Neil Young’s 10 best songs of the 1970s
Most of the biggest artists in the world get to where they are by taking risks. As much as some paying customers might want to hear the same thing that you did on one classic album, it’s important to keep things fresh and stay true to your heart rather than do something because that’s what people expect. And since Neil Young never had an inauthentic bone in his body, his 1970s work is still a treasure trove of classics.
While this was the decade where he became known as the folksy rock and roll icon, Young had a lot more going on in his tunes than what the John Denvers of the world had to offer. Compared to every singer-songwriter on the scene, Young took the same approach that Bob Dylan took by always following his muse, whether that meant kicking back with a guitar or blowing out the speakers every time he played.
Whether it was during his solo career or with Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Young made sure that everything was focused on something greater than himself. And in the process, he managed to invent some genres on a whim, with some of his heavier work earning him the title of grunge godfather years before people started adopting the flannel shirts.
So, when looking through his classics, remember that it’s not about whether or not a tune sounds good on the radio. Young never thought in those terms, and when looking at his best work, it always comes down to how well he translated his emotions rather than whether or not the guitars are perfectly in tune or that everything sounds pristine.
Neil Young’s 10 best songs of the 1970s:
10. ‘Thrasher’ – Rust Never Sleeps
Neil Young never really needed Crosby, Stills, and Nash to be a superstar. Compared to the other folk icons, he could do whatever the hell he wanted, and considering how well things worked out for him on Harvest and After the Gold Rush, he wasn’t aching to join his old buddies if he didn’t need to. While there was some bad blood exchanged between them, things weren’t as blunt as they were when ‘Thrasher’ came out.
Considering this was the acoustic side of Rust Never Sleeps, Young still hadn’t let go of his aggression, singing about how most of his old bandmates had to be left behind because they were nothing but dead weight. Although this could be considered one of the most brutal diss tracks that Young would ever write, it was never trying to simply bat down his old bandmates for being too sappy.
He had grown into a far more complex songwriter than any of them could have expected, so it was better for him to move on and see what he could do on his own than go into the studio knowing exactly what he would get from his bandmates. Then again, most of Young’s hardcore fans probably didn’t know how eccentric things would get.
9. ‘Southern Man’ – After the Gold Rush
For all of the moments of raw pain that occupy his records, Young was always capable of capturing beauty as well. Even though After the Gold Rush set him up for being the folk-rock darling of the rock scene, there were still moments like ‘Birds’ that sounded like they could have been sung by a standards singer and worked equally as well without Young’s trademark delivery. He never lost his silver tongue, though, and he had something to say regarding how the American South was operating.
Considering the layers of prejudice that have run through the country since the civil rights movement, Young is urging everyone to be wary of where their priorities are. No matter how much they might hold certain beliefs in their hearts, the rock icon is ready to call out any hypocrite who says that everything they do is in the name of God and then spends their free time hating anyone who doesn’t share their beliefs.
And even though Lynyrd Skynyrd would clap back at Young for being a Canadian telling Americans how to live their lives, that doesn’t dispel his points. People might still follow what that good book says, but even looking at the state of the country now, maybe people should take Young’s advice and brush up on what those moral fables are actually about.
8. ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ – Harvest
Every rock and roll singer can often be their own worst enemy behind the scenes. Whether it’s getting in their own way or reaching for perfectionism whenever they pick up their guitar, it’s always about trying to make something better and finding different stumbling blocks along the way. Then again, the biggest hurdle is when drugs come into play, and Young sounded like he was at the end of his rope writing ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’.
Taken from a live recording, Young sounds desperate to get through to his bandmate Danny Whitten on this track, practically crying to get his friend some help. Compared to all of the bells and whistles on Harvest, this couldn’t have been improved outside the live version, which captures that frail feeling he’s talking about by sounding like it’s about to fall apart at any moment.
Even though Young was reaching out to his friend, he couldn’t tell that Whitten was that far gone. And looking at what albums were coming up next for him, things were about to take a dark turn that would leave Young in shambles trying to figure out what he was even playing music for anymore.
7. ‘Tonight’s the Night’ – Tonight’s the Night
Not every Neil Young album is supposed to be a pick-me-up. As much as he can cut to the chase whenever he opens his mouth, everything that’s on his mind gets a little bit complicated, and by the time Whitten was at death’s door, everyone in the studio was an absolute mess. And while Tonight’s the Night scraped together all the pieces of the band’s broken hearts, Young sounded like he was on the verge of a breakdown on the title track.
Though he gave the protagonist of this song the name Bruce Berry, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realise that Whitten was the one dealing with putting his life in his hands. Whereas ‘The Needle and The Damage Done’ sounded like a last-ditch effort to help, it turned out to be the calm before the storm, especially when Young reaches the tune’s end, as he sings about getting that fateful call that Berry had passed away.
As much as Young was in a dark place during the making of this record, part of the reason why the title track works so well is because of how frail it is. While an artist like Bruce Springsteen could bring an optimistic twist to the folks in his songs who never achieved their dreams, this is the sound of someone whose wildest dreams have come true and who watched themselves get crushed under their weight.
6. ‘Cortez the Killer’ – Zuma
Despite being one of the greatest artists of all time, Young wouldn’t have been anywhere were it not for Crazy Horse. As much as he could work well on his own, the stories behind his songs couldn’t have been told the same way if they didn’t have that signature power of his band to work off of. And when approaching something like ‘Cortez the Killer’, this was one of the best occasions where the jamming told the story for him.
While Zuma is much more ramshackle than Young’s usual standard, reserving this tune for this record couldn’t have been better timed. Telling a story with this kind of epic proportions deserves to be more than a few minutes, and once they split off into jams, it’s like watching the journey of the characters play out in real-time, with Young delivering some of his favourite guitar work that he had ever laid down.
