back track
A guitarist’s guide to the artists you need to know
After The Gold Rush (1970)
1 The record that established Young as a formidable solo force. In September 1970, Young’s era-defining role in Buffalo Springfield was still fresh in the memory and his debut with Crosby, Stills & Nash, Déjà Vu, had topped the charts six months earlier. It’s not surprising then that the pensive, countrified poetry found on the likes of the album’s title track and Only Love Can Break Your Heart took the Canadian’s profile to new commercial heights, laying the path for 1972’s ubiquitous mega-hit Harvest in the process. Even amid this Dr Jekyll folksiness, though, there was evidence of the spikiness so defining of Young’s electric Mr Hyde side: Southern Man saw Young’s distorted, searing wail parted by a one minute 40 second solo that offered all the protest, anger and sadness of the song’s lyrical content. Recommended track: Southern Man
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
2 Young’s second solo record and the first to feature his ‘garage band’ Crazy Horse contains some of his most notable guitar work, brought to the fore by sparring partner Danny Whitten’s staccato rhythm work. The centrepiece – ode to waterside murder, Down By
The River – exceeds nine minutes, yet still seems economic in its fretwork, with much of the opening solo riffing around a single note. In contrast, Cinnamon Girl – one of the first tracks to feature Young’s beloved Les Paul ‘Old Black’ – breezily flows into dreamy folk rock, while channeling one of Young’s best riffs through a gorgeous crunch tone. It’s an album alive with inspired improvisation. Standout track: Down By The River
Zuma (1975)
5 Young’s second 1975 effort is rightly praised by the hardcore, but often overlooked by casual listeners. This is a great shame for two main reasons. First, it represents the introduction of new Crazy Horse guitarist Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro, Whitten’s replacement, and one of Young’s most enduring collaborators. Sampedro’s hellfire personality and a hard rock playing style would help to create the material that drew grunge stars to worship at the Young altar throughout the 90s, including a co-write on
Rockin’ In The Free World. The second reason? Fan favourite Cortez The Killer, hailed by Young as some of his finest playing and a compelling example of a reinvigorated artist at the peak of his powers. Standout track: Cortez The Killer
Tonight’s The Night (1975)
3 An album tainted by the drug-related deaths of the aforementioned Whitten and Young’s roadie friend Bruce Berry,
Tonight’s The Night was recorded in 1973, but its unflinching portrayal of all-consuming grief was initially considered unreleasable by label Reprise. The latter party were no doubt still holding a candle for Harvest, but this material couldn’t be further removed from that warm acoustic glow. Instead, the atmosphere here is one of a seismic death party. The title track unsettles and excites in its creepy anticipation of oncoming doom, while the band (including guitarist Nils Lofgren) play like they’re inhabiting characters from a Tom Waits song. Standout track: Tonight’s The Night
Le Noise (2010)
6 Many of Young’s post-90s albums have contained flashes of luminescence, but are too often bogged down in worthyyet-dry concepts (see 2009’s ode to the electric car, Fork In The Road) or inconsistent writing. Le
Noise, however, saw Young team up with Daniel Lanois for an exciting, harmonious collection that wrapped solo performance in layers of dark, woolly fuzz and echoing vocals. Acousticcentrepiece Love And War stands out in its quiet spaciousness, showcasing a spine-tingling vulnerability amid a record of tumultuous distortion and unsettling sonic experimentation. A tonal masterclass, the effect is one of a distorted post-apocalyptic preacher. If environmental diatribes came packaged like this, people would listen. Standout track: Love And War
Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
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RustNeverSleeps is often hailed as the album most representative of Young’s two primary artistic personalities: the acoustic balladeer and the scything electric wizard. Formed around the over-dubbed bones of a live recording with the Crazy Horse collaboration, the album sees side one made up of five acoustic tracks, while side two is electric.
Powderfinger marks a sizeable step forward in Young’s lead playing, but the must-hear from a guitar perspective is closer HeyHey,MyMy
(IntoTheBlack). The brutal fuzz-cracked riff is Young’s finest and, during the era of punk rock, served as a reminder that not all 60s dinosaurs had lost their teeth. Standout track: Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)