Harvest (Neil Young album)

Template:Short description Template:Over-quotation {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: Template:Start date<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=After the Gold Rush1970Journey Through the Past1972studioHarvestNeilYoungHarvestalbumcover.jpgNeil YoungTemplate:Start date<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>January 30 – September 28, 1971Royce Hall, UCLA*Quadrafonic Sound (Nashville, Tennessee)<ref name="Followed">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Barking Town Hall (London, UK)
• Broken Arrow Ranch (Woodside, California)* Folk rock
• country rock37:10Reprise* Neil Young
• Elliot Mazer
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Harvest is the fourth studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released on February 15, 1972, by Reprise Records, catalogue number MS 2032. It featured the London Symphony Orchestra on two tracks and vocals by guests David Crosby, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Stills, and James Taylor. It topped the Billboard 200 album chart<ref name=BillboardAlbum>{{#ifeq: | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/album/r22504{{

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}}</ref> for two weeks, and spawned two hit singles, "Old Man", which peaked at No. 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and "Heart of Gold", which reached No. 1.<ref name=BillboardSingles>{{#ifeq: | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5896{{

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}}</ref> It was the best-selling album of 1972 in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The album has been described as "[contain[ing] some of the most arresting imagery of Young's career to date". According to The TimesTemplate:' deputy features editor Burhan Wazir, the album "evoked both the dying optimism of San Francisco's counterculture movement and the burgeoning cynicism of the Watergate generation."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The album has since remained Neil Young's signature album as well as his best selling.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2015, Harvest was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Background

In 1970, Young released both Déjà Vu with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and his third solo album, After the Gold Rush. The year also saw Young tour as a solo act and with both CSNY and his collaborators Crazy Horse. In the fall of 1970, Young released After the Gold Rush, divorced his wife Susan Acevedo, and purchased Broken Arrow Ranch in Redwood City, California, where he would live for the next four decades. While renovating his new home, Young injured his back, limiting his mobility and ability to perform electric guitar. Around the same time, Young would also begin his relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress. Young's new home and romantic relationship would inspire several new songs.

After completing After the Gold Rush, Young promoted the album through a series of solo acoustic concerts. After playing Carnegie Hall in December 1970, Young returned to his ranch for a break in touring. While picking up a slab of walnut, Young injured his back, which prevented him from standing up while performing, limiting him to playing acoustic music. Young explains in an August 1975 interview with Cameron Crowe for Rolling Stone:

I was in and out of hospitals for the two years between After the Gold Rush and Harvest. I have one weak side and all the muscles slipped on me. My discs slipped. I couldn't hold my guitar up. That's why I sat down on my whole solo tour. I couldn't move around too well, so I laid low for a long time on the ranch and just didn't have any contact, you know. I wore a brace. Crosby would come up to see how I was, we'd go for a walk and it took me 45 minutes to get to the studio, which is only 400 yards from the house. I could only stand up four hours a day. I recorded most of Harvest in the brace. That's a lot of the reason it's such a mellow album. I couldn't physically play an electric guitar. "Are You Ready for the Country", "Alabama", and "Words" were all done after I had the operation. The doctors were starting to talk about wheelchairs and shit, so I had some discs removed. But for the most part, I spent two years flat on my back.{{#if:|

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Young embarked on a solo acoustic tour in January and February 1971 where he debuted many of the album's songs. A performance on The Johnny Cash Show led to collaborations with record producer Elliot Mazer and Nashville studio musicians. In Nashville, Young recruited a group of country session musicians, whom he would dub The Stray Gators to record his new songs. The resulting record was a massive hit, producing a US number one single in "Heart of Gold". The album's success caught Young off guard and his first instinct was to back away from stardom. He would later write that the record "put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there."<ref>Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, p. 308. Billboard Books. Template:ISBN.</ref>

Writing

In a post on his website, Young shares that much of Harvest "was written about or for Carrie Snodgress, a wonderful actress and person and Zeke Young's mother."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a radio interview, Young specifically cites "Heart of Gold", "Harvest" and "Out on the Weekend" as being inspired by his then blossoming love.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

"A Man Needs a Maid" was also inspired by Young's budding relationship with Snodgress, whom he contacted after seeing her picture in a magazine. At a Philadelphia concert in October 2014, Young shared that the song was also inspired by a light switch in a hotel he stayed at while touring with CSNY:

