1972Released
3:22

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Old Man - 2009 Remaster. By Songfacts®.

Young wrote this about the caretaker of the ranch he bought in 1970. The song compares a young man's life to an old man's and shows that the old man was once like this young man. The caretaker of the that cattle ranch? His name was Louis Avila. The ranch was the Broken Arrow Ranch, purchased for $350,000 in 1970 (just think about those real estate prices compared to now!). Reportedly, Avila was giving Young a tour of the place and asked him how a young man like him could afford a place like this. Young, aged 25, replied "Just lucky, Louie, just real lucky." Avila was quite bemused.

Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor sang backing vocals on "Old Man" and another Harvest track, ""Heart of Gold." Ronstadt recalled to Mojo: "I can't remember why Neil wanted me to sing with him - I guess he just figured I was there and could do it – but we went in there and they were doing 'Heart of Gold' and 'Old Man' and I thought they were such beautiful songs. I loved them. And I knew how to do harmonies. I'd listened to the Buffalo Springfield harmonies and I knew how to get that 7th they always used. I don't think we started until midnight and it was dawn when we came out, and it was snowing – we came out to this beautiful snow storm in the rising sun. It was really exciting. I just thought I've been part of something really wonderful."

This was the first song recorded for the Harvest album. Neil Young arranged the session the previous night when he was at a party held at Quadrafonic Studios in Nashville (he was in town to record a segment for Johnny Cash's TV show). The studio owner Elliot Mazer was also a producer who had worked with a band Young admired called Area Code 615. Young asked if he could record there the next day, and Mazer complied, supplying not just the studio, but also the musicians. The session took place on Saturday, February 6, 1971 with a group of Music City studio pros: Ben Keith on pedal steel guitar, Tim Drummond on bass and Kenny Buttrey on drums.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Old Man - 2009 Remaster.
EKey
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
141BPM

Album

The album Old Man - 2009 Remaster is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Old Man - 2009 Remaster.
Reprise
© 2009 Reprise Records
℗ 2009 Reprise Records

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