Alabama (Neil Young song)
| Harvest | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Neil Young | ||||
| Released | February 1, 1972 | |||
| Recorded | January–September 1971 | |||
| Studio |
Various
|
|||
| Genre | Country rock | |||
| Length | 37:11 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer |
|
|||
| Neil Young chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Pitchfork | (9.3/10) |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Rolling Stone | (negative) |
Harvest is the fourth album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released on February 1, 1972, on Reprise Records, catalogue MS 2032. It featured the London Symphony Orchestra on two tracks and vocals by noted guests David Crosby, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Stills, and James Taylor. It topped the Billboard 200 album chart for two weeks, and spawned two hit singles, "Old Man", which peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Heart of Gold", which reached #1. It was the best-selling album of 1972 in the United States.
After the members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young went their separate ways in 1970, Young recruited a group of country session musicians (which he christened The Stray Gators) and recorded a country rock record, Harvest. The record was a massive hit, producing a US number one single in "Heart of Gold". Other songs returned to some usual Young themes: "Alabama" was "an unblushing rehash of 'Southern Man'"; and "The Needle and the Damage Done" was a lament for great artists who had died of heroin addiction. The former song was also at least partially responsible (along with the aforementioned "Southern Man") for the creation of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1973 hit "Sweet Home Alabama" which mentions Neil by name. Young later wrote of "Alabama" in his autobiography Waging Heavy Peace, saying it "richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don't like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue." "Words (Between the Lines of Age)", the last song on the album, featured a lengthy guitar workout with the band. It has a typical Neil Young structure consisting of four chords during the multiple improvised solos. The song is notable for alternating between a standard 4/4 time signature for verses and choruses and an unusual 11(3+3+3+2)/8 for interludes.
...
Wikipedia