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The Needle And The Damage Done by Neil Young

    Composer – Neil Young

    Where to find this song – Harvest track # 9

    Release Date – February 1972

    The Bio:

    After Neil Young left the folk-rock band Buffalo Springfield in 1968, he slowly established himself as one of the most influential singer/songwriters of his generation. Young’s body of work is much like Bob Dylan’s in terms of
    depth, and he was able to hold his reputation as a solo artist, as well as record sales, for a longer period than even Dylan, partially because of his quirky work ethic-being – no work at all. Just honest music, from what many people believe to be the first true punk-grunge idol. Let’s not forget his influential role in Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young!

    Intro/Interlude Riff

    This is chord-based fingerpicking. You should form the chords at the beginning of each measure and hold the chord form until the next chord form comes along to allow each note to ring as long as possible.

    Verse

    Remember that this is chord-based fingerpicking. You should form the chords at the beginning of each measure and hold the chord form until the next chord form comes along to allow each note to ring as long as possible.

    The first four measures of the verse are quite similar to the first four measures of the intro. The last 4 measures, on the other hand, are quite different.

    Outro

    The last four measures of the song are a little bit different, but not much. The last measure slows down dramatically as indicated by the rit. above the staff. That’s an abbreviation for ritardando which means decelerate
    the pace, or slow down.

    Riff Resources

    Complete Transcription To “Needle And The Damage Done” (PDF)

    Complete Transcription To “Needle And The Damage Done” (Power Tab)

    Play Along With The Full Song: