Neil Young's fourth studio album, 1972's Harvest, was a landmark for the artist.  His first and only No. 1 album in the U.S. and U.K. to date, it spun off his only U.S. No. 1 single to date with the ballad "Heart of Gold," and became the best-selling album in the U.S. of 1972 - only to remain the best-selling album in Young's ever-growing catalogue.  The 2015 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee has received numerous reissues including a 2002 DVD-Audio presentation and a 2009 remaster as part of Young's Archives series.  Now, on December 2, Harvest will return for its 50th anniversary in 3CD/2DVD and 2LP/7-inch/2DVD box sets.

Featuring Young's tightest and most accessible set of songs to that point, Harvest's burnished and frequently acoustic country-rock sound was captured at a number of studios including producer Elliot Mazer's Quadrafonic Sound in Nashville; London's Barking Assembly Hall; and Young's California ranch, with some overdubs recorded in New York.  The melodic, wistful "Heart of Gold" and affecting "Old Man," from the February 1971 Nashville sessions, welcomed pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith, bassist Tim Drummond, and drummer Kenny Buttrey as well as vocalists Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor.  Two February outtakes featuring the Nashville musicians, "Bad Fog of Loneliness" and "Dance, Dance, Dance" (the latter of which had previously been recorded by Crazy Horse), will appear on the box set.  ("Bad Fog" was first released on Archives Vol. 1 while this version of "Dance" has only been available digitally.)  Subsequent Nashville sessions for overdubs also yielded "Out on the Weekend," "Harvest," and "Journey Through the Past."  Though "Journey" wasn't included on the final album - a different recording ended up on 1973's Time Fades Away - it, too, appears on the outtakes disc of this anniversary edition.

Sessions with arranger-conductor Jack Nitzsche and The London Symphony Orchestra produced "A Man Needs a Maid" and "There's a World."  A trio of electric songs - "Are You Ready for the Country," the biting "Alabama," and "Words" - were cut at Young's ranch with Keith, Drummond, Buttrey, and Nitzsche, whom Young would dub The Stray Gators.  A January 30, 1971 live performance of the moving "The Needle and the Damage Done" would round out the album.

Young was somewhat taken aback by the success of Harvest and "Heart of Gold."  He later admitted that the LP "put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there."  Still, it remains perhaps his most beloved musical statement, and in 1992, he marked its 20th anniversary with the belated follow-up Harvest Moon.  The sequel album reunited him with key personnel from the first album including The Stray Gators (with Spooner Oldham on piano), Ronstadt, Taylor, and Nitzsche.

The upcoming Harvest boxes feature the original album on CD 1, with the second disc dedicated to a previously unreleased February 23, 1971 solo performance from the BBC's In Concert series featuring album cuts such as "Heart of Gold," "Old Man," "A Man Needs a Maid," and "Out on the Weekend," as well as "Journey Through the Past" and "Dance, Dance, Dance."  The third CD, an EP, offers just the three studio outtakes.  DVD 1 offers an unreleased, two-hour film shot by Young during the making of Harvest, while the second DVD presents video of the BBC show.  The LP version of the box features all of the same content.  The box set's hardbound book has new liner notes by photographer Joel Bernstein and previously unpublished photos.

The celebration of Harvest arrives from Reprise Records on December 2.  You'll find pre-order links and the track listing below.

Neil Young, Harvest: 50th Anniversary Edition (Reprise LP MS 2032, 1972 - reissued 2022)

3CD/2DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP/7-inch single/2DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1/LP 1: The Original Album

1. Out on the Weekend
2. Harvest
3. A Man Needs a Maid
4. Heart Of Gold
5. Are You Ready for the Country?
6. Old Man
7. There's a World
8. Alabama
9. The Needle and the Damage Done
10. Words (Between the Lines of Age)

CD 2/LP 2: BBC In Concert: February 23, 1972 (previously unreleased)

1. Out on the Weekend
2. Old Man
3. Journey Through the Past
4. Heart of Gold
5. Don't Let It Bring You Down
6. A Man Needs a Maid
7. Love in Mind
8. Dance, Dance, Dance

CD 3/7-inch single: Harvest Outtakes

1. Bad Fog of Loneliness (previously released on Archives Vol. 1, Reprise 175292-2, 2009)
2. Journey Through the Past (previously unreleased)
3. Dance, Dance, Dance (previously unreleased in physical format)

DVD 1:

• A 2-hour, unreleased film shot during the making of Harvest.

DVD 2: BBC In Concert: February 23, 1972 (previously unreleased)

1. Out on the Weekend
2. Old Man
3. Journey Through the Past
4. Heart of Gold
5. Don't Let It Bring You Down
6. A Man Needs a Maid
7. Love in Mind
8. Dance, Dance, Dance