Neil Young – Harvest Moon
Harvest Moon, released in 1992, was largely regarded as a sequel to 1972's Harvest, which many regard as Neil Young's commercial and artistic peak. Harvest Moon ranked 47th in Bob Mersereau's 2007 book, .
It reached #4 on the Canadian charts and #16 in the US, won the 1994 Juno Award as Best Album, and spawned three singles: "War of Man," "Harvest Moon" (#5) and "Unknown Legend," an ode to his then wife. However, as with much Neil Young material, it was met with generally favourable, but somewhat mixed, reviews:
- AllMusic gave it 3.5 stars out of 5
- Robert Christgau gave it an Honorable Mention as "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure"
- Rolling Stone gave it 4 stars out of 5
Although Tracy (especially) and I are huge Neil Young fans, I am somewhat disappointed to find Harvest Moon on this list – there are several overlooked Neil Young albums that I would rather have included, such as Comes a Time, the songs from which I remember singing with Mark Daniher, Norm Kallio, Steve Mitchell and other high school friends, while hiking through the dark at Hiawatha Park, shortly after the album came out. To be honest, when it came time to write this entry, I couldn't even find our copy of Harvest Moon on our shelves – if one of you, dear readers, has borrowed it, please do return it.
Hometown: |
Toronto (born), Winnipeg (raised), Los Angeles (home) |
Label: |
Reprise |
Release Date: |
2 November 1992 |
Producer: |
Neil Young, Ben Keith |
Style: |
Country-folk-rock |
Mar*Star 125: |
did not exist |
Mar*Star 150: |
93 |
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- "Unknown Legend" (Neil Young) – 4:32
- "From Hank to Hendrix" (Neil Young) – 5:12
- "You and Me" (Neil Young) – 3:45
- "Harvest Moon" (Neil Young) – 5:03
- "War of Man" (Neil Young) – 5:41
- "One of These Days" (Neil Young) – 4:55
- "Such a Woman" (Neil Young) – 4:36
- "Old King" (Neil Young) – 2:57
- "Dreamin' Man" (Neil Young) – 4:36
- "Natural Beauty" (Neil Young) – 10:22
Neil Young & the Stray Gators:
- Neil Young – vocals, guitars, harmonica, banjo guitar, piano, pump organ, vibraphone
- Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, Dobro, bass marimba, backing vocals
- Spooner Oldham – piano, pump organ, keyboards
- Tim Drummond – bass, marimba, broom
- Kenny Buttrey – drums
Guests:
- Linda Ronstadt – backing vocals (on 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
- James Taylor – backing vocals (on 1, 5, 6)
- Nicolette Larson – backing vocals (on 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- Astrid Young – backing vocals (on 5, 7, 9)
- Larry Cragg – backing vocals (on 5)
- Jack Nitzsche – string arrangement (on 7)
- Maria Newman, Israel Baker, Betty Byers, Berg Garabedian, Harris Goldman, Robin Lorentz, Cindy McGurty, Haim Shtrum – violins (on 7)
- Valerie Dimond, Matt Funes, Rick Gerding, Carrie Prescott, David Stenske, Adriana Zoppo – violas (on 7)
- Larry Corbett, Ericka Duke, Greg Gottlieb, David Shamban – cellos (on 7)