Neil Young NEIL YOUNG

Personnel includes: Neil Young (vocals, guitar); Jim Messina (bass); George Grantham (drums); Merry Clayton, Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Gloria Richetta Jones, Sherlie Matthews, Gracia Nitzsche (background vocals). Producers: Dave Briggs, Neil Young, Jack Nitzsche, Ryland Cooder. Engineers include: Mark Richardson, Donn Landee, Dale Batchelor. Neil Young's first solo record is quite a bit different from the sound he would later develop--not that anyone could ever know what to expect from this mercurial visionary. This album, though, is a bit artier and less spontaneous-sounding than most of Young's catalog. That's not to say that he hadn't already developed a gift for writing unique, captivating material. He'd already shown that ability with Buffalo Springfield, and NEIL YOUNG is full of great, idiosyncratic tunes. The most well-known cut here is the most traditional rock-sounding tune, "The Loner," but even here Young sings of disaffection and isolation, over an arrangement tha