Now maid is a word that's been hijacked. It doesn't mean what it means anymore. Now it's like a derogatory thing. It's something bad. Someone working. Sometimes I tell a little story here about something. Kinda tears it for people a little bit. So a while ago a long time ago I was in a band and we were playing in London. I was in this hotel and there was this light switch on the wall. I walked over to it but it wasn't a light switch. I was surprised to see two buttons. The top one you pressed a MAN and the second one you pressed MAID. I immediately went to the piano. That's how it happened.<ref>Comments to the audience, October 9, 2014. Academy of Music, Philadelphia</ref>{{#if:|

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"Heart of Gold" was Young's only number 1 hit in the United States. In 1974, he would tell a journalist that its composition was influenced by French song "Love Is Blue."<ref>Neil Young in Amsterdam. Constant Meijers. Muziekkrant Oor. September/October 1974. Blues Online. Accessed October 29, 2023. http://bluesonline.weebly.com/the-loner.html.</ref>

"Are You Ready for the Country?" was written shortly before being recorded for the album. It, like "Words" and "Alabama", was recorded to provide contrast to the acoustic songs on the album. Young explains in a post on his website: "Are You Ready for the Country?" was written at the ranch shortly before the barn sessions happened. It's a simple song based on an old blues melody that has been used many times. I thought it would bring some welcome relief from the other songs."<ref>August 24, 2018. Neil Young Archives. neilyoungarchives.com</ref>

"Old Man" was inspired by Louis Avila, the caretaker of the Northern California ranch Young had recently purchased. He explains to an audience in January 1971: "This is a new song that I wrote about my ranch. I live on a ranch now. Lucky me. There's this old man who lives on it, that uh, he came with the place when I bought it. Ranches have foremen you know usually that sort of like stay there with the cows, no matter who owns it."<ref name="ReferenceA">Comments to the audience, January 19, 1971. Massey Hall, Toronto.</ref> He further describes Avila in his 2015 memoir, Special Deluxe:

Louis and Clara were each about sixty years old and Louis had a very leathery face from being out in the sun working the land his whole life. His hair was full and white and he talked slowly in a friendly way. Clara, his wife of about forty years, was a very nice, soft-spoken lady. They were very much in love and lived in a little house about two hundred yards from my cabin, just on the other side of the beautiful little lake. They were there the day I first saw the place. Louis stood a little off-center due to an injury he sustained while walking through a field one day when he stepped in a deep hole and put his back out. He never got it fixed. He just soldiered on. His manner was always casual, country.<ref>Young, Neil. 2015. Special Deluxe. New York, New York: Plume, An Imprint Of Penguin Random House Llc.</ref>{{#if:|

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"Alabama" is "an unblushing rehash of 'Southern Man'";<ref>So characterized by Jim Miller in Rolling Stone; quoted in Inglis, Sam (2003), Harvest, pp. 93-94. The Continuum International Publishing Group. Template:ISBN.</ref> to which American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote their 1973 hit "Sweet Home Alabama" in reply, stating "I hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don't need him around, anyhow". 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."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

"The Needle and the Damage Done" was inspired directly by an overdose by bandmate Danny Whitten, who would later succumb to his addictions.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The song was also inspired by several artists Young had seen fall to heroin, as he explained to a January 1971 audience:

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Recording

The album was recorded across several different sessions in multiple locations in 1971. "The Needle and the Damage Done" was taken from a live solo performance at UCLA on January 30 during a solo acoustic tour. Multiple sessions in February and April were held in Nashville with established local studio musicians, produced by Elliot Mazer. "A Man Needs a Maid" and "There's a World" were recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra with Jack Nitzsche on March 1. The album's electric tracks were recorded at Young's ranch in September.

Young engaged in a solo acoustic tour in North America and the United Kingdom in January and February 1971. During the tour, he played several new songs inspired by life on his new ranch or the beginnings of his romantic relationship with Carrie Snodgress. Several of the shows were recorded for potential release as a live album. Young arrived in Nashville in early February 1971 to perform on an episode of the Johnny Cash Show. Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor were also slated to appear on the broadcast.

While in Nashville, Young met record producer Elliot Mazer. Mazer had recently opened Quadrafonic Sound Studios in Nashville in a converted house. Mazer remembers: "The control room was the old porch. The living room and the dining room became the two live rooms, and the kitchen became a drum area. We called it 'Quadraphonic' as a joke, although it did have four speakers in the control room."<ref name="guitar.com">The Genius Of Harvest by Neil Young. Michael Leonard. May 12, 2021. Guitar.com. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://guitar.com/reviews/album/the-genius-of-harvest-by-neil-young/.</ref> Eager to record his new songs, Mazer helped Young assemble a band of local Nashville musicians. Young remembers:

