Neil Young – Heart of Gold (Live)

“Heart of Gold” – Neil Young

Neil Young: Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
Recorded on February 23rd 1971, BBC Radio Theatre, London, England
First broadcast in the UK April 1st 1971
Television broadcast produced by Stanley Dorfman
Sound: Tony Miller
Lighting: Bill Millar

“Heart of Gold” – Single by Neil Young from the album Harvest
B-side: “Sugar Mountain”
Released: January 1972 (U.S.)
Songwriter: Neil Young
Producer: Elliot Mazer, Neil Young
Charted No.1 in US; No.10 in UK; No.6 in West Germany; No.1 in Canada; No.31 in France; No.4 in Norway

“Heart of Gold” was recorded during the initial sessions for Harvest on February 6–8, 1971, at Quadrafonic Sound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

With a straightforward metaphor and complete lack of pathos, this is not a typical Neil Young song. It finds him mining for a “heart of gold,” which depending on your perspective, is either a touching and heartfelt sentiment, or a mawkish platitude. Rolling Stone took the churlish view, complaining that the album evoked “superstardom’s weariest clichés.” The listening public and Young’s fans were far more accepting, and the song became his biggest hit.

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, Young was in good spirits (possibly thanks to the painkillers), which is reflected in this song. The next few years were more challenging for Young, as he suffered a series of setbacks: His son Zeke was born with cerebral palsy, his friend Danny Whitten died, and he split with his girlfriend, Carrie Snodgress. His next three albums, which became known as “The Ditch Trilogy,” expressed these dark times in stark contrast to “Heart of Gold.”

This song was recorded at the first sessions for the Harvest album, which took place on Saturday, February 6, 1971 and were set up the night before