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"Heart of Gold" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young. Released from the 1972 album ''Harvest'', it is so far Young's only U.S. No. 1 single. In Canada, it reached No. 1 on the ''RPM'' national singles chart for the first time on April 8, 1972, on which date Young held the top spot on both the singles and albums charts.〔List of Canadian number-one albums of 1972〕 ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 17 song for 1972.〔Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972〕 In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it No. 297 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.〔(Rollingstone.com ), Issue 963, December 9, 2004 (subscription required). See also Wikipedia article〕 ==Description== The song, which features backup vocals of James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, is one of a series of soft acoustic pieces which were written partly as a result of a back injury. Unable to stand for long periods of time, Young could not play his electric guitar and so returned to his acoustic guitar, which he could play sitting down. He also played his harmonica during the three instrumental portions, including the Introduction to the song.〔McDonough, Jim, ''Shakey'', Random 2002, pp. 352-354, 370.〕〔Crowe, Cameron, (Neil Young, the Last American Hero ). ''Rolling Stone'', February 8, 1989, webpage found 2007-11-29.〕 "Heart of Gold" was recorded during the initial sessions for ''Harvest'' on February 6–-8 1971 at Quadrafonic Sound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Ronstadt (who herself would later cover Young's song "Love is a Rose") and Taylor were in Nashville at the time for an appearance on Johnny Cash's television program, and the album's producer Elliot Mazer arranged for them to sing backup for Young in the studio.〔"Thrasher", (Neil Young's Heart of Gold ), web page found 2007-11-29.〕〔Elliot Mazer, (Neil Young's Heart of Gold ). In ''Mix'', 2001-05-01, webpage found 2007-11-29.〕 Young played this song in 1971 solo shows before recording it. At a January 19 concert (preserved on ''Live at Massey Hall 1971'', released in 2007) he played it on piano, starting with "A Man Needs a Maid" and then segueing into this song. By the time of ''Harvest'' he had separated the two songs and played "Heart of Gold" on guitar and harmonica. Young wrote in the liner notes of his 1977 compilation album ''Decade'': "This song put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there." This statement was in response to the mainstream popularity that he gained as a result of the number-one status of "Heart of Gold". In 1985, Bob Dylan admitted that he disliked hearing this song, despite always liking Neil Young:〔(December 1985 Spin archive, Bob Dylan: Not Like a Rolling Stone Interview )〕
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