The Success of Canadian Musician Neil Young

 Neil Young is one of Canada most prolific music performers and writers. Neil had many musical successes in his career. Young had an undeniable talent that shot him to the top no matter who he was working with. He experienced success with many different bands. He was dominant with Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, CSNY and his solo career. Neil Young will go down in history forever as a man with an undeniable musical career and talent. 

In 1966 Neil Young, Rick James, and Rick Palmer headed out to L.A. to form a band with an old acquaintance of Neil’s, Steven Stills. Stuck in Los Angeles traffic and ready to give up and go home Steven Stills and drummer Dewey Martin spot Neil Young and the band. They formed the band Buffalo Springfield. Later that week they opened for the soon to be super-group The Byrds. Their first single was “In the Midnight Hour”. While watching the Sunset Strip Riots, Stills wrote the landmark song “For what it’s Worth”. “For what it’s Worth” shot their first album to the top and they quickly began to record their second album. But this album was plagued with conflict between Neil and Steven over leadership. Young was also suffering from epileptic seizures and he was leaving and rejoining the group due to personal problems. Soon after they released their second album, buffalo Springfield disbanded.  Although their success was minor, Buffalo Springfield was the spark that lit the flame that would soon be the forest fire known as Neil Young.

 In 1969 Neil Young met a band called the Rockettes. Young convinced Danny Whitten (guitar), Billy Talbot (bass) and Ralph Molina (drums) to join him; together they created the band Crazy Horse. They recorded their first album together in 1969, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Their first album contained hit singles such as “Down by the River”, “Cinnamon Girl” and “Cowgirl in the Sand”. This album proved to be a success for Neil and his band. Since the release of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Neil and Crazy Horse have released 12 more albums. Neil and Crazy Horse endured great hardship including the death of three members. The band was in constant dispute. In 1978 after the Rust Never Sleeps tour Young claimed that he would never work with Crazy Horse again. However, the band returned. They reunited in 1990 for the critically acclaimed album Ragged Glory and a successive live album Weld. Crazy Horse worked on many of Neil’s following albums and they remain a great folk band to this day.

Neil’s next move would prove to be one of great success. He joined forces with the already prominent band CSN. CSN was composed of David Crosby, Steven Stills (former member of Buffalo Springfield) and Graham Nash. Neil Young would soon join in on their success. Shortly after Young joined the band and they renamed themselves CSNY, and played  an amazing show at the 1969 Woodstock festival. Their first album with Young entitled, Déjà Vu was a huge success.  Almost every song on their first album was a hit. CSNY would complete 12 great albums. In 1970, four students who were peacefully protesting the Vietnam War were shot outside their college in Ohio. In response to this brutal devastation, CSNY wrote a song called Ohio. Ohio became one of their most famous and recognized songs. This song pushed their status to Super-Group. As they continued to release massive hits, it was clear to Crosby, Stills and Nash that Young would make a better solo artist. Young and Stills were always fighting over creative control of the band and in 1972 they disbanded.

Neil Young was a great success in any band he joined. His most prominent success came from his outstanding solo career. In 1972 Neil released his country tinged, rustic folk album Harvest. Harvest went platinum and Young’s success soared. Neil accomplished commercial, but creatively crippling success. In the summer of 1973 former member of Crazy Horse and longtime friend Danny Whitten died of a heroin overdose. This tragic event sent Young on a 90-date drunken tour with his band from Harvest. After the tour was over Young was going to re-join with CSN in Hawaii but as they began to record their new album Neil abandoned them. Neil retreated to L.A. to write and record his 1975 album Tonight’s the Night. Tonight’s the Night was a huge triumph, and Young was second only to Bob Dillon. Neil would write and record numerous solo albums ranging from bluegrass folk music to grunge and even hard rock. Neil was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame for such  solo hits as Down by the River, Keep on Rocking in the Free World, Heart of Gold, Southern Man, and so many more classic songs.

Neil Young is a world wide recognized Canadian musician. Neil would experience ups and downs thorough out his amazing career but he would always end up on top. Neil has received recognition and many awards for his musical career and talent. He preformed with the likes of Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse and CSNY. His music is an inspiration to many musicians today. Neil Young will go down in history as one of Canada’s prominent artists from the 1960’s through to 2000.