How Neil Young Got Started in Music

• Neil Young has dual citizenship in Canada and the United States. In his homeland of Canada, he has received two high honors, being inducted into both The Order of Canada and The Order of Manitoba. 
• Young was born on November 12, 1945, in Toronto, Canada. His father, Scott, was a notable writer who was both a journalist and an author. Scott and Neil’s mother, Edna, had two other children – Astrid and Bob.
• Neil first started showing an interest in music as a kid in the 1950s. Often listening to the radio, he heard the sounds of Elvis Presley, who was a childhood hero of his. He has also cited Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Roy Orbison, and many others as early influences. He listened to everything from rockabilly and doo-wop to R&B.
• Young taught himself to play stringed instruments by starting out with a ukulele and slowly working up from there. He’s quoted as saying that he went from a ukulele to “a better ukulele to a banjo ukulele to a baritone ukulele – everything but a guitar.” He learned guitar not long after and has served as guitarist on a few recordings.
• After his parents divorced, Neil went to live with his mother in Fort Rouge, Winnipeg, and it was there that he assembled his first band, which could be considered the official start to his music career. They were called The Jades, and they didn’t last long, but they were followed shortly after by a more stable act, The Squires.

Making a Name for Himself

• Neil Young was a proficient songwriter from the beginning, and he was always ready and willing to play with other bands. For a time, he joined Mynah Birds, a group lead by Rick James. In addition, other groups performed songs written by Young, including The Guess Who, a high-profile rock band from Winnipeg.
• After playing for a time with The Squires, Neil became friends with Stephen Stills. Stills had his own band, The Company. The two would later join forces to form Buffalo Springfield, and again with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young alongside David Crosby and Graham Nash. The group later went on without Young after he went solo.
• In the late 60s, Young and fellow musician Bruce Palmer sold their music gear to buy a hearse, which they drove to Los Angeles. Young lived in the US as an illegal immigrant until 1970, when he got his green card.
• In Los Angeles, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, and Dewie Martin formed Buffalo Springfield in 1966. While they were only active for two years, the group had a very successful run, and they’re still considered some of the pioneers of the genres of folk-rock and alt-country.

Solo Success

• After Buffalo Springfield disbanded, Neil started performing as a solo artist, supported by his backing band, Crazy Horse. He rejoined a band for a year, once again with Stephen Stills, for a brief stint in Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Then, he began focusing on his solo career again and released some of his most successful work throughout the 70s.

Neil’s Discography

• Neil Young
• Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
• Deja Vu
• After The Gold Rush
• 4 Way Street
• Harvest
• Journey Through The Past
• Time Fades Away
• On The Beach
• Tonight's The Night
• Zuma
• Long May You Run
• American Stars-n-Bars
• Decade
• Comes A Time
• Rust Never Sleeps
• Live Rust
• Hawks and Doves
• Reactor
• Trans
• Everybody's Rockin'
• Old Ways
• Landing On Water
• Life
• This Note's For You
• American Dream
• Eldorado
• Freedom
• Ragged Glory
• ARC-Weld
• Harvest Moon
• Lucky Thirteen
• Unplugged
• Sleeps With Angels
• Mirror Ball
• Dead Man
• Broken Arrow
• Year of the Horse
• Looking Forward
• Silver And Gold
• Road Rock Volume 1
• Are You Passionate?
• Greendale
• Prairie Wind
• Living With War
• Chrome Dreams II
• Fork in the Road
• Le Noise
• Americana
• Psychedelic Pill
• A Letter Home
• Storytone
• The Monsanto Years
• Peace Trail 
• The Visitor
• Colorado

A Few of Neil’s Hits

• “Heart of Gold”
• “Angry World”
• “Rockin’ in the Free World”
• “Like a Hurricane” 
• “Powderfinger”
• “Southern Man” 
• “On the Beach”