''Old Ways'' is the 15th studio album by Canadian-American musician and singer-songwriter

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

, released on August 12, 1985, on

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Background

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 ''

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'' 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 ''

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'' interview with James Henke: In 1984, Young toured with the band from the 1983 sessions. The tour included an appearance on the ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

'' 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 ''

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''s Adam Sweeting in a September 1985 interview:

Writing

Many of the songs on the album reflect a sense of contentment with family life. "Once an Angel" is a tribute to his wife,

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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 Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performa ...

, from his childhood in Ontario; 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." "Misfits (Dakota)" offers surreal lyrics about space station astronauts and

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

. Young explains how quickly the song came about in a 1985 interview with Adam Sweeting for the ''

'': "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." "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 Bill Flanagan (born January 14, 1955) is an American author, television executive and radio host. He was born in Rhode Island and graduated from Brown University in 1977. His books include ''Written in My Soul'' (1986), ''Last of the Moe Haircut ...

: "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."

Recording

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 Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

. The sessions featured many of the musicians from the earlier ''

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'' and '' Comes a Time'' albums. Additionally,

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

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.

Promotion

"Are There Any More Real Cowboys" was released as a video with Young performing the song as a duet with Willie Nelson. The partnership with

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 John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...

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.Durchholz, Daniel, and Gary Graff. 2012. Neil Young: Long May You Run : The Illustrated History. Minneapolis, Mn: Voyageur Press. Some of the songs from the project were eventually released on '' A Treasure''.

Track listing

Side one

All songs by

, except where indicated #" The Wayward Wind" (Herb Newman, Stanley Lebowsky) (3:12) - duet with Denise Draper #*Recorded at Castle Recording Studios, Franklin, Tennessee, 4/22/1985. #"Get Back to the Country" (2:50) #*Recorded at Castle, 4/20/1985. #"Are There Any More Real Cowboys?" (3:03) - duet with Willie Nelson #*Recorded at House of David, Nashville, 1/28/1983 with overdubs at Pedernales Recording Studio, Spicewood, TX, 4/15/1983. #"Once an Angel" (3:55) #*Recorded at Castle, 4/20/1985. #"Misfits (Dakota)" (5:07) #*Recorded at Castle, 4/30/1985.

Side two

#"California Sunset" (2:56) #*Recorded live on

, 9/25/1984 #"Old Ways" (3:08) #*Recorded at Castle, 4/20/1985. #"My Boy" (3:37) #*Recorded at House of David, Nashville, 1/28/1983. #"Bound for Glory" (5:48) - duet with Waylon Jennings #*Recorded at Castle, 4/21/1985. #"Where Is the Highway Tonight?" (3:02) #*Recorded at Castle, 4/20/1985.

Personnel

*Neil Young – guitar, banjo-guitar, harmonica, vocals *

– guitar, vocals *

– guitar, vocals * Rufus Thibodeaux – fiddle * Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, dobro * Tim Drummond – bass *Karl Himmel – drums *Joe Allen – electric & upright bass * Ralph Mooney – pedal steel guitar * Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano * Gordon Terry – fiddle *

Joe Osborn Joe Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Anthony Crawford Anthony Crawford may refer to: *Anthony Crawford (bass musician), American musician, producer and songwriter *Anthony Crawford (musician), American musician *Anthony Crawford (lynching victim), African American man who was killed by a lynch mob in ...

– mandolin, vocals * Terry McMillan – harmonica,

jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various ...

– banjo * Bobby Thompson – banjo *David Kirby – guitar *Grant Boatwright – guitar *Johnny Christopher – guitar *Ray Edenton – guitar * Gove Scrivenor –

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of t ...

*Farrell Morris – percussion *

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country music, country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before be ...

– mandolin *Carl Gorodetzky – violin * Spooner Oldham – piano *

Larry Byrom Larry Clifton Byrom (born December 27, 1948 in Huntsville, Alabama) is an American guitarist. Byrom performed in a band called the Precious Few in the 1960s, then joined T.I.M.E.; in 1970, he joined Steppenwolf. He left Steppenwolf in 1972 and ...

– vocals *Rick Palombi – vocals *Doana Cooper – vocals *Denise Draper – vocals *

Gail Davies Gail Davies (born Patricia Gail Dickerson; June 5, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and the first female record producer in country music. She is the daughter of country singer Tex Dickerson and the sister of songwriter Ron Davies. Gai ...

– vocals *Betsy Hammer – vocals *Pam Rose – vocals * Janis Oliver-Gill – vocals *Mary Ann Kennedy – vocals * Kristine Oliver-Arnold – vocals *Leona Williams – vocals *Strings: ** Carl Gorodetsky – leader **George Binkley **John Borg **Roy Christensen **Virginia Christensen **Charles Everett **Larry Harvin **Mark Hembree **Lee Larrison **Betty McDonald **Dennis Molchan **Pamela Sixfin **Mark Tanner **David Vanderkooi **Gary Vanosdale **Carol Walker **Stephanie Woolf *JT Cantwell – assistant engineer Recording personnel *Neil Young – producer * Ben Keith – producer * David Briggs – producer *Gene Eichelberger – engineer *Keith Odle – second engineer *Clark Schleicher – recording assistant *J.T. Cantwell – recording assistant

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control Neil Young albums 1985 albums Albums produced by David Briggs (producer) Geffen Records albums Albums produced by Elliot Mazer Albums produced by Ben Keith Albums produced by Neil Young Country rock albums by Canadian artists