Neil Young biography

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Born in 1945 in Ontario, Canada, to Rassy and Scott Young, Neil Young survived a difficult childhood before eventually becoming one of the best-known musicans of his generation. Young formed his first band, the Jades, while in junior high school. It was here that he developed his characteristic melodic guitar style and use of the “whammy bar,” creating a vibrato effect to accompany his unique and mournful, untrained, yet singular voice. After a few years, he formed an instrumental and folk-rock band called the Squires. Never one for rigidity, he dropped out of high school and he performed in Fort William, later recording demos with his four bandmates. It was during this time that Young first met Stephen Stills, who was touring with his band, the Company. After a time, he left the Squires and began touring the folk clubs in Winnepeg. While making his cafe rounds, he met Joni Mitchell. The high-pitched star wrote the song “The Circle Game” in response to the Young’s song “Sugar Mountain.” It was also during this time that the band The Guess Who recorded one of Young’s songs, “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong,” which would become a top 40 Canadian hit.

In 1966, Young moved to the United States with his bass player, Bruce Palmer. The two packed their possesions into Young’s black hearse and drove the long road to Los Angeles. It is there that he and Palmer co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield, which included Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Dewey Martin. Their first album, Buffalo Springfield, which included the Stills-authored hit song “For What It’s Worth,” was a best-seller and introduced both the band and Young to America. Although the group fell apart after just a short while, they did release two more albums, Buffalo Springfield Again and Last Time Around. Despite the group’s short life, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, the second of the two times that Young was enshrined. Young was also enshrined in 1995 for his solo work.

After Buffalo Springfield broke up in 1968, Young again embarked on a solo career, backed by a group of musicians who called themselves Crazy Horse. In 1969, Young joined with fomer Springfield member Stephen Stills and two other musicians, David Crosby and Graham Nash, to form the band Crosby Stills Nash and Young (CSN&Y). The foursome were invited to perform at the infamous Woodstiock Music Fesitval in 1969; this, amazingly, was only the group’s second live performance. Their subsequent tour and album release, Déjà Vu, catapulted them to fame, so much so that they were often referred to as