in love with you

On this harvest moon.

Neil Young-"My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)"

My my, hey hey

Rock and roll is here to stay

It's better to burn out

Than to fade away

My my, hey hey.

Out of the blue

and into the black

They give you this,

but you pay for that

And once you're gone,

you can never come back

When you're out of the blue

and into the black.

The king is gone

but he's not forgotten

This is the story

of a Johnny Rotten

It's better to burn out

than it is to rust

The king is gone

but he's not forgotten.

Hey hey, my my

Rock and roll can never die

There's more to the picture

Than meets the eye.

Hey hey, my my.

Neil Young - ''It's A Dream''

In the morning when I wake up and listen to the sound

Of the birds outside on the roof

I try to ignore what the paper says

And I try not to read all the news

And I'll hold you if you had a bad dream

And I hope it never comes true

'Cause you and I been through so many things together

And the sun starts climbing the roof

It's a dream

Only a dream

And it's fading now

Fading away

It's only a dream

Just a memory without anywhere to stay

The Red River stills flows through my home town

Rollin' and tumblin' on its way

Swirling around the old bridge pylons

Where a boy fishes the morning away

His bicycle leans on an oak tree

While the cars rumble over his head

An aeroplane leaves a trail in an empty blue sky

And the young birds call out to be fed

It's a dream

Only a dream

And it's fading now

Fading away

It's only a dream

Just a memory without anywhere to stay

An old man walks along on the sidewalk

Sunglasses and an old Stetson hat

The four winds blow the back of his overcoat away

As he stops with the policeman to chat

And a train rolls out of the station

That was really somethin' in its day

Picking up speed on the straight prairie rails

As it carries the passengers away

It's gone

Only a dream

And it's fading now

Fading away

Only a dream

Just a memory without anywhere to stay

It's a dream

Only a dream

And it's fading now

Fading away

It's only a dream

Just a memory without anywhere to stay

It's a dream

Only a dream

And it's fading now

Fading away

Neil Young ''This Old Guitar''

This old guitar ain't mine to keep

Just taking care of it now

It's been around for years and years

Just waiting in its old case

It's been up and down the country roads

It's brought a tear and a smile

It's seen its share of dreams and hopes

And never went out of style

The more I play it, the better it sounds

It cries when I leave it alone

Silently it waits for me

Or someone else I suppose

This old guitar

(...)

This old guitar has caught some breaks

But it never searched for gold

It can't be blamed for my mistakes

It only does what it's told

It's been a messenger in times of trouble

In times of hope and fear

When I get drunk and seeing double

It jumps behind the wheel and steers

This old guitar ain't mine to keep

It's mine to play for a while

This old guitar ain't mine to keep

It's only mine for a while

This old guitar

(...)

Neil Young-"Only Love Can Break Your Heart"

When you were young

and on your own

How did it feel

to be alone?

I was always thinking

of games that I was playing.

Trying to make

the best of my time.

But only love

can break your heart

Try to be sure

right from the start

Yes only love

can break your heart

What if your world

should fall apart?

I have a friend

I've never seen

He hides his head

inside a dream

Someone should call him

and see if he can come out.

Try to lose

the down that he's found.

But only love

can break your heart

Try to be sure

right from the start

Yes only love

can break your heart

What if your world

should fall apart?

I have a friend

I've never seen

He hides his head

inside a dream

Yes, only love

can break your heart

Yes, only love

can break your heart

Neil Young-"Down By The River"

Be on my side,

I'll be on your side,

baby

There is no reason

for you to hide

It's so hard for me

staying here all alone

When you could be

taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me

over the rainbow,

send me away

Down by the river

I shot my baby

Down by the river,

Dead, oh, shot her dead.

You take my hand,

I'll take your hand

Together we may get away

This much madness

is too much sorrow

It's impossible

to make it today.

Yeah, she could drag me

over the rainbow,

send me away

Down by the river

I shot my baby

Down by the river,

Dead, oh, shot her dead.

Be on my side,

I'll be on your side,

baby

There is no reason

for you to hide

It's so hard for me

staying here all alone

When you could be

taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me

over the rainbow,

send me away

Down by the river

I shot my baby

Down by the river,

Dead, oh, shot her dead.

Neil Young - ''Who's Gonna Stand Up''

Protect the wild, tomorrow's child

Protect the land from the greed of man

Take down the dams, stand up to oil

Protect the plants, and renew the soil