Notes
Here's a tune for you that's been around for a long time. It's changed its persona. Actually, it didn't change at all. Everything else changed. It used to be a little song about, you know, smoking weed. But now it's a protest song.
It's just a funny little song but it's about growing food. It's about growing things. There's a lotta ways to grow things. Myself and mostly Willie Nelson - I've been helping him. He's been working on Farm Aid for fifteen years and he's been learning a lot about farmers. I kinda came from a country place up in Canada myself. We hate to see the family farmer kinda go away out here in this country. It's been kind of a tradition for really a long time. Many generations.
So that's what we're doing - we're trying to save the family farm and we're losing it. But it seems like something's happening now that we might be able to win. We might be able to stop the flow of five hundred family farms going down a week. We might be able to do something about it. It's just because people in California and people in New York, and some up in Washington and in Oregon. Mostly those four states are starting to get into organic food now.
So, you know, in those places called factory farms, they can't grow organic anything. Farmers of course, with a little farm and a barn and a family and a field, they can grow organic anytime they want to. They make twice as much money with it now, so that's a good thing. So maybe that will help 'em keep the family farms going. That's what I'm hoping anyway.
Neil Young
Paramount Theatre, Oakland, California, USA
March 20, 1999
[after finishing the song]
It's a stupid song anyway. Let's face it. I mean - I know it. But you know ... Homegrown ... it's a funny thing too. First, I thought it was a drug song - definitely weed. Then I started thinking no, no, no, it's about growing your own food ... it's organic ... it's good for you ... everybody should have that kind of food ... no chemicals ... that would be really good. Yeah - let's do it - I like that. Then - fuel. Growing plants and using them in cars - that's pretty good too. That'll never work ... you know they're already all over that one. Al, don't do that, you're going to kill the planet if you do that. All the plants will be gone. There will be no more CO2. Everything's screwed if to do that - specially South America - that would be bad. So, you know, who are you going to believe? All you got's a stupid song and all this information. So, it's up to you I guess.
Neil Young
Hammersmith Apollo, London, England
March 15, 2008
Homegrown (version 1 of 9)
Session Date: | December 13, 1974 |
Studio: | Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville, TN |
Produced by: | Neil Young & Elliot Mazer |
Recording type: | Studio |
Mono/Stereo: | stereo |
Length: | 2:47 |
Musicians: | Neil Young: vocals, electric guitar, harmonica
Ben Keith: lap steel guitar
Tim Drummond: bass
Karl T. Himmel: drums |
Available on:
Homegrown
Neil Young
Released: 2020-06-19
Side 1
Track 5
Homegrown (version 2 of 9)
Session Date: | November 19, 1975 |
Studio: | Studio, Broken Arrow Ranch, CA |
Produced by: | Neil Young & David Briggs with Tim Mulligan |
Recording type: | Studio |
Mono/Stereo: | stereo |
Length: | 2:22 |
Musicians: | Neil Young: vocals, guitar
Frank Sampedro: guitar
Billy Talbot: bass, vocals
Ralph Molina: drums, vocals |
Homegrown (version 3 of 9)
Session Date: | September 18, 1994 |
Studio: | 1994-09-18, Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA |
Produced by: | |
Recording type: | Live |
Mono/Stereo: | stereo |
Length: | 4:59 |
Musicians: | Neil Young: vocals, electric guitar
Frank Sampedro: electric guitar
Billy Talbot: bass, vocals
Ralph Molina: drums, vocals |
Homegrown (version 4 of 9)
Session Date: | March 15, 2008 |
Studio: | Hammersmith Apollo, London, England |
Produced by: | Bernard Shakey / Elliot Rabinowitz |
Recording type: | Live |
Mono/Stereo: | mono |
Length: | |
Musicians: | Neil Young: vocals, banjo |
Homegrown (version 5 of 9)
Session Date: | May 20, 2020 |
Studio: | Daryl Hannah & Neil Young's home, Telluride, Colorado, USA |
Produced by: | |
Recording type: | Studio |
Mono/Stereo: | mono |
Length: | 2:52 |
Musicians: | Neil Young: vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica |
Homegrown (version 6 of 9)
Session Date: | November 13, 1990 |
Studio: | The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, California, USA |
Produced by: | David Briggs and Neil Young |
Recording type: | Live |
Mono/Stereo: | stereo |
Length: | 4:47 |
Musicians: | Neil Young - vocals, electric guitar
Frank Sampedro - electric guitar, vocals
Billy Talbot - bass, vocals
Ralph Molina - drums, vocals |
Homegrown (version 7 of 9)
Session Date: | November 13, 1990 |
Studio: | The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, California, USA |
Produced by: | David Briggs and Neil Young |
Recording type: | Live |
Mono/Stereo: | stereo |
Length: | 4:47 |
Musicians: | Neil Young - vocals, electric guitar
Frank Sampedro - electric guitar, vocals
Billy Talbot - bass, vocals
Ralph Molina - drums, vocals |
Homegrown (version 8 of 9)
Session Date: | November 6, 1976 |
Studio: | Balch Fieldhouse, Boulder, Colorado, USA |
Produced by: | Neil Young |
Recording type: | Live |
Mono/Stereo: | mono |
Length: | |
Musicians: | |
Homegrown (version 9 of 9)
Session Date: | March 23, 1999 |
Studio: | Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, California, USA |
Produced by: | Neil Young |
Recording type: | Live |
Mono/Stereo: | stereo |
Length: | |
Musicians: | |