Noel Gallagher’s favourite Neil Young album
Former Oasis chief Noel Gallagher’s affinity with Neil Young dates back to a formative period during early adulthood. Although he’d attend raves at the Haçienda, rather than carrying the party on after closing, Gallagher would typically move on to a friend’s house and gather around the turntable while listening to work by Young.
Navigating the career of Young, who continues to work at a prolific pace even into his 70s, can be a daunting task. It can be challenging to know where to start with such an immense back catalogue to explore. While Gallagher adores many albums in the Canadian’s repertoire, only one appeared on his all-time favourites list.
To further demonstrate his devotion to Young and his backing band Crazy Horse, Gallagher named them his dream bandmates for a jam session. Explaining why they’d be “fucking great”, he said: “Just to kind of be on stage with them and skulk around in the background just playing loud, I’d love that. Or playing drums for Crazy Horse, I’d be a great Crazy Horse drummer. I’ll be Neil Young’s drummer all day.”
Despite valuing Crazy Horse’s work with Young, Gallagher’s favourite record in the singer-songwriter’s canon is the 1975 solo cut Tonight’s The Night. In the unflinchingly honest and soul-baring effort, Young deals with his internal struggle following the loss of two close associates due to drug overdoses.
Tonight’s The Night was recorded when Young should have been on cloud nine following the success of Harvest, which firmly established him as a solo star. However, he was in no mood for celebration and dealt with his demons through song on the devastatingly moving solo outing.
Although Gallagher wouldn’t advise listening to the record while dealing with loss, he named it one of his favourite albums of all time on iTunes in 2015. Explaining his decision, the Mancunian said: “Heartbreaking, alcohol-fuelled, darker than dark and bleaker than the inside of Thom Yorke’s Christmas crackers…the sound of almost falling apart… don’t listen to it if you’ve fallen out with your bird…or boyfriend…or your cat even!!”
Additionally, Gallagher told MOJO in 2011 that Young was the only musician who had made him starstruck. He revealed: “This is the only guy I’ve been in awe of after meeting. I’ve had a few beers with him, been out for dinner, played gigs, and before we met, people would say, ‘Well, you know he won’t speak to you.'”
Gallagher added: “He’s always been very respectful to Oasis, and to me when I’ve met him. I’ve seen him with Crazy Horse, with acoustic gigs, and he always comes from a place of truth. He’s invented a car that runs on fucking grass or something. The world can be split into two camps: people that like Neil Young and people that don’t. And the people that don’t are fucking idiots.”
While Gallagher tends to make throwaway remarks which don’t always ring true, his comment on people who don’t like Young is indisputable.
