Harvest was recorded in early 1972 primarily at Quadrafonic Sound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, with additional sessions at Barking Hall Studio in London and Neil Young's ranch in Northern California. The album was produced by Elliot Mazer and Neil Young, with Mazer serving as the primary recording engineer. The Nashville sessions featured the Stray Gators as the core backing band, while the London tracks, including A Man Needs a Maid and There's a World, were recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra arranged and conducted by Jack Nitzsche. Young was dealing with a serious back injury during the sessions, which at times required him to record while wearing a back brace, influencing the album's generally subdued and acoustic-oriented sound. Released in February 1972 on Reprise Records, Harvest became the best-selling album of that year in the United States and marked a definitive shift toward the mellow, country-inflected singer-songwriter style that dominated early 1970s popular music.
| Label · Ref | Format | Year | Mastering | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9362-49786-5
XE
Reprise Records
|
Vinyl | 2011 | Chris Bellman | — | ||
|
K 54005
GB
Original
Reprise Records
|
Vinyl | 1972 | Lee Hulko | — | ||
|
NR 44
US
Nautilus Recordings
|
Vinyl | 1982 | Bruce Leek, Richard Donaldson | — | ||
|
517937-2
US
Reprise Records
|
CD | 2009 | Tim Mulligan | — | ||
|
2277-2
XE
Reprise Records
|
CD | 1992 | — | — | ||
|
9362497899
GB
Reprise Records
|
CD | 2009 | Tim Mulligan | — | — | |
|
0093624955887
Reprise Records
|
Digital · Qobuz | 1972 | Lee Hulko | — | — | |
|
093624976349
Reprise Records
|
Vinyl | 2022 | Chris Bellman | — | — | |
|
MS 2032
US
Original
Reprise Records
|
Vinyl | 1972 | Elliot Mazer | — | ||
|
WPCR-13242
JP
Reprise Records
|
CD | 2009 | Tim Mulligan | — | ||
|
2-517937
CA
Reprise Records
|
CD | 2009 | Tim Mulligan | — | ||
|
9362-49789-9
XE
Reprise Records
|
CD | 2009 | Tim Mulligan | — | ||
|
REP 44 131
NL
Reprise Records
|
Vinyl | 1972 | — | — | ||
|
9 48100-9
US
Reprise Records
|
Digital | 2002 | Denny Purcell | — | ||
|
093624881704
US
Reprise Records
|
Vinyl | 2022 | — | — | ||
|
32XD-395
JP
Reprise Records
|
CD | 1986 | — | — | ||
|
2277-2 (244 131)
Reprise Records
|
CD | 1983 | — | — | ||
|
244 131 (2277-2)
Reprise Records
|
CD | 1984 | — | — | ||
|
093624881698
XW
Reprise Records
|
CD | 2022 | — | — | ||
|
CD 2277
CA
Reprise Records
|
CD | 1984 | — | — | ||
|
7599-27239-2
XE
Reprise Records
|
CD | 1990 | — | — | ||
|
0093624881681
Reprise
|
Digital | 1972 | — | — | — | |
|
0093624505761
Reprise
|
Digital | 1992 | — | — | — | |
|
0093624978985
Reprise
|
Digital | 2009 | — | — | — |