Editing Neil Young (section)

===Early career (1963–1966)===

Young and his mother settled in the working-class area of [[Fort Rouge, Winnipeg]], where he enrolled in Earl Grey Junior High School. It was there that he formed his first band, the Jades, and met [[Ken Koblun]]. While attending [[Kelvin High School]] in Winnipeg, he played in several instrumental rock bands, eventually dropping out of school in favor of a musical career.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|p=103}} Young's first stable band was [[the Squires]], with Ken Koblun, Jeff Wuckert and Bill Edmondson on drums, who had a local hit called "The Sultan". Over three years, the band played hundreds of shows at community centers, dance halls, clubs and schools in Winnipeg and other parts of Manitoba. The band also played in [[Fort William, Ontario|Fort William]] (now part of the city of [[Thunder Bay]], Ontario), where they recorded a series of demos produced by a local producer, Ray Dee, whom Young called "the original Briggs", referring to his later producer David Briggs.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|p=105}}  While playing at The Flamingo, Young met [[Stephen Stills]], whose band [[The Company (folk rock band)|the Company]] was playing at the same venue, and they became friends.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBB0DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT224|page=224|title=Everybody Had an Ocean: Music and Mayhem in 1960s Los Angeles|author=William McKeen|publisher=Chicago Review Press|date=April 1, 2017|isbn=9781613734940}}</ref> The Squires primarily performed in Winnipeg and rural Manitoba in towns such as [[Selkirk, Manitoba|Selkirk]], [[Neepawa, Manitoba|Neepawa]], [[Brandon, Manitoba|Brandon]] and Giroux (near [[Steinbach, Manitoba|Steinbach]]), with a few shows in northern Ontario.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4EXBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT50|page=50|title=Waging Heavy Peace Deluxe: A Hippie Dream|author=Neil Young|publisher=Penguin|date=November 1, 2012|isbn = 9780241966242}}</ref>

After leaving the Squires, Young worked in folk clubs in Winnipeg, where he first met [[Joni Mitchell]].{{sfn|McDonough|2002|p=96}} Mitchell recalls Young as having been highly influenced by [[Bob Dylan]] at the time.<ref>''The Rolling Stone Interviews'' by Jann Werner (editor) & Joe Levy (editor). Back Bay Books (2007), {{ISBN|978-0-316-00526-5}}.</ref> Young said [[Phil Ochs]] was "a big influence on me", telling a radio station in 1969 that Ochs was "on the same level with Dylan in my eyes."{{sfn|McDonough|2002|p=137}} Here he wrote some of his earliest and most enduring folk songs such as "[[Sugar Mountain (song)|Sugar Mountain]]", about lost youth. Mitchell wrote "[[The Circle Game (song)|The Circle Game]]" in response.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thrasherswheat.org/jammin/jammin_more.htm#joni|title=Neil Young Collaborations|publisher=Thrasher's Wheat|access-date=May 9, 2009}}</ref> The Winnipeg band [[the Guess Who]] (with [[Randy Bachman]] as lead guitarist) had a Canadian Top 40 hit with Young's "Flying on the Ground is Wrong", which was Young's first major success as a songwriter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/neil-young-first-professional-gig/|title=The Story of Neil Young's First Professional Gig|author=Sterling Whitaker|date=February 1, 2016}}</ref>

In 1965, Young toured Canada as a solo artist. In 1966, while in Toronto, he joined the [[Rick James]]-fronted [[Mynah Birds]]. The band managed to secure a record deal with the [[Motown]] label, but as their first album was being recorded, James was arrested for being [[Desertion|AWOL]] from the Navy Reserve.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|p=139}} After the Mynah Birds disbanded, Young and the bass player [[Bruce Palmer]] decided to pawn the group's musical equipment and buy a [[Pontiac (automobile)|Pontiac]] [[hearse]], which they used to relocate to Los Angeles.<ref name="WFP">{{cite news|url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/one-moment-that-made-music-history-375979631.html|title=One Moment That Made Music History|author=John Einarson|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=April 16, 2017|access-date=November 26, 2018}}</ref> Young admitted in a 1975 interview that he was in the United States illegally until he received a "green card" ([[Permanent residence (United States)|permanent residency permit]]) in 1970.<ref name=interview/>