The band that Neil Young thought would continue his style of music

Neil Young speaks during a press conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Monday, November 23, 2015

(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)

Mon 21 Oct 2024, 5:29 pm, UK

Any artist can only hope that someone will be inspired by their music later on. As much as a musician may claim they’re not writing for anyone but themselves, there comes a point where they hope someone actually cares enough to continue their legacy for the next generation of musicians and maybe even improve on what they started. . in the past. Although Neil Young seems to be the last person interested in making music for someone else, he admitted that a California band managed to take his style and take it even further in the 1970s.

Young’s signature musical style, however, means considering many different factors. Sure, he had his rock and roll side with records like ‘Cinnamon Girl’, but there was also that touch of folk and country to his music that was impossible to deny when he started releasing his songs with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

But for Young, ground zero was really what Buffalo Springfield brought to the table. Compared to other folk-rock-adjacent bands of that era, Young was the one who brought the tone back into the music, always making sure his guitar was at the highest volume possible and creating that psychedelic edge by being unapologetically loud whenever he did one of his solos.

That’s half the reason why his role in the supergroup worked so well. Outside of their heavenly harmonies, Crosby, Stills and Nash seemed a little too serene in places, and having Young lay down the main riff for a song like ‘Ohio’ gave their song the tone it needed without sounding like a bunch of folkies trying their best to learn from Led Zeppelin.

After Young had been in the game for a while, Don Henley and Glenn Frey began to pick up the slack in the country-rock movement. The Byrds introduced everyone to country music, but Young reminded everyone that it’s okay to be absolutely fearless when making a record, like putting in different instruments that no one had ever heard of or having the courage to play a one-note solo on a melody.

Although Young was busy making classics like Harvest, He was still mindful of what Frey and Henley were doing with tracks like ‘Take It Easy’, saying, “Even if it’s just to perfectly capture the feel of Los Angeles, the Eagles are the only band that carries the spirit of Buffalo Springfield. ”

And the influence wasn’t limited to giving classic rock a country touch. Just as Young was beginning to go against his record label and make amateur forays into electronic music in trans and Reactor, the Eagles started making some changes years before him, using different effects on The long term before their separation.

The teacher may have become the student in this particular case, but it’s not like the Eagles are about to reclaim their position as the ones who surpassed Neil Young. Judging by the fact that Joe Walsh still played ‘Cinnamon Girl’ during acoustic segments of his solo shows after the band’s breakup, Young was as much a part of their sound during the breakup as when they started.