Remember When: Neil Young Was Sued by His Label for Not Being Commercial Enough

On December 1, 1983, Neil Young was sued by his then-label Geffen Records for not sounding commercial enough. After leaving Reprise Records, Young released two new albums with the label, but they didn’t go over well with founder David Geffen.

After switching labels, Young veered away from his more traditional sound with his first Geffen release, the synth-driven Trans in 1983. When the label asked him to make a classic rock and roll Neil Young album for his next release, he offered up a country album, which they rejected.

In its place, Young switched the genre gears once again with Everybody’s Rockin’, a throwback album to 1950s rockabilly, which he recorded with a made-up band, the Shocking Pinks.

“They told me they wanted me to play rock and roll, and told me I didn’t sound like Neil Young,” said Young in 2011. “So I gave them ‘Everybody’s Rockin’ and said, ‘This is a rock and roll album by Neil Young after someone tells him what to do. This is exactly what you said you wanted.’”

After the release of Everybody’s Rockin’, which failed to break the top 40 on the Billboard chart, Geffen filed a $3.3 million lawsuit against Young, claiming he had violated his contract, and that the albums he recorded were “musically uncharacteristic of [his] previous recordings.” In other words, Neil Young didn’t make “Neil Young” music.

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“The truth is, I fought with him [Young] because I wanted him to do better work,” said Geffen in 2012. ”I was taking too much of a fatherly role in his life.” 

In response to the lawsuit, Young countersued the label for $21 million and claimed that his contract allowed him complete artistic freedom.

Back to Reprise

The suit was eventually settled, and Geffen apologized to Young, who went on to record three more albums with the label—Old Ways (1985), Landing on Water (1986), and Life with Crazy Horse (1987)—before returning back to Reprise (Warner Records) for his 16th album This Note’s for You in 1988.

Young took the entire lawsuit in stride and is still proud of the music he made on Everybody’s Rockin’.

“I really liked it,” said Young of Everybody’s Rockin’. “As long as it’s good music and I’m playing with my friends, I don’t care what genre it is. All my music comes from all music. I’m not country, I’m not rock and roll, I’m just me, and all these things are what I like.”

Photo: Michael-Putland-Hulton / Courtesy of Warner Records