Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?

Subject: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,SoloSongwriter
Date: 17 Nov 19 - 02:37 PM

Where along the folk spectrum does the solo work of Neil Young land?

By this, I mean that I hear, in much of his early acoustic solo work especially, a much more independent musical streak, as opposed to much of his electric-band work, which seems to at least seemingly track with more established pop music forms.

I am interested in whether anyone sees some of the hallmarks of the folk tradition in the writing and playing of Young in his earlier solo output.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Nov 19 - 03:18 PM

I've heard "After the goldrush" and "The needle and the damage done" a few times at folk clubs. If that's any help!

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: meself
Date: 17 Nov 19 - 03:26 PM

People understand very different things by the term "the folk tradition". You are unlikely to get a satisfactory response here unless you indicate what you mean by it - and even then, your understanding is likely to be challenged! Good luck.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 17 Nov 19 - 03:32 PM

Probably right at the end furthest away from traditional song but if it is as DtG says sung in folk clubs in a folk style then millions of people would happily accept it as part of the spectrum. And then the absolute purists would say it can't be anything to do with the folk spectrum, but everybody's entitled to their opinion. Would you rather listen to the purists or the masses? Your choice.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 17 Nov 19 - 03:46 PM

Another song that would get away with it,
so to speak, is
"Old Man," with James Taylor's banjo obbligato.

It is a song which
is from his early albums
yet has been reprised in recent years,
and has received a sympathetic response.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,Pop hippie junk!
Date: 17 Nov 19 - 10:18 PM

I am not a fan. Nothing Young has done was any good to me except with Crosby, Nash and Stills. It was good in the 60s and 70s, today, not so much. a few songs are still okay, but pop, not folk.

Folk tradition? Not.

But then one of my good freiends was fired from being his archivist with huge unpaid back pay. Young is a puffed up old jerk. And I cannot stand his whiny voice unless he's in harmony with a real singer.

My humble opinion.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: gillymor
Date: 18 Nov 19 - 07:11 AM

The only LP of Young's I still enjoy listening to is his second solo effort, "Everybody Knows this is Nowhere", some of the songs display a strong country music vibe like the title cut and "The Losing End".

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: Lighter
Date: 18 Nov 19 - 08:28 AM

What I find interesting is the widespread identification of the hallmark of "folk music" as being both instrumentally "acoustic" and stylistically "independent."

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,Hi Lo
Date: 18 Nov 19 - 09:26 AM

I have never thought of Neil Young as a Folk singer. I think he is truly one of the giants of popular music. He has written icon song, Old Man, Cinnamon His version of all along the Watchtower is much better than Jimmie Hendricks' version.
   He has been writing about the environment for years, has written great political songs ,but what I admire most about him is that he was never afraid to change, to take musical and commercial risks. His album "Trans" takes him into the world of techno pop, fans hated it at the time, but it is now considered one of his best.
But , to reiterarte, I never thought of him as a folk artists.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: peteglasgow
Date: 18 Nov 19 - 12:21 PM

i think his early stuff is a bit of country and a bit of folk - what we would now call americana. i wouldn't want to label any of us stuff though, very varied in style (on the beach? zuma? and other aforementioned efforts) and quality. i've always found him interesting and though, jack campin, i'm clearly thick when it comes to music i have found it pays to have catholic taste and to try not to be too judgmental

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 18 Nov 19 - 12:36 PM

Yes, there is a broad streak of country in early neil Young . There is however, something quintessentially Canadian about his writing, as there is in Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Stan Rodgers, Gordon Lightfoot and Bruce Cockburn, among others. They share an inward looking point of view quite often. Wish I could explain it better..but it is a feeling I get from many Canadian writers.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,Pseudonymous
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 05:57 AM

The man with guitar thing has to have been 'folk' influenced? Not arguing that he is folk, but 'broad streak' seems a good way to put it.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: Allan Conn
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 06:01 AM

I am not sure how something would be good in the 60s and 70s - bot not today? For me if it is good then it is good no matter when it was recorded.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 06:05 AM

The "is it folk?" question is often like someone seeing a turd on the pavement and spending so much effort thinking about whether it's human, dog or dragon that they end up stepping in it.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 07:02 AM

Well, Allan, I might have thought something was great in the '60s and then decided many years later that it was - well, not quite junk, but not very interesting.

This actually happened.

But it's obviously true that one can like something from any period.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,Pseudonymous
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 08:19 AM

Round here it's mainly dog or human.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: Jeri
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 08:55 AM

I loved this song the first time I heard it. Thrasher
Genres, in my opinion, help us find music we might like. They aren't any good for pigeon-holing songwriters or performers, or music, for that matter.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 02:58 PM

"Thrasher"

They were hiding behind hay bales,
They were planting
in the full moon
They had given all they had
for something new
But the light of day was on them,
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water
shone like diamonds in the dew.

And I was just getting up,
hit the road before it's light
Trying to catch an hour on the sun
When I saw
those thrashers rolling by,
Looking more than two lanes wide
I was feelin'
like my day had just begun.

Where the eagle glides ascending
There's an ancient river bending
Down the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits
I searched out my companions,
Who were lost in crystal canyons
When the aimless blade of science
Slashed the pearly gates.

It was then I knew I'd had enough,
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement
turns to sand
With a one-way ticket
to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends
I still don't understand.

They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed,
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks
and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting.

So I got bored and left them there,
They were just deadweight to me
Better down the road
without that load
Brings back the time
when I was eight or nine
I was watchin' my mama's T.V.,
It was that great
Grand Canyon rescue episode.

Where the vulture glides descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Thru libraries and museums,
galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar.

But me I'm not stopping there,
Got my own row left to hoe
Just another line
in the field of time
When the thrasher comes,
I'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But I'll know the time has come
To give what's mine.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 20 Nov 19 - 10:15 AM

Well, it may not be folk, but it sure is fine... Great lyrics, as are many Neil Young lyrics,one of my favourites is Don't let it bring You Down.. Sugar Mountain is great as well, but not very well known.

Subject: RE: Neil Young solo work - folk tradition?
From: GUEST,Pseudonymous
Date: 20 Nov 19 - 08:36 PM

Have to admit to a liking for that old Buffalo Springfield track with the neat guitar bit for paranoia (For What It's Worth). Yes I know Young did not write it.

And 4 dead in Ohio …