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(Credits: Far Out \/ Daryl Hannah \/ Neil Young)<\/p>\n
Fri 19 December 2025 19:25, UK <\/p>\n
Though he\u2019s far more considered as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, Neil Young<\/a>\u2018s prowess as a guitarist should also be regarded as a focal point of his brilliance. Crafting lyrical masterpieces is something Young has always been able to achieve, but his abilities with his instrument should never be discounted. <\/p>\n Famously, Young has always been very mobile in the reasons he loves the guitar. \u201cIt would give you a rather sad view of your future, wouldn\u2019t it? First off, nobody cares if you know how to play scales,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody gives a shit if you have good technique or not. It\u2019s whether you have feelings that you want to express with music, that\u2019s what counts, really. When you are able to express yourself and feel good, then you know why you\u2019re playing.\u201d<\/p>\n Across his catalogue, Young has delivered impressive moments of heavenly guitar<\/a>. \u2018On The Beach\u2019 is a uniquely delicate record, gilded with Young\u2019s six-string prowess, while \u2018Hey Hey, My My\u2019 shows off his more ferocious side. However, \u2018Down By The River\u2019 is perhaps Young\u2019s most impressive piece, with the nine-minute murder ballad reminiscent of the greatest guitarists of the day. Like any true player, Young has never been afraid to share his inspirations and be honest about the influence the guitarists who came before him had on his work. One such man was Bert Jansch.<\/p>\n One of London\u2019s finest folkies, Bert Jansch, traversed the streets of the capital\u2019s coffee houses to become an icon for an entire generation of performers. Providing a melancholy to his music that became synonymous with his sound and a rock scene that leapt out from his songbook, Jansch\u2019s unique folk style, before he became a part of the band Pentangle.<\/p>\n Perhaps gaining his talent through busking \u2013 Jansch once allegedly busked his way from Morrocco back into Europe \u2013 the guitarist rarely dabbled with the electrified version of the instrument. Despite being gifted with the banjo, Appalachian dulcimer, recorder and concertina, Jansch\u2019s love of the acoustic guitar would stay with him forever and provide a blueprint for a generation of players to hail his genius, including the likes of Joan Armatrading<\/a>, Jimmy Page and Johnny Marr.<\/p>\n Like any truly gifted musician of the decade, Jansch was, soon enough, a huge influence on the world of rock. His idiosyncratic sonic structures would not stay singular for too long, and soon enough, he was influencing some of the rock world\u2019s finest guitarists. Neil Young is one performer Jansch clearly influenced with his playing, and he took the gifted musician on tour in 2010. But, a few decades earlier, he made a bolder claim of his preference for the guitarist.<\/p>\n \u201cBert Jansch is on the same level as Jimi Hendrix,\u201d shared Young in 1992, making a seriously strong statement. \u201cThat first record of his is epic. It came from England, and I was especially taken by \u2018The Needle of Death,\u2019 such a beautiful and angry song. That guy was so good\u2026 And years later, on On the Beach, I wrote the melody of \u2018Ambulance Blues\u2019<\/a> by styling the guitar part completely on \u2018Needle of Death\u2019. I wasn\u2019t even aware of it, and someone else drew my attention to it.\u201d<\/p>\n