The album that convinced Neil Young to go solo
The cardinal rule of Neil Young is that he does whatever the hell he wants. Throughout his career, Young has never danced to anyone’s tune but his own, looking to make music on his terms even if it means it won’t reach the largest audience possible. Although Young may have secured his start as a member of Buffalo Springfield, his urge to go solo sprung from hearing this album for the first time.
Throughout his musical journey, though, Young going solo seemed more like an inevitability. Considering his habit of playing the most savage lead lines in Buffalo Springfield and writing his material, the first handful of Young projects involved him woodshedding his signature sound, blending subtle beauty with hints of country, rock, and what Eddie Vedder would later describe as “mountain funk”.
Even when his former bandmate asked him to join Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Young was already blossoming into a unique creative force. Compared to the rest of the rock luminaries that had formed the iconic supergroup, Young’s songs always had a more pointed edge to them, able to lend aggressive guitar to the band’s greatest songs while contributing tracks like ‘Ohio’, which took a sharp look at where society was heading.
When looking into his solo career, though, Young liked to keep things reasonably raw. Outside of the massive sounds of his electric guitar, Young felt it was essential to show the human side of his playing, often leaving in the subtle imperfections that made for a slightly less perfect track on albums like Tonight’s the Night and After the Gold Rush.
Although Young may have been considered sloppy by most arrangers, he took lessons from one of the ultimate rock perfectionists. Around the time that Young was still in Springfield, The Beatles were fracturing, leading to Paul McCartney putting together his first solo album in a somewhat makeshift manner.
Considering his pedigree and his habits of working a song down to the bone, Macca spent most of his time woodshedding songs on his self-titled debut album, often having fragments of tunes alongside classics. Although critics may have been bewildered to hear McCartney in this fractured state, Young said he was inspired to pick up his guitar and throw out the rules thanks to McCartney’s work.
When inducting McCartney into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Young marvelled at how human the former Beatle could be on record, saying, “I love that record because it was so simple. There was so much to see and to hear. It was just Paul, and there was no adornment at all. There was no echo. There was no attempt made to compete with the things that he had done. It blew my mind and made me think, ‘Maybe I could do this too’”.
Young would also end up finding his voice in the studio, letting the audience know each facet of his personality by the way he chose to record himself. While McCartney may have a reputation as being the domineering force during the run of The Beatles, his more ramshackle moments have a drastic effect on rock history without even trying.
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