Personnel includes: Neil Young (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica); Willie Nelson (vocals, acoustic guitar); Waylon Jennings (vocals, electric guitar); Anthony Crawford (vocals, mandolin); Denise Draper (vocals); David Kirby, Grant Boatwright, Johnny Christopher, Ray Edenton (acoustic guitar); Ben Keith (steel guitar, dobro); Ralph Mooney (steel guitar); Marty Stuart (mandolin); Bela Fleck, Bobby Thompson (banjo); Rufus Thibodeaux, Gordon Terry (fiddle); Carl Gorodetzky (violin); Gove Scrivenor (Autoharp); Terry McMillan (harmonica, Jew's harp); Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Spooner Oldham (piano); Joe Allen (acoustic bass, bass); Joe Osborne, Tim Drummond (bass); Karl Himmel (drums); Farrell Morris (percussion).
Producers: Neil Young, Ben Keith, David Briggs, Elliot Mazer.
Engineers: Gene Eichelberger, Tim Mulligan.
Recorded at The Castle, Franklin, Tennessee; House Of David, Nashville, Tennessee; Pedernales Recording Studio, Spicewood, Texas; and live at Austin City Limits, Austin, Texas.
There has always been a strong country element to Neil Young's music and OLD WAYS is perhaps the ultimate manifestation of Young's love of that style. Songs like "Get Back To The Country" (a stomping track on which fiddles and a Jew's harp are the lead instruments) and "California Sunset" are indeed pure country. Other songs--including "The Wayward Kind," "Misfits" and "Old Ways"--boast poignant melodies and straightforward performances that would not be out of place on classic Young albums like HARVEST and COMES A TIME. Labeled a "country album" when it was released in 1985, OLD WAYS is a lot less country than Garth Brooks or Dwight Yoakam, though with guests spots from Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, it's not your typical Neil Young album either. OLD WAYS is an enthusiastic, well-played exploration of country music by a rock artist who is never afraid to try something new.
