Edit for headphones, December 2021. An edit of the song of the 1972 album "Harvest" (2014 Pono remaster).
This remastered album really sounds fantastic.
The musicians who backed Neil Young from 1971 to 1973 on the albums "Harvest" and "Time Fades Away" were Jack Nitzsche on piano, Ben Keith on steel guitar, Tim Drummond on bass and Kenny Buttrey on drums.
Neil Young wrote this in 1971 after he suffered a back injury that made it difficult for him to play the electric guitar, so on the Harvest tracks he played acoustic. Despite the injury he was in good spirits, which is reflected in this song.
By far, this was the biggest hit for Young as a solo artist, reaching number 1 on the Hot 100 on March 18, 1972. The Harvest album went to number 1 a week earlier.
James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt sang backup (they don't come in until the end of the song), they were in town to appear on The Johnny Cash Show.
In a later interview with NME, Neil Young clarified: "I think Harvest is probably the finest record I've made."
(I totally agree on that...)
This song was recorded in just two takes. The musicians were not familiar with Neil Young or the song, but knew how to play. This spontaneity created just the right feel for the track - something that probably would have never come about through additional tweaking. This style of recording, where top-tier studio musicians are asked to give total focus to a take with little instruction, is something Bob Dylan often did. It's also a throwback to the analog days when tape (which was expensive) was rolling, making additional takes costly and cumbersome.
HEART OF GOLD
(Neil Young)
I want to live, I want to give
I've been a miner for a heart of gold
it's these expressions I never give
that keep me searching for a heart of gold
and I'm getting old
keep me searching for a heart of gold
and I'm getting old
I've been to Hollywood, I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind, it's such a fine line
that keeps me searching or a heart of gold
and I'm getting old
keep me searching for a heart of gold
and I'm getting old
keep me searching for a heart of gold
you keep me searching and I'm growing old
keep me searching for a heart of gold
I've been a miner for a heart of gold
®© WMG on behalf of Reprise
®© therock&rollingsixties
