Neil Percival Kenneth Robert Ragland Young
Born: November 12, 1945
Place of Birth: Toronto, Ontario
Major Notes:
Neil Young is a highly gifted Canadian rock composer and performer.
His parents were relatively well-known in the Canadian media world and supported Young's music aspirations.
Young tended to be on the sickly side as a youth and survived diabetes, polio, and epilepsy.
Young learned to play the ukulele at age 13, however, his parents divorced two years later.
At that time, he and his mother moved to live in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Young had no desire for school studies and concentrated on learning to play the guitar and banjo.
Neil Young formed his own band, called "The Squires", in high school but dropped out to further his music career.
His mother used her connections to help the band to get more exposure in clubs around Winnipeg.
The band broke up in 1965 and, after playing in Toronto and doing a circuit with a group called "The Mynah Birds", he moved to Los Angeles.
In LA, he helped form a folk-rock group called "Buffalo Springfield" which earned both he and the band nationwide fame.
The band, however, broke up in 1968 after producing three relatively successful albums.
Young had definite talent and eventually joined a group known as "Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young".
The group received exposure at the famous Woodstock Festival and had three well-received albums.
Young was still able to follow a solo career as this was acceptable to the band.
His nasal and raspy voice made Neil Young songs unique and easily recognizable.
Throughout the 1970's, Young's songs and music elevated his career and he was a very successful on a high roll.
Some of his efforts were with CSN and an earlier band he had worked with called "Crazy Horse".
In the 80's, new technology was entering into the music world and Young experimented with Young experimented with computers and synthesized vocals.
Neil Young's important contribution to music covered both the folk and rock venues.
For detailed research and more information, check out any of the following:
Maple Music
Neil Young Bio
VH1.com
Shakey
Neil Young Biography
Wikipedia
Tiscali Music
Last Updated: April 23, 2008
© Canada-Heros/Don Jones 2003