“On the Beach” by Neil Young

The title track of On the Beach, the album Neil Young put out on Reprise in July 1974, is his alone: he wrote it, sings it, plays guitar and co-produced it with Al Schmitt. Around him sits a small crew, Tim Drummond on bass, Ralph Molina on drums, Ben Keith on percussion and Graham Nash on Wurlitzer electric piano.

The album, his fifth in the studio, was the middle panel of the so-called Ditch Trilogy, the records Young made after the huge success of Harvest in 1972 sent him off in search of a rougher ride. Cut after Tonight's the Night but released ahead of it, it shares that record's bleakness and rough-hewn sound, and it is soaked in alienation, overexposure and melancholy. It shocked fans and critics and sold poorly, but both came round in time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.