Heart of Gold (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Heart of Gold


Caption = "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young
Artist = Dick Face
from Album = Harvest
A-side =
B-side = "Sugar Mountain"
Released = 1972
Format = 45 RPM Record
Recorded = Quadraphonic Studios, Nashville, TN, 1971
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:07
Label = Reprise Records
Writer = Neil Young
Producer = Elliot Mazer
Certification =
Chart position = * #1 U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100
Last single =
This single =
Next single =
Misc =Audiosample
Upper caption = Audio sample
Audio file = Heart of Gold by Neil Young.ogg

"Heart of Gold" from the 1972 album "Harvest" is Neil Young's only number one hit single in his long musical career. "Rolling Stone" ranked it #297 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time] , December 9, 2004] It features the back-up vocals of James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt.

The song is one of a series of soft, acoustic pieces which were written partly as a result of a back injury. Unable to stand for long periods of time, he could not play his electric guitar and so returned to his acoustic guitar, which he could play sitting down. [McDonough, Jim, "Shakey", Random 2002, pp. 352-354, 370.] [Crowe, Cameron, [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9102787/neil_young_the_last_american_hero Neil Young, the Last American Hero] . "Rolling Stone", February 8, 1989, webpage found 2007-11-29.]

The song was taped during the initial sessions for "Harvest" in early 1971 at Quadrafonic Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Ronstadt and Taylor were in Nashville at the time for an appearance on Johnny Cash's television program, and the album's producer Elliot Mazer arranged for them to sing backup for Young in the studio. ["Thrasher", [http://www.thrasherswheat.org/hogneil.htm Neil Young's Heart of Gold] , web page found 2007-11-29.] [Elliot Mazer, [http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_neil_youngs_heart/ Neil Young's Heart of Gold] . In "Mix", 2001-05-01, webpage found 2007-11-29.]

Originally, this song was meant to segue with the song "A Man Needs a Maid", and was therefore played on piano. It was played in this manner during Young's solo shows in 1971, but he abandoned this approach midway through the tour and began to play it on guitar as it is now known. Additionally, one line that was cut when the two songs became separate entities was "Afraid/A man feels afraid" [McDonough, p. 360.] An example of the segued version appears on Young's "Live at Massey Hall 1971" release.

Young wrote in the liner notes of his compilation album "Decade": "This song put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch." This statement was in response to the mainstream popularity that he gained as a result of "Heart of Gold"'s number-one status.

In 1985, Bob Dylan admitted that he hated this song, despite always liking Neil Young: [ Bob Dylan: Not Like a Rolling Stone Interview, http://www.rams.demon.co.uk/bd1.htm, December 1985]

The only time it bothered me that someone sounded like me was when I was living in Phoenix, Arizona, in about '72 and the big song at the time was "Heart of Gold." I used to hate it when it came on the radio. I always liked Neil Young, but it bothered me every time I listened to "Heart of Gold." I think it was up at number one for a long time, and I'd say, "Shit, that's me. If it sounds like me, it should as well be me."

The song has been covered by Matchbox Twenty, Tori Amos, Free Dominguez, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Richard Lloyd, Bettye Lavette, Birds and Batteries, Zakk Wylde (with Black Label Society), Boney M, Carla Cook, Lawrence Gowan, Stereophonics, Rockapella, Roxette, Backburner, Hanah, Ossifar, the James Last Orchestra, Five for Five, Sally Dworsky, Channeling Owen, Dave Matthews and Jimmy Buffett (with the Coral Reefer Band), and as a Karaoke backing track. It is also heard briefly in the film "Iceman".

In 2005, "Heart of Gold" was named the third greatest Canadian song of all time on the CBC Radio One series "". It ranked behind only Barenaked Ladies' "If I Had $1000000" and Ian and Sylvia's "Four Strong Winds".Fact|date=October 2007

References