From Wiki­Collectables, Buy • Sell • Collect • Wiki

View the top articles!

Neil Percival Young^[1] OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and film director.

Young's work is characterized by deeply personal lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and signature falsetto tenor singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments—including piano and harmonica—his style of claw-hammer acoustic guitar and often idiosyncratic soloing on electric guitar are the linchpins of a sometimes ragged, sometimes polished sound. Although Young has experimented widely with differing music styles, including swing, jazz, rockabilly, blues, and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into either of two distinct styles: folk-esque acoustic rock (as heard in songs such as "Heart of Gold", "Harvest Moon" and "Old Man") and electric-charged hard rock (in songs like "Cinnamon Girl", "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)"). In more recent years, Young has started to adopt elements from newer styles of music, such as industrial, alternative country and grunge, the latter of which was profoundly influenced by his own style of playing, causing some to confer on him the title of "the godfather of grunge".

Young has directed (or co-directed) a number of films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY Déjà Vu (2008), a documentary about the band's controversial 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour. He is currently working on another documentary about new technology for automobiles, tentatively titled " Linc/Volt".^[2]

He is also an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the benefit concert Farm Aid, and in 1986 helped found The Bridge School,^[3] and its annual supporting Bridge School Benefit concerts, together with his wife Pegi.

Although Young sings as frequently about U.S. legends and myths (Pocahontas, space stations, and the settlement of the American West),^[4] as he does about his native country (such as in "Helpless" and "Four Strong Winds"), he remains a Canadian citizen and has never wanted to relinquish his Canadian citizenship. He has lived in the U.S. for "so long" and has stated, about U.S. elections, that he has "got just as much right to vote in them as anybody else."^[5]

Contents 1 Neil Young - Heart Of Gold 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References 4.1 Bibliography 4.2 Biographies 5 External links

[edit] Neil Young - Heart Of Gold

[edit] See also

• Canadian rock
• List of musicians from Canada
• Music of Canada

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Cavallo, Dominick (1999), A Fiction of the Past: The Sixties in American History, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-21930-X .
• McDonough, Jimmy (2002), Shakey: Neil Young's Biography, Random House, ISBN 0-679-42772-4 .

[edit] Bibliography

• Skinker, Chris (1998). "Neil Young". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 607.
• Adria, Marco, "My Crazy Old Uncle, Neil Young," Music of Our Times: Eight Canadian Singer-Songwriters (Toronto: Lorimer, 1990), pp. 45-64.
• "Clanging New York Subways, Screeches Intact, Go Miniature ", by Michael Brick; New York Times, September 21, 2006
• Shakey: Neil Young's Biography, Jimmy McDonough,pp 347-360.
• Neil Young, the Rolling Stones Files: the Ultimate Compendium of Interviews, Articles, Facts, and Opinions from the Files of Rolling Stone, published by Rolling Stone Press in 1994, ISBN 0-7868-8043-0
• The Faber Encyclopedia of Rock, Phil Hardy, Dave Laing (editors)

[edit] Biographies

• Don't Be Denied: the Canadian Years, John Einarson, published by Quarry Press in 1992, ISBN 1-55082-044-3
• A Dreamer of Pictures, David Downing, published by Bloomsbury in 1994, ISBN 0-7475-1881-5
• Neil and Me, Scott Young, published by McClelland and Stewart in 1997, ISBN 0-7710-9099-4
• Neil Young: Zero to Sixty: A Critical Biography, Johnny Rogan, published by Omnibus Press in 2000, ISBN 0-9529540-4-4
• Neil Young : reflections in broken glass, Sylvie Simmons, published by MOJO Books in 2001, ISBN 1-84195-084-X
• Neil Young Nation, by Kevin Chong; published by Greystone Books, 2005, ISBN 1-55365-116-2
• Neil on himself: Neil Young: In His Own Words, by Michael Heatley; published by Omnibus Press, 1997, ISBN 0-7119-6161-1
• Neil on himself: Greendale, The Book, by Neil Young, James Mazzeo; published by Sanctuary Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1-86074-622-5
• Neil Young, Carole Dufrechou, published by Quick Fox in 1978, ISBN 0-7119-0092-2

[edit] External links

• Neil Young official website
• Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Official site
• Sugar Mountain - Neil Young's concert performance set lists
• Neil Young at Allmusic
• Neil Young at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlie Rose Show interview, 17 July 2008]]