Neil Young chilling on his ranch and talking about his work (1971)

The band had “only been playing together for three days,“ September 1971. That’s the month that Young and the Stray Gators recorded “Words,“ “Alabama,“ and “Are You Ready for the Country“ for the Harvest album in his barn. Ben Keith (pedal steel), Tim Drummond (bass), and Kenny Buttrey (drums) had recorded the acoustic tracks (and some that were rejected) in February and April in Nashville (“One the Weekend,“ “Harvest,“ “Heart of Gold,“ and “Old Man“). Jack Nitsche, who had worked with Young several times before and arranged and produced the orchestral tracks on the album (“There’s a World“ and “A Man Needs a Maid“) in London in March, was added on piano and lap steel. Young had back surgery in August and, while recuperating on his ranch, decided to record those three tracks there.