Harvest Moon cover art

  Studio Album · No. 20

Harvest Moon Songwriting Credits by Neil Young

1992 Reprise Records 10 tracks 52 min

Produced by Neil Young, Ben Keith  ·  Engineered by Tim Mulligan, John Nowland

Reprise Records Folk RockCountry Rock
100%
Authorship
Complete Artist

Holds writing credit on 10 of 10 tracks

Authorship Breakdown 10 / 10 documented

Who wrote the songs?

Scored across the 10 tracks with documented writers, by whether Neil Young carries a lyricist or composer credit.

100%
10 trackswritten by Neil Young 0 tracksoutside writers
Neil Young's roles on this album

Share of the 10 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.

Lyricist100%
Composer100%
Producer100%
Performer100%

By the Numbers

10
Tracks
1
Lyricists
2
Producers
Over 2,000,000 (US)
US Copies Sold
1992
Released

Awards & Recognition 1

Won the 1994 Juno Award for Album of the Year.
Data Insight

Every song on Harvest Moon is a Neil Young original, written by him alone, and the album was built as a deliberate acoustic return to the gentle country-folk of his 1972 album Harvest. Young reunited the Stray Gators, the same core players from that earlier record, including pedal-steel and dobro player Ben Keith, who co-produced the album with him. The title track became one of Young's most enduring later hits and remains a signature of his softer catalog. The closing "Natural Beauty" stretches past ten minutes and was recorded live in concert, giving the otherwise studio-bound record a quiet open-air finish.

Harvest Moon is the nineteenth studio album by Neil Young, released in November 1992 on Reprise Records and produced by Young and Ben Keith, an explicit companion to the 1972 Harvest album, recorded with many of the same musicians (Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor returning for backing vocals, Spooner Oldham, Ben Keith) and deploying the same acoustic, country-folk framework to revisit the themes of middle age that Harvest had addressed from early adulthood. Young wrote all original material; the title track, a gentle, slow-dance waltz about enduring love, was the lead single and reached the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Young's most commercially significant single in years; 'From Hank to Hendrix' and 'Unknown Legend' addressed the experience of long-term partnership with the same autobiographical directness. The album debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 and reached number three in Canada, Young's home country, becoming his highest-charting album in a decade; it was certified platinum in the United States and received warmer critical reception than most of his 1980s work. Harvest Moon is generally regarded as Young's most successful artistic and commercial return, a genuine reunion with the acoustic country-folk idiom rather than a nostalgic exercise, and it demonstrated that the emotional intelligence and melodic invention of Harvest had not diminished in the intervening two decades. The album's commercial success, the best-charting Young album in over a decade, demonstrated that the audience he had built through his most celebrated work of the 1970s had remained loyal through the deliberately uncommercial experiments of the 1980s, and that the acoustic country-folk idiom remained his most commercially accessible mode whenever he chose to inhabit it.

Track Listing & Credits 10 tracks

Written by the artist Written by outside writers
#TitleLyricist(s)Composer(s)Producer(s)Performers
1
Unknown Legend #38
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
2
From Hank to Hendrix
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
3
You and Me
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano)
4
Harvest Moon #5
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
5
War of Man
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
6
One of These Days
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
7
Such a Woman
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano)
8
Old King
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
9
Dreamin' Man
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
10
Natural Beauty
Neil Young Neil Young Neil YoungBen Keith Neil Young (Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano)

Songwriter & Credit Spotlight 2 contributors

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Frequently Asked Questions Harvest Moon

Who wrote Harvest Moon?
Neil Young wrote "Harvest Moon" himself and is the sole credited songwriter. He also produced the track, which was released as the album's lead single on November 2, 1992. It became one of his most beloved later songs and reached number 5 on Canada's RPM singles chart and number 36 on the UK Singles Chart.
Did Neil Young write all the songs on Harvest Moon?
Yes. All ten tracks on Harvest Moon were written by Neil Young alone. The album was conceived as an acoustic, country-leaning record in the spirit of his 1972 album Harvest, and Young kept the writing entirely his own across the whole sequence.
Is Harvest Moon a sequel to Harvest?
Harvest Moon is widely regarded as a spiritual sequel to Young's 1972 album Harvest. He reunited the Stray Gators, the same backing musicians from that earlier record, and returned to the soft acoustic and country-rock sound that had made Harvest his best-selling album. The two records share players, mood, and a gentle, melodic approach.
Who produced Harvest Moon?
Neil Young co-produced Harvest Moon with Ben Keith, the pedal-steel and dobro player who had worked with Young since the Harvest era. Tim Mulligan and John Nowland handled engineering on the sessions.
What is the song Natural Beauty about?
"Natural Beauty" closes Harvest Moon and runs more than ten minutes, the longest track on the album. Neil Young wrote it as a meditation on the natural world and the value of things untouched by commerce. The recording was captured live in concert, which sets it apart from the studio-based songs that precede it.
Was Unknown Legend released as a single?
"Unknown Legend" was issued as a promotional single from Harvest Moon and reached number 38 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Neil Young wrote the song himself, and it opens the album as one of its best-known tracks.
What does From Hank to Hendrix refer to?
"From Hank to Hendrix" is a Neil Young original whose title spans country pioneer Hank Williams and rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, two poles of the American music Young grew up on. The lyric uses that musical range as a frame for reflecting on a long relationship and the passage of time.
How well did Harvest Moon sell and what awards did it win?
Harvest Moon was certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA for more than two million copies sold in the United States, with further certifications including 5x Platinum in Canada and Gold in the United Kingdom and Australia. The album won the 1994 Juno Award for Album of the Year.

Sources