Young’s solo work has encompassed Country, Big Band Rock, and retro-Rock. His biggest commercial successes include the acoustic-Country influenced “After The Gold Rush” (’70)) and “Harvest” (’72), featuring hits “Heart Of Gold” and “Old Man.” All this is fine… but Young Rocks. This list features studio versions but since a major portion of Young’s career pre-dated music videos a live version is included – when appropriate. 12. Southern Man – Solo (After The Gold Rush – 1970)  Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote their song “Sweet Home Alabama”” in response to “Southern Man” and “Alabama” Young has said that he is a fan of both “Sweet Home Alabama” and Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zant.   “They play like they mean it,” Young said. “I’m proud to have my name in a song like theirs.” “After The Gold Rush,” which contains “Southern Man,” was Young’s third studio album. It peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200. Southern Man – Studio Version Southern Man – Live 11. Love To Burn – Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Ragged Glory – 1990) The song is from was Young’s 20th studio album and his sixth album with the Crazy Horse. “I purposely wanted to play long instrumentals because I don’t hear any jamming on any other records,” noted Young at the time. “People aren’t reaching out in the instrumental passages and spontaneously letting them last as long as they can. I love to do that, but I can only really do it well with one band. That style of music is better for me with Crazy Horse. “ Ragged Glory Love To Burn 10. Mr. Soul – Buffalo Springfield (Buffalo Springfield Again – 1967) Young wrote the song about his personal problems with fame and disregard for Rock stardom. He had quit the band numerous times during the protracted recording sessions that were fraught with dysfunction. He composed the song while recovering an epilepsy attack at UCLA Medical Center. The lyrics while feeling as though he was about to die. The song was released as the B-side to the Buffalo Springfield’s fourth single “Bluebird”” and later included on the group’s second album. Buffalo Springfield Again Mr. Soul – Studio Version Mr. Soul – TV Appearance The performance illustrates what TV producers thought of Rock N’ Roll in the ’60’s…. bury the opening in applause, stupid sight gags etc. 9. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere – 1969) Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” is the title track of Young’s second album. “Neil would come out to (Crazy Horse bassist Billy) Talbot’s house in Laurel Canyon, after he left the Springfield,” remembered Crazy Horse drummer, Ralph Molina. “Neil walks in with a song, then we jump in. We get it in one, two takes. After that, the feel, heart and emotion are lost.” Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere – Studio Version Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere – Live 8. Fontainebleau – Stills/Young Band (Long May You Run – 1976) “The Stills/Young band was a sort of attempt to wrap up something that we had started a long time ago,” said Young. The Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach is, as Young’s song points out is a luxury hotel for the “well to do.” The hotel, located on Collins Avenue, was ground zero for ant-war protesters during the 1972 Republican Convention. The protests inconvenienced the hotel guest with one patron sneering she was witnessing “the great unwashed masses.” Long May You Run Fontainebleau 7. Downtown – Young & Pearl Jam (Mirror Ball – 1995) The song was recorded with the members of Pearl Jam and was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 1995 Grammy Awards.   As Grunge peaked in the early 1990s, some bands expressed admiration for Young’s career and influence. Young was dubbed the “Godfather of Grunge” which led to an ongoing relationship with Pearl Jam. Mirror Ball Downtown 6. Like A Hurricane (American Stars ‘N Bars, 1977) Young wrote the song in 1975 when he was unable to sing because of an operation on his vocal cords. Driven by Young’s fierce guitar, the song became a landmark of the ‘electric side’ of his concerts and was played on nearly every tour Young has done since its release. American Stars ‘N Bars Like A Hurricane – Studio Version Like A Hurricane – Live 5. Ohio – CSN&Y (Four Way Street – 1971) “Ohio,” a protest song and counterculture anthem, was written and composed by Young in reaction to the fatal shootings of Kent State college Vietnam war protesters by the National Guard on May 4th, 1970. It was banned from some AM radio stations because it was critical of the Nixon Administration (“Tin soldiers and Nixon coming”) but received airplay on underground FM stations in larger cities and college towns. Four Way Street Ohio 4. Hey Hey, My My (Out Of Blue) – Solo (Rust Never Sleeps -1979) An acoustic song, recorded live in 1978 was combined with its Rock counterpart “Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black),”, it bookends Young’s 1979 album. The line, “it’s better to burn out than to fade away” became infamous after being quoted in Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s suicide note. Young later said that he was so shaken that he dedicated his 1994 album “Sleeps With Angels” to Cobain. Rust Never Sleeps Hey Hey, My My (Out Of Blue) 3. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) – (Rust Never Sleeps – 1979) The song was influenced by the rise of Punk Rock of the late 1970s and by what Young viewed as his own growing irrelevance. He collaborated with Devo on a version of “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” in San Francisco and later introduced the song to Crazy Horse. During the studio sessions with Devo the band’s Mark Mothersbaugh added the lyrics “rust never sleeps,” a slogan he remembered from his graphic arts career that promoted the automobile rust proofing product Rust Oleum. Rust Never Sleeps Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) 2. Cinnamon Girl (Everybody Knows This Nowhere – 1969) Young wrote “Cinnamon Girl” while he was suffering from the flu with a high fever.  Young has said that he wrote the song “for a city girl on peeling pavement coming at me through Phil Ochs’ eyes playing finger cymbals” (a reference to Folk singer Jean Ray).  The 1969 album “Everybody Knows This Nowhere” was Young’s first album with backing band Crazy Horse. The riff-driven song is a duet with Crazy Horse’s Danny Whitten singing the high harmony against Young’s low harmony. Everybody Knows This Nowhere Cinnamon Girl – Studio Version Cinnamon Girl – Live 1. Rockin’ In The Free World (Freedom – 1989) When Young learned that a planned concert tour to the Soviet Union was not going to happen his guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro said “we’ll have to keep on rockin’ in the “free world.” The phrase stuck with Young. The lyric references the George H.W. Bush administration (“thousand points of light” and “kinder, gentler nation”), Ayatollah Khomeini (his proclamation that the U.S was the “Great Satan” and Jesse Jackson (his 1988 campaign slogan, “Keep hope alive”).  Freedom   Rockin’ In The Free World – Studio Version Rockin’ In The Free World – Live ### The post Dozen Neil Young’s Songs To Rock The Free World appeared first on RockinTown.