The producer Neil Young called a “genius”
Throughout his career, Neil Young has collaborated with some of the finest musicians. From his breakout with Buffalo Springfield and his tenure in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to his most recent releases, his relentless work ethic has kept him in the company of top-tier talent. However, the producer he calls a “genius” is somewhat controversial.
Say the name Rick Rubin around the music community, and you’ll see two camps form. To some, the label boss and producer is the hero of modern music. He’s played a hand in some of the biggest and best albums in modern music history, working with the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Metallica and more. However, as he’s known for his unique working style, there are some who simply couldn’t get on board with his process. Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor both aren’t fans of his, both speaking about not liking their experience in his studio.
But for Neil Young, working with Rubin wasn’t just a joy, but was utterly inspiring. Rubin’s philosophy around making music centres exactly that. “In terms of priority, inspiration comes first. You come next. The audience comes last,” the producer once said as he believes the art and the artist always have to be the most important thing. It’s easy to see why that ethos would lead to a lovely working environment, and one that Young found incredibly powerful.
“Rick is a genius. It’s so easy, because he loves music. You’re not gonna find a person who loves music more than Rick,” Young said in a gushing evaluation of his collaborator. “He’s dedicated to preserving it,” he continued, seeing Rubin as a true protector of the art form and a guardian intent on keeping it safe.
“If you talk about an environmentalist trying to save the Earth, then he’s a music-mentalist. That’s the way he looks at music,” he continued, “That’s a great thing. He’s just living it.”
But to Young, what makes Rubin so special to work with is the fact that it doesn’t really feel like work at all. “I play the songs, and we’re doing it live, and everything happens, and then we capture it like that,” he explained. The energy in the studio as they worked on his 2022 record, World Record, was simply about catching Young in his inspired flow and getting it down on tape.
“We worked on it together every day, sitting on the couch, listening, making changes. As soon as we start getting tired, we leave,” he explained, “We don’t work hard—we work until we’ve done something, and when we feel good about how far we’ve gotten we leave and come back.”
“He’s into the flow of things. That’s how he likes to live his life, no matter what he’s doing,” he said, explaining how the album came together at that pace of working when inspiration hits and heading home when it didn’t. To Young, that’s the ultimate working environment for a good record and exactly the reason why he not only sees Rubin as a genius but as a kind of kindred spirit.
He concluded, “We have a lot in common in that respect”.
