| Old Ways | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 12, 1985 | |||
| Recorded | January 1983 – April 1985 | |||
| Venue | The Opry, Austin, Texas | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:43 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Producer |
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| Neil Young chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Old Ways | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | B [2] |
| Kerrang! |  [3] |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) [4] |
Old Ways is the 15th studio album by Canadian-American musician and singer-songwriter Neil Young, released on August 12, 1985, on Geffen Records.
Young first made an attempt at a country album in the 1980s in January 1983. He recorded several songs at producer David Briggs' Nashville recording studio House of David with longtime collaborators Ben Keith, Tim Drummond, Karl T. Himmel, Spooner Oldham and Rufus Thibodeaux, who had all previously backed Young on Comes a Time from 1978. The songs "Old Ways", "Depression Blues", "California Sunset", "My Boy", "Are There Any More Real Cowboys?" and "Silver and Gold" all date from these sessions. After turning in Trans and the unreleased Island in the Sun in 1982, Young's record label, Geffen, objected to a country album, asking Young for a "rock 'n roll" record, which Young gave them in the form of 1983's Everybody's Rockin' . "Depression Blues" later appeared on Young's Geffen-era compilation Lucky Thirteen , while "Silver and Gold" appeared as the title track of an album in 2000. Young describes this first effort in a June 1988 Rolling Stone interview with James Henke:
There was a whole other record, the original Old Ways, which Geffen rejected. It was like Harvest II. It was a combination of the musicians from Harvest and Comes a Time. It was done in Nashville in only a few days, basically the same way Harvest was done, and it was co-produced by Elliot Mazer, who produced Harvest. There's Harvest,Comes a Time and Old Ways I, which is more of a Neil Young record than Old Ways II.Old Ways II was more of a country record – which was a direct result of being sued for playing country music. The more they tried to stop me, the more I did it. Just to let them know that no one's gonna tell me what to do. I was so stoked about that record. I sent them a tape of it that had eight songs on it. I called them up a week later, 'cause I hadn't heard anything, and they said, "Well, frankly, Neil, this record scares us a lot. We don't think this is the right direction for you to be going in." ... They didn't look at me as an artist; they looked at me as a product, and this product didn't fit in with their marketing scheme. [5]
In 1984, Young toured with the band from the 1983 sessions. The tour included an appearance on the Austin City Limits TV show and would eventually be chronicled on the live album A Treasure in 2011. Young saw country music and his adopted country music persona as a respite from his then-waning career in rock music, the demands of his record company, and his struggles to record the rock album that would become Landing on Water . He explained to the Melody Maker 's Adam Sweeting in a September 1985 interview:
In some ways rock 'n' roll has let me down. It really doesn't leave you a way to grow old gracefully and continue to work. If you're gonna rock you better burn out, 'cause that's the way they wanna see you. [6]
Many of the songs on the album reflect a sense of contentment with family life. "Once an Angel" is a tribute to his wife, Pegi while "My Boy" is an ode to his son, Zeke. In a 2020 posting on his Archives website, Young describes "My Boy" as "probably the most soulful recording I have ever made." The outtake "Amber Jean" celebrates the birth of his newborn daughter. Another outtake, "Silver and Gold" also reflects his seeming satisfaction with family life, while "California Sunset" is dedicated to his adopted home.
"The Wayward Wind" is a cover of a 1955 Gogi Grant song that Young remembers, in a version by Frankie Laine, from his childhood in Ontario; [7] the song brings back important memories for him: "I always remember that same stretch of road, the railroad tracks, the whole thing—every time I hear that song, it comes right back. That feeling when you're young and open, you have all these ideas. Real wide view. I dug the song a lot. You can really get lost in it." [8]
"Misfits (Dakota)" offers surreal lyrics about space station astronauts and Muhammad Ali. Young explains how quickly the song came about in a 1985 interview with Adam Sweeting for the Melody Maker : "It only took me a few minutes to write it. I picked up my electric guitar one night in the studio, I was by myself and I turned it up real loud and started playing and, I wrote it just that night." [9]
"Bound for Glory" is a ballad that tells the tale of an affair between a long distance truck driver and a lone hitchhiker. Young recounts in a 1986 interview with Bill Flanagan: "I wrote that one on a little word processor in the back of my bus while I was rolling. I wrote it with a couple of beers and a little smoke. The bus was rolling down the road and I typed it out and I knew the melody in my head already. That's my favorite one on the Old Ways album." [10]
In Spring 1985, Young returned to the studio to record a country music album. During sessions at various Nashville studios, over a dozen new songs were recorded with both his longtime collaborators and local studio musicians as well as Waylon Jennings. The sessions featured many of the musicians from the earlier Harvest and Comes a Time albums. Additionally, Willie Nelson added vocals and guitar to the 1983 recording of "Are There Any More Real Cowboys?" at his Lake Travis recording studio, making the song into a duet. Outtakes from the 1985 sessions include "Amber Jean", "Beautiful Bluebird" and "Let Your Fingers Do the Walking", among others.
"Are There Any More Real Cowboys" was released as a video with Young performing the song as a duet with Willie Nelson. [11]
The partnership with Willie Nelson and Young's delve into the country world would have a lasting impact on the artist's interest in the financial plight of small scale family farmers. Young, Nelson and John Mellencamp would found the Farm Aid organization, performing benefit concerts almost every year in the subsequent decades. Young made plans to release an EP to promote the Farm Aid cause, but the idea was rejected by Geffen Records. [12] Some of the songs from the project were eventually released on A Treasure .
