Neil Young - After the Gold Rush

I don’t remember the first time I heard Neil Young, I’m sure it was when he was with Buffalo Springfield and ‘For What‘s It Worth‘ was a hit on the radio. That‘s one of those songs nobody ever knows the name of because that title line isn‘t mentioned anywhere in the lyrics.

I knew Buffalo Springfield from the radio of course, but it wasn‘t until Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young performed at Woodstock that I learned the connection. It was the era of the super group, (Blind Faith, CSN&Y) and the peak of the guitar gods - Clapton, Beck, Page, Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Alvin Lee, Neil Young…it was an incredible time in music and an incredible time to be young and living in America.

When isn’t it an incredible time to be young? Or Neil Young for that matter.

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Album: Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
Original Release: 1970
CD Release: 1990
Label: Reprise


The first time I heard this album was in Barry Morrison’s bedroom at his parent’s house in Altamont, Missouri. Jim Dickey and I were out riding around and Barry stopped us to see if we wanted to come over to his house and see his new drum set.

We were up in his bedroom and the album was laying on his bed unopened. We had been listening to Everybody Knows This is Nowhere on the way over and were freaked out by the fact that he had the new Neil Young album there ready for our listening pleasure. We asked him if we could put it on.

We spent the afternoon smoking cigarettes, drinking cokes and listening to Neil Young. It was a very good day. A day I still remember some thirty-seven years later. That’s the way music works for me. Whenever I hear a song, or an album, I can always recall what I was doing, where I was at and who I was with the first time I heard it. I think it works that way for a lot of people. And, the best part is, remembering it years later when you are with the person you were with the first time both of you heard it. It’s one of those things that makes life worth living. Mutual memories - music enhances them.

The time line is a little blurry now, which came first seeing Woodstock the movie, or listening to Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush. People say that if those times aren’t a little blurry then you weren’t really enjoying those times. I enjoyed those times.

And, I enjoyed this album, still do thirty seven years later. It’s hard to believe that much time has passed and that Neil is still alive and doing well. He’s one of a handful of artists who have managed to stay on my radar from the beginning.

After the Gold Rush is a true blending of the ying and yang that is Neil Young. He rocks it hard with "Southern Man" and mellows out with "I Believe in You” And, the title track still blows me away after all these years.

"When You Dance I Can Really Love" explodes like only a Neil Young song can and the soft introspection of "Tell Me Why” is mesmerizing to say the least.

It’s hard to believe, but this album, Neil Young’s third, is as strong and as powerful as any album he has released. It’s truly the master’s masterpiece.

If it’s been awhile since you listened to After the Gold Rush, you owe it to yourself to spin it again and again and again.