Neil Young- Harvest

Long known for his prodigious recording output, his prolific songwriting, and his unquestionable musical integrity, Neil Young delivered Harvest, his most popular (until sequel Harvest Moon two decades later) and  perhaps most influential album in February 1972 to an eager audience who embraced this organic countrified masterpiece. Only Bob Dylan’s groundbreaking Nashville Skyline  three years earlier equals Neil Young’s Harvest  as a touchstone for the whole Americana musical genre.  Young’s first Top Forty hits “Heart of Gold” and “Old Man” pushed Harvest  to the #1 album of the entire year 1972, made Neil Young a star and, just as significantly, served as an all-access pass to mainstream success to follow by a long list of singer/songwriters as diverse as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jackson Browne, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Charlie Daniels, and the Marshall Tucker Band. And that was just for starters. Neil joins me from his tour bus with the late pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith, who met and recorded together in Nashville for these  sessions only to remain lifelong friends, for this classic rock interview about the essential album. – Redbeard