NEIL YOUNG – OLD WAYS LP – Nr MINT/EXC+ A1/B2 UK 1985

Neil Young – Old Ways
(Geffen Records  1985  GEF26377)
Matrix No’s: A1/B2 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners
Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles)

Neil Percival Young, OC OM (born November 12, 1945), is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, director and screenwriter. Young began performing in a group covering Shadows instrumentals in Canada in 1960. In 1966, after a brief stint with the Rick James-fronted Mynah Birds, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two albums by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969. From his early solo albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums, sometimes warring with his recording company along the way.

Young’s often-distorted electric guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice transcend his long career. Young also plays piano and harmonica on many albums which frequently combine folk, rock, blues and other musical styles. Famed for emotional outbursts and ripping up live set lists, Young often plays acoustic versions of songs in one show and electric versions in others. His gritty guitar work, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname “Godfather of Grunge” and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently Young has been backed by Promise of the Real.

Young directed (or co-directed) 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). He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia (1993) and Dead Man (1995).

Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: as a solo artist in 1995 and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. In 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock ‘n roll artist.

He has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship. He was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14, 2006, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2009.

Old Ways is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 1985. Young refers to this album in interviews as Old Ways II, as he had originally planned to release a country album titled Old Ways in 1983. Geffen objected to this, asking Young for a “rock ‘n roll” album, which Young would give them in the form of Everybody’s Rockin’. Old Ways I would have contained many still-unreleased songs, one of which was “Depression Blues”, which appeared on Young’s Geffen-era compilation Lucky Thirteen.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Neil Young; except where indicated

Side one

1. “The Wayward Wind” – (Herb Newman, Stanley Lebowsky) 3:12
2. “Get Back to the Country” – 2:50
3. “Are There Any More Real Cowboys?” – 3:03
4. “Once an Angel” – 3:55
5. “Misfits” – 5:07

Side two

1. “California Sunset” – 2:56
2. “Old Ways” – 3:08
3. “My Boy” – 3:37
4. “Bound for Glory” – 5:48
5. “Where Is the Highway Tonight?” – 3:02

Personnel

• Neil Young: guitar, banjo-guitar, harmonica, vocal
• Waylon Jennings: guitar, vocal
• Willie Nelson: guitar, vocal
• Rufus Thibodeaux: fiddle
• Ben Keith: pedal steel guitar, dobro
• Tim Drummond: bass
• Karl Himmel: drums
• Joe Allen: bass (electric & upright)
• Ralph Mooney: pedal steel guitar
• Hargus “Pig” Robbins: piano
• Gordon Terry: fiddle
• Joe Osborn: bass
• Anthony Crawford: mandolin, vocal
• Terry McMillan: harmonica, jew’s harp
• Béla Fleck: banjo
• Bobby Thompson: banjo
• David Kirby: guitar
• Grant Boatwright: guitar
• Johnny Christopher: guitar
• Ray Edenton: guitar
• Gove Scrivenor: autoharp
• Farrell Morris: percussion
• Marty Stuart: mandolin
• Carl Gorodetzky: violin
• Spooner Oldham: piano
• Larry Byrom: vocal
• Rick Palombi: vocal
• Doana Cooper: vocal
• Denise Draper: vocal
• Gail Davies: vocal
• Betsy Hammer: vocal
• Pam Rose: vocal
• Janis Oliver-Gill: vocal
• Mary Ann Kennedy: vocal
• Kristine Oliver-Arnold: vocal
• Leona Williams: vocal
• Strings:
  • Carl Gorodetsky, leader
  • George Binkley
  • John Borg
  • Roy Christensen
  • Virginia Christensen
  • Charles Everett
  • Larry Harvin
  • Mark Hembree
  • Lee Larrison
  • Betty McDonald
  • Dennis Molchan
  • Pamela Sixfin
  • Mark Tanner
  • David Vanderkooi
  • Gary Vanosdale
  • Carol Walker
  • Stephanie Woolf