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}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }} Young would continue to work with Mazer and Drummond on several subsequent projects. Ben Keith would become one of Young's most frequent collaborators until his death in 2010. Several of the musicians had performed with Nashville bands Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. At these first sessions in early February the band was able to capture "Heart of Gold", "Old Man", "Bad Fog of Loneliness", and "Dance Dance Dance". Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor also visited the studio to contribute to the sessions with Young. The three sat on a couch and recorded the background vocals for "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man". Taylor overdubbed a part for the latter song on Young's banjo guitar. Ronstadt remembers the session in a Mojo interview: "We were sat on the couch in the control room, but I had to get up on my knees to be on the same level as James because he's so tall. Then we sang all night, the highest notes I could sing. It was so hard, but nobody minded. It was dawn when we walked out of the studio."<ref name="longlivevinyl.net">Neil Young's Harvest – in Depth. 2017. Long Live Vinyl. June 2, 2017. https://longlivevinyl.net/2017/06/02/classic-album-neil-young-harvest/.</ref> Mazer recalls Young's drive and the magical atmosphere:

Neil was very specific about what he wanted. When Neil Young plays a song, his body language dictates everything about the arrangement. Neil sat in the control room of Quadrafonic and played "Heart Of Gold". Kenny and I looked at each other, and we both knew it was a number one record. We heard the song and all we had to do was move Neil into the studio and get the band out there, start the machine and make it sound good. It was incredible!<ref>Elliot Mazer: Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, Janis Joplin. Bren Davies. July/August 2009. Tapeop.com. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://tapeop.com/interviews/72/elliot-mazer/.</ref>{{#if:|

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At the end of February, Young traveled to London record a performance for BBC Television and to perform a concert at the Royal Festival Hall. While there, he recorded two more songs for the album with orchestra accompaniment. "A Man Needs a Maid" and "There's a World" were recorded by Jack Nitzsche with the London Symphony Orchestra March 1 at Barking Town Hall. Young recalled the sessions in Waging Heavy Peace: "I was in London and recorded "A Man Needs a Maid" and "There's a World" with the London Symphony Orchestra, produced and arranged by Jack Nitzsche. After hearing the playback in Glyn Johns's truck, where the pieces were recorded outside the Barking Town Hall, Jack said, 'I think it's a bit overblown.' We knew it was over-the-top, but we had done it and we loved it."<ref name="Young, Neil 2012"/> In the liner notes to Decade, Young remembers Bob Dylan reacting favorably to the production.<ref>Decade liner notes. Neil Young. 1977</ref>

In April, Young returned to Nashville to record "Out on the Weekend", "Harvest" and "Journey Through the Past" with Mazer at Quadrafonic.<ref name="Young, Neil 2012"/> Mazer recalls Young being specific about what sound he wanted from the musicians during the sessions: "At one point, Neil said to Kenny that his hi-hat was too busy, so Kenny said, 'Fine. I'll sit on my right hand.' He played the whole take (for "Out on the Weekend") sitting on his right hand.<ref name="longlivevinyl.net"/><ref name="guitar.com"/> Buttrey elaborates on his experiences playing with Young in Shakey:

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On August 11, Young went in for successful back surgery which allowed him to resume playing electric guitar with a band.<ref name="mcd"/>

The electric-based songs were recorded in a barn at Young's ranch in California in September. Using a remote recording system, Mazer set up PA speakers in the barn for monitors rather than have the players wear headphones. This resulted in a lot of "leakage" as each microphone picked up sound from other instruments, but Young and Mazer liked the resulting sound. "Are You Ready for the Country", "Alabama", and "Words" were recorded in these sessions with Buttrey, Drummond, Keith, along with Nitzsche on piano and lap steel. Young named this band, which would accompany him on his tour in the winter of 1973, The Stray Gators.

Background vocals by Crosby, Stills & Nash were later recorded by Mazer in New York.

Mixing was done both at Quadrafonic and at Young's ranch. Young invited Graham Nash to review playback of the album as it was being completed. Graham Nash recalls the experience in his 2013 memoir, Wild Tales:

I remember the day that Neil asked me to listen to the record. No big speakers, but a boat. That's right, he asked me to get into a small boat and he rowed us both out into the middle of the lake. Once there he asked his producer Elliot Mazer to play the record. Neil was using his entire house as the left speaker and his huge barn as the right speaker. What an incredible record it was, and after the music stopped blaring, Elliot came down to the shore of the lake and shouted, 'How was that, Neil?' and I swear this is true, Neil shouted back, 'More barn!' That's Neil, no doubt about it.<ref>Nash, Graham. 2013. Wild Tales. Penguin UK.</ref>{{#if:|

