Harvest Moon (album)

Harvest Moon is the 19th studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released on November 2, 1992. Many of its backing musicians also appeared on Young's 1972 album Harvest.

Harvest Moon
Studio album by
Neil Young
ReleasedNovember 2, 1992[1]
RecordedSeptember 1991 – February 1992
StudioRedwood Digital, Woodside (except "Natural Beauty" at Civic Auditorium, Portland, Oregon; and strings on "Such A Woman" recorded at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California)[2]
Genre
Length51:39
LabelReprise
ProducerNeil Young, Ben Keith
Neil Young chronology
Arc
(1991)		 Harvest Moon
(1992)		 Lucky Thirteen
(1993)
Singles from Harvest Moon
  1. "Harvest Moon"
    Released: 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Calgary HeraldA–[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
Los Angeles Times[6]
NME7/10[7]
Orlando Sentinel[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Vancouver Sun[10]
The Windsor StarB+[11]

Recordings

Recovering from a case of tinnitus that had come about after the recording of Ragged Glory (1990) and its subsequent tour (which produced the 1991 albums Weld and Arc), Young returned to the studio with Ben Keith, picking up the acoustic guitar, piano and banjo that had dominated albums such as Harvest, Comes a Time and Old Ways. 1970s-era analogue equipment was used instead of digital recording to achieve a "warmer" feel, though the album was in fact recorded on Sony PCM 16/44.1kHz digital.

The album's title and style drew comparisons to Young's 1972 career pinnacle Harvest. Young discussed the idea of making a follow up to Harvest in a 1992 Rolling Stone interview with Alan Light: "People had been asking me to do it for twenty years, and I never could figure out what it was in the first place. It just happened again, whatever it was that happened back then. But only because the songs made me do it."[12]

The genesis of one of the songs, "You and Me", dates from the Harvest era. The chorus was first performed during the intro to "I Am a Child" at a February 1971 solo acoustic concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Young explains: "That song was started in 1975, but I never finished it. In 1976, Tim Drummond heard it and said: 'You've got to finish that, man. That's like Harvest stuff, let's do that.' And that kinda freaked me out, I got spooked by it, because it was like someone said what it was before we did it. I don't want to feel like I'm just filling in the numbers."[13]

The song "Old King" memorializes Neil's dog Elvis.

The subsequent 1992 tour was recorded and ultimately released on the 2009 Dreamin' Man live album, containing Young's solo renditions of all Harvest Moon tracks in a different order.

Reception

Music website Classic Rock Review named Harvest Moon its album of the year for 1992.[14] It earned the 1994 Juno Award for album of the year. Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic described the melody of the title track as "positively gorgeous".[15] The album continued Young's commercial and critical resurgence following Freedom and Ragged Glory, eventually outselling both of those records. The song "Harvest Moon" topped the AARP's list of "16 Songs Everyone Over 50 Should Own."

Track listing

All tracks written by Neil Young.

No.TitleLength
1."Unknown Legend"4:32
2."From Hank to Hendrix"5:12
3."You and Me"3:45
4."Harvest Moon"5:03
5."War of Man"5:41
6."One of These Days"4:55
7."Such a Woman"4:36
8."Old King"2:57
9."Dreamin' Man"4:36
10."Natural Beauty" (recorded live at The Civic Auditorium, Portland, Oregon, January 23, 1992)10:22

