The year was 1969 where Neil Young would gain high profile international attention. In that  year he joined Crosby, Stills and Nash where he appeared with at  Woodstock and the Altamont music festivals.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
loading...

Neil was born in Toronto in 1945 and his musical skills were encouraged from the time he was quite young. While a  boy, Neil's father gave him a ukelele for Christmas.His folks would soon divorce and he moved with his mother to Manitoba.

He would drop out of high school and concentrate on his music and his band, Neil Young and The Squires and had a good following back in the '60's.

The band split up in 1965 and  Neil made an unsuccessful solo pitch to Elektra records. which led him to the local coffeehouse circuit, where he would play both solo and with a band called the Mynah Birds, that band band featured then undiscovered Rick James.

When The Mynah Birds split, Neil and the drummer formed Buffalo Springfield. During their two years as a band, they would record three records that were very successful.

When Buffalo Springfield split, Neil made two solo records. It was the second one that sprung him and his backup band, Crazy Horse, into fame.

Neil released his second album, 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' which he worked for the first time Crazy Horse (his back-up band).

Neil introduced us to some great music, “Cinnamon Girl,” “Cowgirl In the Sand” and “Down By the River,” which became his signature songs.

Neil  has one of the most distinct styles in modern American music, you can  hear clear influences from The Beatles, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. He's been compared to the likes of a Tom Petty and The Byrds.

Little known fact that Neil's mother was a quiz show panelist and his father was a sports writer for the Toronto Sun.

The album, 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' would come as a  revelation to listeners not so familiar with the work that Neil Young had released in his early career  with the Buffalo Springfield, a band out of Los Angeles, as well as;his first solo album which was released in 1968.

Neil Young performances before he became a full-fledged star included that with Crosby, Stills and Nash. The next thirty years Neil Young never looked back and laughed all the way to the bank.

More From 103.7 The Loon