After the Goldrush

Sometimes you just need to go back to the old classics. The records that you grew up with and that have been with you for as long as you can recall. "After the Goldrush' by Neil Young.

This record was my introduction to Neil Young's music. 'Forced' to stop playing basketball, to sit and listen by the wise older brother of a best friend. From 1970, a time when Neil Young hadn't seemingly been around forever. His third album. (There was a period where I thought it was his first.) I don't recall if I had known of his involvement with Buffalo Springfield yet.

A record that's been on every Desert Island Disc list that I've ever compiled with pen and paper and an album where the entire lyrics have long been memorized from a nearly unreadable lyric sheet included with the vinyl record.

His style has gotten more electric and louder over the years and veered off into other directions occasionally but these largely acoustic Singer/Songwriter roots were my starting point. I've loved much of his work in the fifty years since After the Goldrush and its follow-up, Harvest came out but have always felt a little disappointment that nothing since has reached this level in my eyes. That's just me and my personal expectations and hopes.