All songs by Neil Young, except where indicated
Recording personnel
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [13] | 31 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [14] | 25 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [15] | 17 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [16] | 29 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [17] | 13 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [18] | 39 |
| US Billboard 200 [19] | 75 |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [20] | 24 |
Harvest is the fourth studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released on February 1, 1972, by Reprise Records, catalogue number MS 2032. It featured the London Symphony Orchestra on two tracks and vocals by guests David Crosby, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Stills, and James Taylor. It topped the Billboard 200 album chart for two weeks, and spawned two hit singles, "Old Man", which peaked at No. 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and "Heart of Gold", which reached No. 1. It was the best-selling album of 1972 in the United States.
Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of iconoclastic artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who fought for and won their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment that dictated the sound of most country music of the era. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Paycheck and David Allan Coe were among the movement's most commercially successful members.
Highwayman is the first studio album released by country supergroup The Highwaymen, comprising Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Highwayman, released through Columbia Records in 1985, was the group's first and most successful album.
Everybody's Rockin' is the 14th studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on August 1, 1983. The album was recorded with the Shocking Pinks, and features a selection of rockabilly songs. Running 25 minutes, it is Young's shortest album. Everybody's Rockin' is typical of his 1980s period in that it bears little or no resemblance to the album released before it, nor the one released after it.
Shotgun Willie is the 16th studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson, released on June 11, 1973. The recording marks a change of style for Nelson, who later stated that the album "cleared his throat". When Nelson refused to sign an early extension of his contract with RCA Records in 1972, the label decided not to release any further recordings. Nelson hired Neil Reshen as his manager, and while Reshen negotiated with RCA, Nelson moved to Austin, Texas, where the ongoing hippie music scene at the Armadillo World Headquarters renewed his musical style. In Nashville, Nelson met producer Jerry Wexler, vice president of Atlantic Records, who was interested in his music. Reshen solved the problems with RCA and signed Nelson with Atlantic as their first country music artist.
Lonesome, On'ry and Mean is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1973. It was, after Good Hearted Woman and Ladies Love Outlaws, the third in a series of albums which were to establish Jennings as one of the most prominent representatives of the outlaw country movement. Photographer Mick Rock shot the album's cover.
Wanted! The Outlaws is a compilation album by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser, released by RCA Records in 1976. The album consists of previously released material with four new songs. Released to capitalize on the new outlaw country movement, Wanted! The Outlaws earned its place in music history by becoming the first country album to be platinum-certified, reaching sales of one million.
Waylon & Willie is a duet studio album by American singers Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, released by RCA Records in 1978. In the US, it stayed at #1 album on the country album charts for ten weeks and would spend a total of 126 weeks on the country charts.
WWII is a duet album by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, released on RCA Victor in 1982.
Are You Ready for the Country is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1976.
Ol' Waylon is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released on RCA Victor in 1977. It eventually became one of Jennings' highest-selling albums, due in no small part to the phenomenal success of the chart-topping "Luckenbach, Texas ." It was also the singer's fourth solo album in a row to reach the top of the country charts, remaining there for thirteen weeks and becoming country music's first platinum album by any single solo artist.
Black on Black is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1982.
Clean Shirt is a duet album by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, released on Epic Records in 1991.
...And Then I Wrote is the debut studio album by country singer Willie Nelson, recorded during August and September 1962 and released through Liberty Records.
Always on My Mind is the 27th studio album by country singer Willie Nelson. It was the Billboard number one country album of the year for 1982, and stayed 253 weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts, peaking at number one for a total of 22 weeks, as well as spending 99 weeks on the all-genre Billboard 200, peaking at number two for 3 weeks.
The Man I Want to Be is the second studio album by American country music artist Chris Young. It was released on September 1, 2009 via RCA Nashville. The album includes the singles "Voices", "Gettin' You Home ", and "The Man I Want to Be", all of which reached Number One single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, sometimes referred to as POTR, is an American country rock band formed in Los Angeles in 2008 by Lukas Nelson. The band consists of Lukas Nelson , Anthony LoGerfo, Corey McCormick, Logan Metz, and Tato Melgar (percussion). They have released eight studio albums. two live albums, numerous singles and extended plays (EP).
Kimmie Rhodes is an American singer-songwriter. She has recorded and released a total of sixteen solo CDs, written and produced three musicals and published a novella/cookbook, served as an associate producer for a documentary, They Called Us Outlaws presented by the Country Music Hall of Fame and produced radio documentary/music programming for her show Radio Dreams, which focused on the history of American roots music and artists. She has also appeared in multiple films and a theatre production, Is There Life After Lubbock? Her songs have appeared on multiple television and film soundtracks. She has established and released her own records on her label, Sunbird Music for over 25 years. Kimmie's promotional tours created a solid fan base in the U.K., Ireland and Europe. She has headlined with her band at festivals throughout the world and has appeared on many European and American TV and radio broadcasts and at Willie Nelson's Farm Aid concerts and July 4 Picnics. Together with Willie Nelson she recorded two of her originals for his album Just One Love and a duet CD, "Picture in a Frame". She lives and records in Austin and tours internationally with her son and producer/multi-instrumentalist, Gabriel Rhodes.
Detour is the twelfth studio album by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper, containing cover versions of country and western songs. It was released on May 6, 2016, and is the artist's first for Sire Records. The album was recorded in Nashville and produced by Tony Brown. In the United States, the album debuted at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and number four on the Billboard Top Country Albums and sold 36,800 copies as of September 2016.
Duets: Friends & Memories is an album by country pop singer Juice Newton. It was released in 2010 by Fuel Records and features Newton singing popular tunes from the 1960s to the 1980s, all as duets with other famous performers. Her collaborators include Gary Morris, Frankie Valli, Randy Meisner, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Gary Morris, Dan Seals, Melissa Manchester, and Eddie Money. The original CD release of the album contained 10 songs. A later edition featuring two extra tracks is available only from iTunes.
