Written by: Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Dewey Terry
Times played:
Last performance:
Shows recorded:
Shows not recorded:
Electric guitar:
Notes
We did "Farmer John" really well in Fort William. We just got way out there and went berserk. That was one of the first times I ever started transcending on guitar. Things just got on to another plane. Afterwards people would say, What the hell was that? That's when I started to realize I had the capacity to lose my mind playing music. Neil Young Mojo/John Einarson September 1994
We were doing a song, a cover song ... we played a song by The Premiers called Farmer John. There were some other musicians around and one of them was a really, really good guitar player and he really could just bend the strings on his Telecaster. And he really just made the thing sing. I thought he was, like, fantastic. He had to be like twenty-one or something and I was like seventeen. And I did something on my guitar where we started playing this song and we got into the instrumental and I just basically went nuts. And I think that was the first time that ever happened. And I just kept playing and I just kept going and going and grinding and just pounding away at this rhythmic thing and exploring little nuances of it. I don't know how many minutes - it went on and on. And then when we came offstage, the guy walked up to me and he says, "Where the hell did you learn how to do that? What are you doing?" And I said, "What do you mean - what am I doing? It's the same thing I've been doing." And he said, "Oh no no. No, I don't know what you're doing." And he knew, like, two hundred thousand more chords than I did and all the scales and everything. And he just said, "I just don't know what you're doing. What did you do?" And at that point I realized, well, there's a place I can go. And I just kind of fell into it by accident. And I think I've spent the rest of my life trying to get there. Neil Young The Fresh Air Interview with Terry Gross March 25, 2004
Farmer John (version 1 of 5)
Session Date:April 30, 1990
Studio:Plywood Digital, Broken Arrow Ranch, CA
Produced by:Neil Young & David Briggs
Recording type:Studio
Mono/Stereo:stereo
Length:4:13
Musicians:Neil Young: vocals, guitar Frank Sampedro: guitar, vocals Billy Talbot: bass, vocals Ralph Molina: drums, vocals
Available on:
Ragged Glory Neil Young Released: 1990-09-09

Side 2 Track 1

Official Release Series Discs 22, 23+, 24 & 25 Neil Young Released: 2023-07-28

Disc 2 - Ragged Glory - Smell The Horse Track 6

Farmer John (version 2 of 5)
Session Date:February 17, 1991
Studio:Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Produced by:Neil Young, David Briggs & Billy Talbot
Recording type:Live
Mono/Stereo:stereo
Length:4:58
Musicians:Neil Young: vocals, guitar Frank "Poncho" Sampedro: guitar, vocals Billy Talbot: bass, vocals Ralph Molina: drums, vocals
Available on:
Weld Neil Young Released: 1991-10-23

Disc Two Track 6

Official Release Series Discs 22, 23+, 24 & 25 Neil Young Released: 2023-07-28

Disc 5 - Weld Track 6

Farmer John (version 3 of 5)
Session Date:November 13, 1990
Studio:The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, California, USA
Produced by:David Briggs and Neil Young
Recording type:Live
Mono/Stereo:stereo
Length:6:03
Musicians:Neil Young - vocals, electric guitar Frank Sampedro - electric guitar, vocals Billy Talbot - bass, vocals Ralph Molina - drums, vocals
Available on:
Way Down In The Rust Bucket Neil Young Released: 2021-02-26

Disc 1 Track 7

Farmer John (version 4 of 5)
Session Date:November 13, 1990
Studio:The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, California, USA
Produced by:David Briggs and Neil Young
Recording type:Live
Mono/Stereo:stereo
Length:6:03
Musicians:Neil Young - vocals, electric guitar Frank Sampedro - electric guitar, vocals Billy Talbot - bass, vocals Ralph Molina - drums, vocals
Available on:
Way Down In The Rust Bucket - DVD Neil Young Released: 2021-02-26

Track 7

Farmer John (version 5 of 5)
Session Date:November 4, 2023
Studio:The Rivoli, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Produced by:Neil Young & Niko Bolas
Recording type:Live
Mono/Stereo:stereo
Length:3:51
Musicians:Neil Young: electric guitar, vocal Billy Talbot: bass, vocal Ralph Molina: drums, vocal Micah Nelson: piano vocal Nils Lofgren: electric guitar, vocal
Available on:
Fu##in' Up Neil Young Released: 2024-04-26

Side C Track 1

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