It’s not perfect, but none of Young’s classics are meant to be, either. This was the sound of someone wrangling a wild guitar like someone would a horse, and when Young finally got everything under control, he delivered the kind of solos that would leave even the seasoned veterans confused as to how he squeezed so much life out of one instrument.
5. ‘Heart of Gold’ – Harvest
Nothing about any of Neil Young’s songs was done for the public. Even if they happened to align with what the mainstream sounded like, it almost felt like a happy accident than anything done by design. Although Young liked the idea of working within the realm of folk rock, it’s really saying something when one of his all-time greatest hits isn’t even the best song that he made that decade.
That being said, ‘Heart of Gold’ is about as close to perfect as Young got to making a radio song. All of the trappings of his sound are still there, but hearing that signature harmonica opening and the backing from people like Linda Ronstadt bring the song a lot closer to traditional country music than anything close to Bob Dylan, who got more than a little bit pissed when he thought that Young was jacking his style.
But Young wasn’t a chameleon in that sense. He was only singing about what was on his mind, and even when the entire world embraced him with open arms, he knew that it was better to leave that part of his sound behind rather than try to make ‘Heart of Gold’ copycats for the rest of his days.
4. ‘Powderfinger’ – Rust Never Sleeps
Talking about Rust Never Sleeps tends to be like discussing two different albums at once. Although Crazy Horse always came alive in a live setting compared to a cramped studio, seeing them go from the softspoken acoustic side to some of the most raucous hard rock is downright disorienting if you’re not prepared for it. For those willing to take the plunge, though, ‘Powderfinger’ really is ground zero for why Young should be heralded as the forefather of grunge music.
Although he isn’t putting on the same yarl as Eddie Vedder or screaming like Kurt Cobain, hearing Young turn everything up and making the most out of feedback makes the track so absolutely gigantic. Even though the words sound closer to a folk tale, there’s still that nasty attitude that puts it in the same league as something like Soundgarden’s ‘Rusty Cage’ or Pearl Jam’s various jam moments like ‘I Got Id’.
But that’s always been the strength of Young’s greatest tunes. They could be the heaviest thing you’ve ever heard or be played by one person with a guitar, but the true craftsmen know how to make both mediums work and somehow make it feel seamless no matter which instrument they decide to pick up.
3. ‘After the Gold Rush’ – After the Gold Rush
For any songwriter, creating a tune is as much about reporting as it is about quoting your heart. As much as people can make a living talking about their unlucky love affairs or telling a fictional story, it’s impossible not to see what’s happening around the world and not comment on it in some capacity. And when it looked like the 1970s were about to become a dark time, Young made the inverse of his CSNY classic by crying out in pain.
A lot of After the Gold Rush features some of his most world-weary songs, but Young decided to go for the one thing closest to him: the environment. While no big businesses are mentioned by name, this feels like an epitaph for the natural surroundings that Young had seen slipping away, thinking that mother nature would make us pay for our sins once the 1970s kick into high gear.
And while Young has found a way to retreat back to the countryside, it’s hard not to look at this song as incredibly prophetic. From the Eagles later touching on the same subject in ‘The Last Resort’ to the same issues of environmentalism today, the grim picture that Young paints is only a few brushstrokes away from becoming a reality if we aren’t careful.
2. ‘Hey Hey My My’ – Rust Never Sleeps
One of the biggest problems any artist has to deal with is staying relevant. As much as people like the idea of resting on their laurels and becoming one of the biggest names by doing the bare minimum, there are always going to be a few people coming in after them that will knock them on their asses if they aren’t careful. And with the punk movement slowly gaining steam, ‘Hey Hey My My’ was the tune that reminded everyone of what the core ethos behind rock and roll really was.
Despite some veiled words towards John Lydon on the electric version, it’s hard to appreciate Young’s opus unless you hear the ‘Out of the Blue’ and ‘Into the Black’ versions separately. Whereas the rock version is a defence of the genre and how there’s much more than people give it credit for, the line about being better off burning out serves as a casual jab at those who like to see their idols die an early death before they become washed up.
Young may have been considered one of the biggest names in rock and roll at the time, but both versions of ‘Hey Hey My My’ serve as his answer to ‘Like A Rolling Stone’. He’s more than happy to stand up for the rock revolution, but that also comes with a reminder for people to be careful of what they are getting themselves into if they decide to take that gamble of being a rockstar.
1. ‘Ohio’ – single
The whole reason why Neil Young joined Crosby, Stills, and Nash was to provide a bit more muscle to everything. As much as Stephen Stills could have played anything he got his hands on, no one made a guitar come alive or sang with as much blunt honesty as Young could, which worked a lot better when balanced out behind the sweet sounds of Graham Nash. Things seemed a bit lighthearted on Deja Vu, but once the Kent Shootings took place in ‘Ohio’, everyone knew exactly what to do when Young brought this song to the table.
Even though Young has written his fair share of protest songs since the 1970s, this is still one of his most poignant tracks. With years removed from the massacre that left student protestors dead, the vocals strike the perfect balance between sadness and anger, with Young being the voice of reason as the rest of the band sound like they’re crying around him.
Young had many different ways of expressing himself in his solo catalogue, but ‘Ohio’ hits on something much deeper. Anyone can spend their lives chipping away at the right song, but when the world shows you something this ugly, this is the kind of song that’s driven out of somebody rather than poured over for years. And since the rest of the world was coming to terms with the tragedy, this was a plea to bring some piece of light back into a country that seemed to be going dark.
