Main Cast: Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ben Keith, Spooner Oldham, Rick Rosas
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
In the fall of 2005, Neil Young returned to the sound and style of his iconic 1972 album Harvest with Prairie Wind, a set of ten songs which look to America's past and future accompanied by sweet but rough-hewn country-rock. The album was written and recorded after Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, and shortly before he went into the hospital for surgery for the condition, Young played a pair of special concerts at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, where he performed the Prairie Wind album in full along with a set of old favorites. Filmmaker Jonathan Demme was on hand to film the shows, and Neil Young: Heart of Gold was culled from the best moments of those two concerts, as well as interviews in which Young talks about his life and music. Emmylou Harris appears as a guest vocalist, and Young's band includes long time accompanists Ben Keith on pedal steel, pianist Spooner Oldham and Pegi Young (Neil's wife) on acoustic guitar and backing vocals. By the way, Neil Young enjoyed a full recovery after his surgery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Karl Himmel; Chad Cromwell; Wayne Jackson; Pegi Young; Grant Boatwright; Diana Dewitt; Gary W. Pigg; Anthony Crawford; Tom McGinley; Jimmy Sharp; Clinton Gregory; Larry Cragg; Fisk University Jubilee Singers; Nashville String Machine; Carl Gorodetsky
Credit
Mia Lee - Associate Producer, Paul Deason - Co-producer, Manuel - Costume Designer, Anthony Hemingway - First Assistant Director, Jonathan Demme - Director, Andy Keir - Editor, Gary Goetzman - Executive Producer, Bernard Shakey - Executive Producer, Elliot Rubinowitz - Executive Producer, Ian Tyson - Composer (Music Score), Neil Young - Songwriter, Michael Zansky - Production Designer, Ellen Kuras - Cinematographer, Jonathan Demme - Producer, Ilona Herzberg - Producer, Chris Newman - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Urmson - Supervising Sound Editor
The film opens with interviews with Young and most of his band, which includes Emmylou Harris, Young's wife Pegi Young, steel guitarist Ben Keith, and keyboardist Spooner Oldham. They and the other band members describe the concert and the making of Prairie Wind. The recording of the album and the filming of the concert occurred just before and after Young's surgery to correct a cerebral aneurysm, and just a few months after the death of Young's father Scott Young.
The first half of the concert consists entirely of songs from Prairie Wind, and the second half consists of acoustic songs from throughout Young's career. Young describes the inspiration behind several of his songs.
Songs in the film
The performance captured in Neil Young: Heart of Gold was filmed over two nights on August 18 and 19, 2005 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. In order to increase the length of the concert film, director Jonathan Demme asked Neil Young to supplement the songs from Prairie Wind with an encore set of older songs. Young agreed and selected songs that he had previously recorded in Nashville. The two sets are set apart by a costume change for the musicians and a different backdrop on the stage.
All songs are written by Young, except where otherwise noted.
Prairie Wind set
"The Painter"
"No Wonder" – featuring Neil Young's longtime friend Grant Boatwright playing "Old Black", the only use of electric guitar in the concert.
"Falling Off the Face of the Earth"
"Far From Home" – Young introduces the song by telling a story about his father giving him an Arthur Godfreyukelele when he was about 7 years old and working on a chicken farm.
"Comes a Time" – dedicated to Nicolette Larson who sang on Young's Comes a Time album; features the backing singers and crew lined up across the front of the stage playing acoustic guitars.
The film had a limited release to the general public, but came to popular critical acclaim with an 85% average on Metacritic and a 91% Fresh rating average on Rotten Tomatoes.
