Editing Harvest (Neil Young album) (section)

==Background==
In 1970, Young released both ''[[Déjà Vu (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album)|Déjà Vu]]'' with [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]] and his third solo album, ''[[After the Gold Rush]]''. The year also saw Young tour as a solo act and with both CSNY and his collaborators [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]. In the fall of 1970, Young released ''After the Gold Rush'', divorced his wife Susan Acevedo, and purchased Broken Arrow Ranch in Redwood City, California, where he would live for the next four decades. While renovating his new home, Young injured his back, limiting his mobility and ability to perform electric guitar. Around the same time, Young would also begin his relationship with actress [[Carrie Snodgress]]. Young's new home and romantic relationship would inspire several new songs.

After completing ''After the Gold Rush'', Young promoted the album through a series of solo acoustic concerts. After playing [[Carnegie Hall]] in December 1970, Young returned to his ranch for a break in touring. While picking up a slab of walnut, Young injured his back, which prevented him from standing up while performing, limiting him to playing acoustic music. Young explains in an August 1975 interview with [[Cameron Crowe]] for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'': {{blockquote|I was in and out of hospitals for the two years between ''After the Gold Rush'' and ''Harvest''. I have one weak side and all the muscles slipped on me. My discs slipped. I couldn't hold my guitar up. That's why I sat down on my whole solo tour. I couldn't move around too well, so I laid low for a long time on the ranch and just didn't have any contact, you know. I wore a brace. Crosby would come up to see how I was, we'd go for a walk and it took me 45 minutes to get to the studio, which is only 400 yards from the house. I could only stand up four hours a day. I recorded most of ''Harvest'' in the brace. That's a lot of the reason it's such a mellow album. I couldn't physically play an electric guitar. "Are You Ready for the Country", "Alabama", and "Words" were all done after I had the operation. The doctors were starting to talk about wheelchairs and shit, so I had some discs removed. But for the most part, I spent two years flat on my back.<ref>Crowe, Cameron. "Neil Young: The Rolling Stone Interview". ''Rolling Stone''. August 14, 1975. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-the-rolling-stone-interview-123513/.</ref>}}

Young embarked on a solo acoustic tour in January and February 1971 where he debuted many of the album's songs. A performance on ''[[The Johnny Cash Show]]'' led to collaborations with record producer [[Elliot Mazer]] and Nashville studio musicians. In Nashville, Young recruited a group of country session musicians, whom he would dub [[The Stray Gators]] to record his new songs. The resulting record was a massive hit, producing a US number one single in "Heart of Gold". The album's success caught Young off guard and his first instinct was to back away from stardom. He would later write that the record "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."<ref>Bronson, Fred (2003). ''The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits'', p. 308. Billboard Books. {{ISBN|0-8230-7677-6}}.</ref>