The album is stupid successful, topping the charts in the UK and US. Critics don’t handle it well. John Mendelsohn wrote in his Rolling Stone review: “He’s seemingly lost sight of what once made his music uniquely compelling and evocative and become just another pretty-singing solo superstar.” In 2003, smarter heads prevail and the magazine puts Harvest at #78 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Critics be damned … it’s a classic.

But maybe Mendelsohn was on to something. In 1977, Shakey included this in the liner notes to his Decade compilation album:

Heart Of Gold’ put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride, but I saw more interesting people there.

Shakey