FILM: Harvest Time (2022)

I had the pleasure of going to see Harvest Time, a two hour documentary filmed at the time of recording Harvest, in the theater. Neil’s been sitting on this one for awhile, but the 50th anniversary of Harvest is a fine time to release it. While Harvest has never been one of my favorite Neil Young albums, I do like half of it quite a bit, especially “Words (Between the Lines of Age),” which we see constructed throughout Harvest Time, and lately I’ve been a big fan of “Out on the Weekend.” The latter Neil noodles on off and on in scenes, eventually getting an extremely comical and laidback banjo rendition while reclining in bed. It’s hard to tell if he’s jokingly writing a song in real time or debuting it to his friends in the room (he was likely just extremely high).

The film starts out with a rough rendition of “Alabama” in Neil’s barn at Broken Arrow ranch outside San Francisco. Jack Nitzsche pounds away on the piano, Neil is on the big Gretsch, Ben Keith is looking very striking on slide, and the rhythm section is way up front, Kenny Buttrey on drums, Tim Drummond on bass. It’s a great opener. After the song, we go outside the barn and producer Elliot Mazer introduces us to the outdoor reverb mic. It’s just a big mic outside the barn that catches natural reverb. There’s a cool edit when we get to the chorus on “Alabama” and they go back and forth between the barn and a studio in New York with David Crosby and Stephen Stills working on the chorus. There’s an exciting moment where they collectively come up with a particular inflection.

When the band starts to construct “Words,” it’s a similar scene inside, but interspersed with a long interview with Neil on the lawn. He’s stretched out, listening to the playback from a distance and noting how the song echoes off the surrounding hills. When they go back in, the editing switches from the barn to the studio in New York, this time with Graham Nash and Stills working on harmonies. Nash is the most playful and jazzed to be there. For all their friction in CSNY, Nash has always been a big fan of Neil in general (well, except Eldorado…). It shows here in these early days for sure.

Another highlight is Neil’s time with the London Symphony Orchestra. He’s playing piano in the room with the orchestra and collaborating with the conductor. Hilariously, Neil is asked about the written music and he confesses he doesn’t know much about it (Nitzsche arranged it all), but the conductor rolls with it and notes Debussy couldn’t read music either. Then asks “have you heard of Pink Floyd? They make some really good noises.” Incredible moment. This section of the film suffers some of the worst sound, but is among the most fascinating to see happen. “A Man Needs a Maid” is such a big centerpiece of Harvest, this is quite a thing to see created from a surreal collaboration between English suit and tie orchestra musicians and long haired hippies binging Coors constantly.

There are two long jams with the Stray Gators in the film that I would love to hear separately someday. One is just a blistering work out in the barn and the second happens in Mazer’s studio before they sit down to mix “Words” for good. The group pauses to take puffs from Drummond’s “Big Red,” a fish tank pump connected to a tube and small pipe. I really like how Neil says “we could play it better, but I don’t think it would make a difference for the album. I like it being rough.” This hearkens back a little to the interview on the lawn at the barn. He said he didn’t know what he was looking for, but its clear the more the band loosened up over the course of recording, the closer he got to the rough, loose sound that “Words” has in the final recording.

These are just some of my favorite moments from Harvest Time. Check it out if you can (its included as a DVD with the Harvest 50th anniversary box set and not doubt will show up on Neil Young Archives sooner or later). It deserves to be seen by anyone with even a passing interest in the rock music scene of the early 70s.

Thanks for reading Only Castles Burning! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.