Homegrown is the 40th studio album by Canadian-American Neil Young. It was released on June 19, 2020, by Reprise Records. The album consists of material recorded between June 1974 and January 1975. The album was recorded after the release of On the Beach and before the sessions for Zuma. Like those two albums, much of the material was inspired by Young's relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress, which was deteriorating in 1974. The album was compiled and prepared for release in 1975. Instead, Tonight's the Night was released in its place, and Homegrown remained unreleased for decades. It was finally set for release as part of Record Store Day 2020, amid Neil Young's ongoing Archives campaign. Its release was again delayed by Record Store Day's postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before finally seeing release on June 19.
Sessions
In mid-June 1974, Young recorded several acoustic performances of new material at his home studio at the Broken Arrow Ranch. Later that month, he would convene Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for further sessions and rehearsals for the upcoming stadium tour. Author Peter Doggett says the group recorded a few songs during the rehearsals for the tour. On June 15, Young recorded solo performances of "Love/Art Blues" and "Through My Sails". The following day he recorded several more songs with bassist Tim Drummond, "Pardon My Heart", "Homefires", "Hawaiian Sunrise" and "Love Is a Rose", as well as "L.A. Girls And Ocean Boys," a solo piano piece. Each of these performances were released in 2020 on Neil Young Archives Volume II: 1972–1976. A second recording of "Through My Sails" from June 17 (recorded with CSNY) would see release in 1975 on Zuma, along with "Pardon My Heart" (with new overdubs added).
"Love Is a Rose" is a reworking of Young's previous concert encore favorite "Dance, Dance, Dance" which had been recorded by Crazy Horse on their debut album. It features new lyrics and would later be covered by Linda Ronstadt. Young would include "Love Is a Rose" on the 1977 compilation Decade.
During the 1974 CSNY tour, Young debuted 17 new songs on stage. Two days before the group's performance at Wembley Stadium, Young recorded another new song, "White Line," with the Band's Robbie Robertson. It was recorded at Ramport Studios in London on September 12, 1974. The Band had served as one of CSNY's opening acts during their summer tour. "White Line" was later recorded with Crazy Horse in 1975 for an unreleased album and again with the group in 1990 for Ragged Glory. It was also released in 2018 on Songs for Judy, a live album of solo performances recorded in 1976. A few months later, Young recorded further demos during a November 11 session at Broken Arrow Ranch with Tim Mulligan. Takes of "Vacancy," "One More Sign," "Frozen Man," "Give Me Strength," and "Bad News Comes to Town" all eventually appeared on Neil Young Archives Vol. II.
Studio sessions for Homegrown began in earnest in mid-December 1974 at Quadraphonic Sound Studios in Nashville (the earliest released recording, a version of "Love Art Blues" recorded on December 10, can be found on Volume II). On December 11, a band consisting of Nashville session musicians and Levon Helm recorded "The Old Homestead" and "Daughters", as well as the two songs that open Homegrown, "Separate Ways" and "Try". Young performed "Separate Ways" regularly with Booker T & the MGs in 1993 and with Crazy Horse in 2014. In "Try", Young pays tribute to Carrie Snodgress's mother by incorporating bits of her language into verse: 'I'd like to take a chance/but shit, Mary, I can't dance.' Emmylou Harris also contributed background vocals. Young would later perform "Try" regularly in 2007 and 2008.