Neil Young Releases Harvest Time
"think I'll pack it in and buy a pick up"
77-year-old Neil Young introduces the film Harvest Time and it is good to see him looking like he has lived a life and is not airbrushed for our viewing pleasure. Cheeky and self-deprecating about his involvement in the making of the album Harvest, saying he was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, made some laugh.
In 1970, Neil Young was a superstar who had been in the Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash and Young and already had 3 solo albums (or with Crazy Horse) under his belt. He owned a ranch in Southern California with a barn that acted as his studio and was, in his words, trying to come to terms with being a rich hippie.
Elliot Roberts, his manager, makes appearances, and his love of life and Neil is evident. Watching Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil doing backing vocals on Words was a remarkable experience.
Neil was 25 years old and he was in a position where he could do whatever he wanted to. This doco gives you a beautiful insight into the artist as a young man. How he was dealing with fame living on his ranch and how much he loved the country. As he wandered the fields he said on camera, “Sometimes I even get to stay here 10 days in a row”. His career had taken off like a skyrocket. He had 10 more projects released in the 70s and who knows how many concerts he performed.
Rock and roll had already entered Nashville, think Bob Dylan, but Neil met some Nashville cats who he dug playing with. So he brought Ben Keith (pedal steel), Tim Drummond (bass) and Kenny Buttrey (drums) to the Ranch and added a dash of the amazing composer Jack Nitzsche and he had his new band, The Stray Gators.
Neil is the last man standing from that lineup.
This is amazing fly-on-the-wall footage of a musical icon. That this has sat in a can for 50 years shows you what an archivist Neil is and how much material there must be out there that we may never see or hear. Thankfully, he started the Archive releases a number of years ago and we all know there is more to come.
I praise Neil Young for releasing this in cinemas and creating a community event in 2022. We need more community and connection in all areas of our lives.
Seeing moving pictures of Neil’s history that most of us had only read about making this film a treasure. Watching him work with the London Symphony Orchestra left me amazed at what he hears in his head. Listening to him wail in The Barn on his Gretsch White Falcon soothed my soul.
The Old Man Neil finally choosing to release these stoned-out vintage clips of his creative endeavors is a remarkable time capsule. The 50th anniversary of Harvest brought this about and we should be thankful for this gift.
If you call yourself a Neil Young fan on any level, you should take the time to see this on the big screen before it disappears. We won’t get to see Neil live in concert many more times, if at all, so take a moment to journey into the past and enjoy this moment with Neil at the Ranch and other places. Some of the jams are magical and Neil stoned out on banjo is hysterical.
More Barn!
“This is a big album for me. 50 years ago. I was 24, maybe 23 and this album made a big difference in my life. I played with some great friends and it’s really cool that this album has lasted so long. I had a great time and now when I listen to it, I think I was really just lucky to be there. I hope you enjoy this story, which is ‘Harvest Time,’ and which talks about everything that happened. And now people all around the world can see it at the movies.” (Neil Young)