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During the production of the album, Young hired filmmaker David Myers to film the sessions.<ref>Doggett, Peter. 2019. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: The Biography. London: The Bodley Head.</ref> The footage was used in two documentaries, the 1973 film Journey Through the Past and the 2022 documentary Harvest Time. Harvest Time shows much of the recording process in Nashville, London, Los Angeles and New York. Dutch director Wim van der Linden also recorded footage of the artist at his ranch and in concert during the era for the Swing In German television documentary series.<ref>Linden, Wim van der, and Neil Young. Neil Young. IMDb. April 23, 1971. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13835904/.</ref>

Release

The album cover was designed by art director Tom Wilkes.<ref name="mcd"/> According to a Rolling Stone interview, Young had wanted the album sleeve to biodegrade after the shrink-wrap was broken, but was overruled by the record company on the basis of expense and the possible product loss due to shipping accidents. Mo Ostin mentioned this request at the 22nd Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On October 15, 2002, Harvest was digitally remixed and remastered for the DVD-Audio format. The new 5.1 mix was the subject of minor controversy due to its unconventional panning, with the vocals in the centre of the room and the drums in the rear speakers. Harvest was remastered and released on HDCD-encoded CD and digital download on July 14, 2009, as part of the Neil Young Archives Original Release Series. A 180-gram remastered vinyl edition was released on December 1, 2009, along with remastered vinyl editions of Young's first four albums.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The remastered CD exists both as a standalone album and as Disc 4 of a 4-CD box set Official Release Series Discs 1-4, released in the US in 2009 and Europe in 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Critical reception

Template:Music ratings Assessments by critics were not overwhelmingly favorable at the time. Rolling StoneTemplate:'s John Mendelsohn called the album a "disappointing retread" of earlier, superior efforts by Young, writing of "the discomfortingly unmistakable resemblance of nearly every song on this album to an earlier Young composition – it's as if he just added a steel guitar and new words to After The Gold Rush."<ref name=RS1972>Template:Cite news</ref> A review in The Montreal Gazette gave the album a mixed verdict, calling it "embarrassing" in places but interesting lyrically, and singling out "Are You Ready for the Country?" as the record's best cut.<ref name="Montreal Gazette">Template:Cite journal</ref> Reappraising the record in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote: "Anticipation and mindless instant acceptance made for critical overreaction when this came out, but it stands as proof that the genteel Young has his charms, just like the sloppy one."<ref name="CG"/>

More recent evaluations of the album have been far more positive: in 1998, Q magazine readers voted Harvest the 64th greatest album of all time. In 1996, 2000 and 2005, Chart polled readers to determine the 50 greatest Canadian albums of all time – Harvest placed second in all three polls, losing the top spot to Joni Mitchell's Blue in 2000, and to Sloan's Twice Removed in the other two years. In 2003, a full three decades removed from its original harsh assessment, Rolling Stone named Harvest the 78th greatest album of all time,<ref name=RS500>Template:Cite book</ref> then was re-ranked 82nd in a 2012 revised list,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and re-ranked 72nd in the 2020 list.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2007, Harvest was named the No. 1 Canadian Album of All Time by Bob Mersereau in his book The Top 100 Canadian Albums. The album was featured in TeamRock's list of "The 10 Essential Country Rock Albums".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was voted number 93 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).<ref name="Larkin">Template:Cite book</ref>

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Young. Track timings are from the original 1972 vinyl release, catalogue number MS 2032.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Side one

1. "Out on the Weekend" (4:35)
   • Neil Young – acoustic guitar, vocal, harmonica; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums
   • Recorded at Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, 4/2/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.
2. "Harvest" (3:03)
   • Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; John Harris – piano; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums
   • Recorded at Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, 4/4/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.
3. "A Man Needs a Maid" (4:00)
   • Neil Young – piano, vocal; with the London Symphony Orchestra
   • Recorded at Barking Town Hall, London, 3/1/1971. Produced by Jack Nitzsche.
4. "Heart of Gold" (3:05)
   • Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Teddy Irwin – guitar; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums; Linda Ronstadt – vocal; James Taylor – vocal
   • Recorded at Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, 2/8/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.
5. "Are You Ready for the Country?" (3:21)
   • Neil Young – piano, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Jack Nitzsche – lap steel guitar; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums; David Crosby – vocal; Graham Nash – vocal
   • Recorded at Barn, Broken Arrow Ranch, 9/26/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.

