Neil Young – Heart of Gold

"Heart of Gold" is the fourth song on and the first single from Neil Young's Harvest album, which takes its title from the lyrics of this song. It was Neil Young's first (and only) chart topping single in Canada and the U.S., and also slipped into the top 10 in the U.K.

The song, which has been covered by many artists, including Willie Nelson, who had a country hit with it in 1987, was ranked among the greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone in both 2004 (297th) and 2010 (303rd), and is generally included in lists of the greatest Canadian songs:

• 2nd in Bob Mersereau's The Top 100 Canadian Singles book (2010)
• 3rd in CBC Radio's 50 Tracks: The Canadian Edition (2005)
• 7th in the Mar*Star Canada 125 poll (1992)
• 9th in Chart magazine's Greatest Canadian Music poll (2005)
• 13th in the Mar*Star's Greatest Canadian poll (2011)
• 30th in Chart magazine's Great Canadian Music poll (1996)
• 45th in Chart magazine's Great Canadian Music poll (2000)

Click below for:

• an early live version
• the original album version
• the Boney M Nightflight to Venus version
• the Willie Nelson cover version
• a Johnny Cash cover version
• the Roxette MTV unplugged version

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Personnel

• Neil Young – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
• Ben Keith – steel guitar
• Kenny Buttrey – drums
• Tim Drummond – bass
• Jack Nitzsche – piano, slide guitar
• James Taylor – backing vocals
• Linda Ronstadt – backing vocals

• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Helpless (song)
• Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (song)
• Neil Young – Old Man (song)
• Neil Young – Harvest (album)
• Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (album)
• Neil Young – Tonight's the Night (album)
• Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps (album)
• Neil Young – Harvest Moon (album)