Neil Young

Description: Folk-Rock, Singer/Songwriter

Comparisons: Neil Young has one of the most distinct styles in modern American music, but he can be compared to the likes of Tom Petty and The Byrds. You can also hear clear influences from Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles.

Trivia Fact: Neil Young's mother was a quiz show panelist and his father was a sports writer for the Toronto Sun.

Artists Influenced by Neil Young: The first person that comes to mind in comparison to Neil Young is Matthew Sweet. Other bands that claim to have been influenced by Neil include Wilco, Sun Volt, the Jayhawks, and Lucinda Williams.

Starter CDs: Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (Reprise, 1969). After the Gold Rush (Reprise, 1970). This Note's For You (Reprise, 1988).

Quote from Neil Young: "I'll go for things that I know are going to be wrong, with a vengeance."

Purchase/Donwload MP3s by Neil Young: "After the Garden"
"The Needle and the Damage Done"
"Cowgirl in the Sand"

Neil Young Biography: Despite the fact that he hails from Canada, Neil Young has managed to become one of the most memorable, distinctive, prolific, and influential artists in American folk-rock.

Born in Toronto in 1945, Neil's musical skills were encouraged from the time he was quite young. When he was just a boy, Neil's father gave him a ukelele for Christmas.

Soon after, his parents divorced, and Neil moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, with his mother. Soon he developed an affinity for guitar and banjo, which would stick with him throughout his adolescence. Eventually, he dropped out of high school to concentrate more on his band - Neil Young and the Squires.

Through the help of his mother, Neil and the Squires developed a decent following in the area during the early 1960s. After the band split up in 1965, Neil made a solo pitch to Elektra records. He was unsuccessful in signing with Elektra, and turned instead to the local coffeehouse circuit, where he played both solo and with a band called the Mynah Birds, which featured then undiscovered Rick James.

After the Mynah Birds split, Neil and the drummer formed Buffalo Springfield. During their two years as a band, they recorded three very successful records.

Following the demise of Buffalo Springfield, Neil made two solo records. It was the second one that sprung him and his backup band, Crazy Horse, into fame. He joined his friend Steven Stills in 1969, and with David Crosby and Graham Nash, the quartet of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young recorded three records.

During the next thirty years, Neil released numerous solo records, becoming one of the most prolific members of his genre.