Personnel
The Stray Gators
Additional personnel
  • Larry Cragg – backing vocals on "War of Man"
  • Nicolette Larson – backing vocals on "You and Me", "War of Man", "Such a Woman", "Old King", "Dreamin' Man" and "Natural Beauty"
  • Linda Ronstadt – backing vocals on "Unknown Legend", "From Hank to Hendrix", "Harvest Moon", "War of Man" and "One of These Days"
  • James Taylor – backing vocals on "From Hank to Hendrix", "War of Man" and "One of These Days"
  • Astrid Young – backing vocals on "War of Man", "Such a Woman" and "Dreamin' Man"
  • Jack Nitzsche – string arrangement on "Such a Woman"
  • Suzie Katayama – conductor on "Such a Woman"
  • Maria Newman – concertmaster on "Such a Woman"
  • Maria Newman, Israel Baker, Betty Byers, Berg Garabedian, Harris Goldman, Robin Lorentz, Cindy McGurty, Haim Shtrum – violins on "Such a Woman"
  • Valerie Dimond, Matt Funes, Rick Gerding, Carrie Prescott, David Stenske, Adriana Zoppo – violas on "Such a Woman"
  • Larry Corbett, Ericka Duke, Greg Gottlieb, David Shamban – cellos on "Such a Woman"

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[28] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[29] 5× Platinum 500,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[31] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Covers

Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson recorded a rendition of "Harvest Moon" for her 1995 album New Moon Daughter

American folk band The Brothers Comatose, Featured artist: AJ Lee & Blue Summit for their 2022 album Harvest Moon

American singers Ann Wilson and Alison Krauss recorded a cover of "War of Man" for Wilson's 2007 album Hope & Glory.

Los Angeles electronic production duo Poolside recorded a cover of "Harvest Moon" for their 2012 album Pacific Standard Time

American folk duo Shovels & Rope recorded "Unknown Legend" with Shakey Graves in 2015.

Los Angeles indie rock band Lord Huron recorded a cover of "Harvest Moon" in 2018 for a Spotify Singles session.

Jazz guitarist Bill Frisell recorded a version of "One of These Days" on his 1997 album Nashville.

Tunde Adebimpe, the lead singer of TV on The Radio, performs an acapella version of Unknown Legend in the Jonathan Demme film Rachel Getting Married.[32]

See also

References
  1. "Neil Young: Harvest Moon". neilyoung.com. Neil Young. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  2. Harvest Moon (album) at Discogs
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (1992-10-27). "Harvest Moon - Neil Young | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  4. Tremblay, Mark (1992-11-01). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald.
  5. Browne, David (1992-11-13). "Harvest Moon". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. Hilburn, Robert (1992-10-25). "Young Tries a Little Tenderness". Los Angeles Times.
  7. Sutherland, Steve (1992-10-31). "Long Play". NME. p. 32. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  8. Gettelman, Parry (1992-11-13). "Neil Young". Orlando Sentinel.
  9. Kot, Greg (1992-11-26). "Neil Young Harvest Moon Album Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  10. Mackie, John (1992-12-05). "Rock/Pop: Fleeting glory". The Vancouver Sun.
  11. Shaw, Ted (1992-11-14). "Record Review". The Windsor Star.
  12. Forever Young: Neil Young proves life in rock & roll can begin again at fortysomething. Alan Light, Rolling Stone 1992.
  13. Forever Young: Neil Young proves life in rock & roll can begin again at fortysomething. Alan Light, Rolling Stone 1992.
  14. "Classic Rock Review of Harvest Moon by Neil Young". Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  15. "Harvest Moon – Neil Young". AllMusic. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  16. "Australiancharts.com – Neil Young – Harvest Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  17. "Austriancharts.at – Neil Young – Harvest Moon" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  18. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1730". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Neil Young – Harvest Moon" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Neil Young – Harvest Moon" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  21. "Charts.nz – Neil Young – Harvest Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Neil Young – Harvest Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  23. "Swedishcharts.com – Neil Young – Harvest Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  24. "Swisscharts.com – Neil Young – Harvest Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  25. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  26. "Neil Young Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  27. "Top Selling Albums of 1993 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  28. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  29. "Canadian album certifications – Neil Young – Harvest Moon". Music Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  30. "British album certifications – Neil Young – Harvest Moon". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  31. "American album certifications – Neil Young – Harvest Moon". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  32. "'Rachel Getting Married': Wedding Movie Bliss". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
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