After the gold rush

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After the gold rush
Neil Young studio album

Publication
(s)

19th September 1970

Label (s) Virgin Records

Format (s)

CD, LP, MC

Genre (s)

Folk rock

Title (number)

11

running time

35 min 10 s

occupation
  • Neil Young : guitar, piano, harmonica, vibraphone, vocals
  • Billy Talbot: Bass
  • Greg Reeves: Bass
  • Ralph Molina: drums, vocals
  • Bill Peterson: French horn

Studio (s)

including Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles

chronology
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
(1969) 		After the gold rush Harvest
(1972)

After the Gold Rush is Neil Young's third album . It was released in September 1970 as one of four solo albums by members of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (CSNY), which received special attention because of their release only a short time after the successful album Déjà Vu . The album reached number 8 on the Billboard album charts, and the two single releases Only Love Can Break Your Heart and When You Dance I Can Really Love were 33 and 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 . For the 50th anniversary of the album, Neil Young is planning a new edition of After the Goldrush for 2020 (together with a concert film).

Emergence

Neil Young's third solo album came about during one of the most distinctive phases of his career. In less than a year he recorded two solo albums and CSNY's Déjà Vu . The follow-up album Harvest , which should reach number 1 on the Billboart charts and finally establish him as a star, was only able to record in 1972 because of a back injury. Compared to the experimental mix of styles that had shaped his work with Buffalo Springfield in previous years, Young this time relied more on a mix of hard rock as well as acoustic elements influenced by country and folk , comparable to CSNY and the direct previous album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere .

The title of the album comes from the script of an unrealized film that Young got from Dean Stockwell .

According to the authorized Young biography Shakey , Young wanted to assemble his backing band from musicians from his companions Crazy Horse and CSN. Besides Crazy Horse, Stephen Stills and CNSY bassist Greg Reeves are featured on the album. The first sessions were performed with Crazy Horse at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles during a winter tour that also included an appearance at the Fillmore East with Steve Miller and Miles Davis . Since rhythm guitarist Danny Whitten's condition deteriorated markedly during the sessions, only the track I Believe in You could be recorded. Besides When You Dance I Can Really Love , this was Crazy Horse's only appearance. Whitten also played on Southern Man .

Most of the album was recorded in a makeshift basement studio in Young's house in Topanga in the spring of 1970. The backing band consisted of bassist Greg Reeves, drummer Ralph Molina from Crazy Horse and Nils Lofgren from the band Grin from Washington on the piano. Letting the 18-year-old talent Lofgren, who had never played the piano or keyboard regularly before the sessions, do this part is further evidence of Young's stubborn decisions. Nils Lofgren later joined an extended formation of Crazy Horse for a short time together with Jack Nitzsche , another Protegee Youngs, in 1984 he joined the E Street Band .

reception

Initially, the critics were not convinced by the album. The first review of Rolling Stone began with the lines:

“Neil Young's fans will probably be desperate for the coming weeks to convince themselves that After the Gold Rush is good music. But that is self-deception. Because although the album contains high quality material in places, none of the songs stand out from the uniform, sluggish surface. "

- Rolling Stone

As it often happened with Young publications, the critics corrected their opinion afterwards. After the Gold Rush is now one of the milestones in Young's career. Ink Blot describes a more recent critical view of the album:

“As one of his least stylized works, the album benefits not only from his strong songwriting, but also from the broad array of musical personalities that Neil embodies here. [...] The variety and quality of the songs make After the Goldrush seem like a greatest hits album, which, miraculously, it isn't. "

- Ink blot

In 1998, readers of 'Q' magazine voted After the Gold Rush 89th in their poll for the best albums of all time . It was ranked 92nd in a 2005 poll by British TV station Channel 4. Rolling Stone put it in their The 500 best albums of all time at number 74.

The British pop band Saint Etienne covered the track Only Love Can Break Your Heart in 1990 for their first single, which reached number 1 on the US Hot Dance Club Play Charts. The rapper and singer Everlast covered this piece in 1999 for the soundtrack to the movie Big Daddy , Stephen Stills covered this piece for his album Right By You in 1984 .

Track list

  1. Tell Me Why - 2:54
  2. After the Gold Rush - 3:45
  3. Only Love Can Break Your Heart - 3:05
  4. Southern Man - 5:41
  5. Till the Morning Comes - 1:17
  6. Oh, Lonesome Me - 3:47
  7. Don't Let It Bring You Down - 2:56
  8. Birds - 2:34
  9. When You Dance I Can Really Love - 3:44
  10. I Believe in You - 3:24
  11. Cripple Creek Ferry - 1:34

All songs except Oh, Lonesome Me (by Don Gibson ) by Neil Young

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Neil Young Discography. June 29, 2013, accessed March 4, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Neil Young Announces After the Gold Rush 50th Anniversary Remake. Retrieved March 4, 2020 .
  3. ^ Neil Young: A Hippie Dream , p. 344
  4. ^ Rollingstone.com: After The Gold Rush
  5. ↑ rollingstone.com: 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
  6. ↑ Dance Club Songs - 1992 archive on billboard.com