Neil Young Top Ten: The Needle and the Damage Done (#4)

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For those who think Abba is a little too light I’m also counting down ten favorite by the great Neil Young. If you don’t like either act, then you’re in trouble. Here’s today’s classic from Neil Young. #4: The Needle and the Damage Done Back when I used the song “Cinnamon Girl” I said that Danny Whitten, who sang harmony with Young on the song and played guitar, would show up again. Here he is, in the worst way. Whitten, in addition to being a member of Crazy Horse, had other music connections. For instance, he wrote “I Don’t Want to Talk About It,” which Rod Stewart recorded on Atlantic Crossing. Whitten also had an addiction to heroin. Now, the interesting thing is that this song actually predates Whitten’s death (and the death of Bruce Berry, brother of Jan & Dean’s Jan Berry and a roadie for Young and Crazy Horse). Almost as if to prove the song (which was written in 1971 and released in February 1972) correct, Whitten died of a heroin overdose on November 18, 1972. But by that time Young had already tired of watching “the needle take another man” (and woman: it was the cause of Janis Joplin’s death) in music. The pain in Young’s voice is obvious. He sings it like he’s begging Whitten and Berry (and others) to not become a statistic, or just another rock and roll casualty. When Young concluded the song, “Every junkie’s like a setting sun,” it’s almost as if he knew they wouldn’t listen. Gone, gone. The Needle and the Damage Done Written by Neil Young From Harvest, 1972 I love you baby, can I have some more: