Neil Young - On the Beach

Following the 1973 Time Fades Away tour, Neil Young wrote and recorded an Irish wake of a record called Tonight's the Night and went on the road drunkenly playing its songs to uncomprehending listeners and hostile reviewers. Reprise rejected the record, and Young went right back and made On the Beach, which shares some of the ragged style of its two predecessors. But where Time was embattled and Tonight mournful, On the Beach was savage and, ultimately, triumphant. "I'm a vampire, babe," Young sang, and he proceeded to take bites out of various subjects: threatening the lives of the stars who lived in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon ("Revolution Blues"); answering back to Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose "Sweet Home Alabama" had taken him to task for his criticisms of the South in "Southern Man" and "Alabama" ("Walk On"); and rejecting the critics ("Ambulance Blues"). But the barbs were mixed with humor and even affection, as Young seemed to be emerging from the grief and self-abuse that had plagued him for two years. But the album was so spare and under-produced, its lyrics so harrowing, that it was easy to miss Young's conclusion: he was saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Name Credits Al Schmitt Producer, Audio Production Ben Keith Dobro, Guitar, Vocals (Background), Guitar (Steel), Drums, Wurlitzer, Slide Guitar, Bass, Organ, Vocals, Hand Drums Billy Talbot Bass Bob Seidemann Photography Bob Seidmann Photography Crosby, David & Graham Nash Guitar (Rhythm) David Briggs Audio Production, Producer David Crosby Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals Gary Burden Repackaging, Art Direction, Design Gary Burdon Art Direction, Design George Whitsell Guitar Graham Nash Vocals, Wurlitzer Jenice Heo Repackaging Joe Yankee Harp, Bass, Tambourine John Nowland Analog Transfer Levon Helm Drums Mark Harman Audio Production Mark Henry Harman Producer Neil Young Vocals, Guitar, Producer, Audio Production, Art Direction, Design, Banjo, Harmonica, Wurlitzer Ralph Molina Vocals, Drums, Hand Drums, Vocals (Background) Rick Danko Bass Rick Griffin Lettering Rusty Kershaw Guitar, Slide Guitar, Fiddle, Liner Notes, Violin Tim Drummond Bass, Drums, Percussion Tim Mulligan Digital Mastering