The first song Neil Young ever sang was by The Beatles
Neil Young is one of the most consequential performers of our time, and it’s a testament to his work that it has left an indelible mark on the souls of many different generations of listeners. His lasting legacy is a reflection of the deeply personal yet universal themes he taps into.
Young’s life reads like a work of fiction. Whether it be hanging out with the likes of Joni Mitchell when cutting his teeth as a musician in his native Canada, playing in The Mynah Birds with Rick James or making the long trek to Los Angeles in a hearse, the legendary tales from Young’s life are nearly as essential as his music, with many breathing life into his oeuvre.
When it comes to his musical exploits, Young’s career has hit heights that few can even dream of. After gaining experience as a solo artist and playing in The Mynah Birds, it wasn’t long after Young made it to Los Angeles that he joined Buffalo Springfield. The band, which featured a young Stephen Stills, would quickly rise to become one of the most lauded acts of the day, and one of the most cherished of the counterculture, delivering cuts such as ‘For What It’s Worth’ and ‘Sit Down, I Think I Love You’.
After Buffalo Springfield called it a day, Young would start working on his solo material, and as a brief detour, he joined up with the supergroup Crosby, Stills and Nash, in what became the most extraordinary tour-de-force of creative minds that their generation had seen. Their first album, 1970’s Déjà Vu became the definitive body of work for the hippie movement, with tracks like ‘Teach Your Children’ and ‘Our House’ searing themselves into the hearts of many, complete with emotive music and thought-provoking lyrics.
After the demise of CSNY, Young carried on his solo career, and produced masterpiece after masterpiece, including After the Gold Rush, Harvest and Zuma, and by the end of the decade, he had cemented his place in pop culture legend. It makes for one of the most expansive careers in rock music, but it all had to start somewhere.
Although Young has achieved much over his career, when he first started out, he was just like everyone else of his generation, singing the popular hits of the day in the hope of reaching the same status as his idols. When speaking to Cameron Crowe for Rolling Stone in 1975, he was asked when he started singing and although he didn’t give an exact date, he revealed that the first song he ever performed in front of people was a classic by The Beatles.
He recalled: “I remember singing Beatles tunes … the first song I ever sang in front of people was ‘It Won’t Be Long’, and then ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’. That was in Calvin High School [Winnipeg] cafeteria. My big moment.”
Then, in another interview with Cameron Crowe for the same publication in 1979, Young explained a little bit more about his love for The Beatles, and the other most crucial act of the day, Bob Dylan, by noting that both were always committed to artistic progression.
“I never forgot,” he said, “that every time a new Beatles or Dylan album came out, you knew they were way beyond it. They were always doing something else, always moving down the line.” For most musicians of Young’s generation, The Beatles were an essential stepping stone to their own creativity, for Neil Young, they were the very first.
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