Neil Young / Old Ways – After The Gold Rush This Ain’t

More of the Music of Neil Young

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Notes from an early shootout.

I may be stating the obvious here, but After The Gold Rush this ain’t. If you’re looking for a big and bold Neil Young rock record, this is not the one for you. This is Neil heading out to the sticks with friends including Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and other authentic country music figures, doing what Neil loves to do — making the music that HE wants to make, not the music that anyone else wants him to. Old friend Ben Keith (a huge part behind the sound of Harvest) shows up with his pedal steel guitar on a couple tracks.

Side one has big, open sound with exceptional presence, something we didn’t hear on too many copies. The overall sound is warm, smooth and sweet.

Side two is even better, with all of those same qualities and more. There’s an extra degree of energy here and the clarity is off the charts.

This probably wasn’t anyone’s favorite Neil Young album, but it sounds like this it sure makes a lot more sense than it did when we heard it on a mediocre pressing.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

The Wayward Wind
Get Back to the Country
Are There Any More Real Cowboys?
Once an Angel
Misfits

Side Two

California Sunset
Old Ways
My Boy
Bound for Glory
Where Is the Highway Tonight?

AMG Review

In 1984, Geffen Records sued Neil Young on the grounds that he had submitted uncharacteristic, uncommercial records to the label. By the time a settlement had been reached, Young had been on the road with a country band called the International Harvesters for over a year and recorded a revamped version of Old Ways, a 1982 recording originally rejected by Geffen that was cut in the style of Harvest and Comes a Time, but with a stronger country leaning. Young depends heavily on friends, especially for vocals — Waylon Jennings sings harmony on six out of the ten tracks, and one of the others is a duet with Willie Nelson.

Though populated by cowboys and country references, Young’s take on the genre is typically idiosyncratic, including a reworked version of his autobiography in “Get Back to the Country,” a cover of the 1956 Gogi Grant hit “The Wayward Wind,” and the uncategorizable “Misfits,” which portrays astronauts watching Muhammad Ali fights on television in space.