Side two

1. "Old Man" (3:22)
   • Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; James McMahon – piano; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums; Linda Ronstadt – vocal; James Taylor – banjo, vocal
   • Recorded at Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, 2/6/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.
2. "There's a World" (3:00)
   • Neil Young – piano, vocal; with the London Symphony Orchestra
   • Recorded at Barking Town Hall, London, 3/1/1971. Produced by Jack Nitzsche.
3. "Alabama" (4:02)
   • Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums; David Crosby – vocal; Stephen Stills – vocal
   • Recorded at Barn, Broken Arrow Ranch, 9/26/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.
4. "The Needle and the Damage Done" (2:00)
   • Neil Young – guitar, vocal
   • Recorded at Royce Hall, UCLA, 1/30/1971. Produced by Henry Lewy & Neil Young.
5. "Words (Between the Lines of Age)" (6:42)
   • Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums
   • Recorded at Barn, Broken Arrow Ranch, 9/28/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.

Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition

Harvest Outtakes

1. "Bad Fog of Loneliness" (1:56) (from The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972)
   • Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums; Linda Ronstadt – vocal; James Taylor – vocal
   • Recorded at Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, 2/6/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.
2. "Journey Through the Past" (2:32) (previously unreleased version)
   • Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Ben Keith – dobro; John Harris – piano; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums
   • Recorded at Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, 4/4/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.
3. "Dance Dance Dance" (2:34) (previously unreleased version)
   • Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums; Tony Joe White - electric guitar
   • Recorded at Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, 2/7/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.
4. "See the Sky About to Rain" (3:32) (previously unreleased version)
   • Neil Young – piano, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums
   • Recorded at Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, 4/15/1971. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young.

BBC In Concert

1. "Out on the Weekend" (4:00)
2. "Old Man" (Intro) (0:30)
3. "Old Man" (3:37)
4. "Journey Through the Past" (Intro) (0:12)
5. "Journey Through the Past" (3:04)
6. "Heart of Gold" (Intro) (1:46)
7. "Heart of Gold" (3:32)
8. "Don't Let It Bring You Down" (Intro) (0:45)
9. "Don't Let It Bring You Down" (2:43)
10. "A Man Needs a Maid" (Intro) (2:23)
11. "A Man Needs a Maid" (3:55)
12. "Love in Mind" (Intro) (0:51)
13. "Love in Mind" (2:14)
14. "Dance Dance Dance" (2:26)
    • Neil Young – guitar (1, 3, 7, 9, 14), piano (5, 11, 13), harmonica (1, 7), vocal/spoken word
    • Recorded at BBC Radio Theatre, London, 2/23/1971. Produced by Stanley Dorfman.

Personnel

Musicians

• Neil Young – lead vocals, lead and acoustic guitar, piano, harmonica
• Teddy Irwin – second acoustic guitar Template:Small
• John Harris – piano Template:Small
• James McMahon – piano Template:Small
• James Taylor – banjo, backing vocals Template:Small
• Linda Ronstadt – backing vocals Template:Small
• David Crosby – backing vocals Template:Small
• Stephen Stills – backing vocals Template:Small
• Graham Nash – backing vocals Template:Small
• London Symphony Orchestra – orchestra Template:Small
• David Meecham – conductor Template:Small

The Stray Gators

• Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar
• Jack Nitzsche – arrangements Template:Small; lap steel guitar Template:Small; piano Template:Small
• Tim Drummond – bass guitar
• Kenny Buttrey – drums

Production

• Neil Young, Elliot Mazer – producer
• Henry Lewy – producerTemplate:Small
• Jack Nitzsche – producerTemplate:Small<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Charts

Weekly charts

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Weekly chart performance for Harvest

Chart (1972)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name="aus">Template:Cite book</ref>	1
Canadian RPM 100 Albums<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
Dutch MegaCharts Albums<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
Finnish Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	12
German Albums Chart<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4
Norwegian VG-lista Albums<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
Spanish Albums Chart<ref name=":11">Template:Cite book</ref>	4
Swedish Albums Chart<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	12
UK Albums Chart<ref name=":22">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape<ref name=":12">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
US Record World Album Chart<ref name=":5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
Chart (1982)	Peak position
Japanese Albums Chart<ref name=":022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	6
Chart (1993)	Peak position
New Zealand Albums Chart<ref name="NZ Albums">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	48
Chart (2022)	Peak position
Italian Albums (FIMI)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	54

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Harvest

Chart (1972)	Position
Dutch Albums Chart<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	10
US Billboard Year-End<ref name="USYearend71">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
US Cashbox Year-End<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3
US Record World Year-End<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1

See also

• Neil Young discography
• List of best-selling albums in France
• List of best-selling albums in Italy
• List of number-one albums of 1972 (Australia)
• List of number-one albums of 1972 (U.S.)
• List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 1970s

External links

• Neil Young Album/CD reviews
• Harvest at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)