Neil Young Covers Series Heart Of Gold Adds MJ Lenderman, Kurt Vile, Ben Gibbard, & More: Hear King Princess & Draco Rosa’s Tracks

Neil Young deserves more than one tribute album. He has written too many great songs and made too much of an impact, and one compilations of Neil Young covers won't do the trick, no matter how impressive it may be. Last year's Heart Of Gold: The Songs Of Neil Young Volume I featured people like Fiona Apple and Eddie Vedder taking on Young's songs. The "Volume I" part of that title was key. Today, the series announces two more installments, with many more covers.The next two installments in the Heart Of Gold series, Vol. 2 - Out Of The Blue and Vol. 3 - Into The Black, are both coming out this fall. On these compilations, a great many more Neil Young admirers will appear, including MJ Lenderman, Kurt Vile, Ben Gibbard, My Morning Jacket, Lucinda Williams, Los Lobos, Jesse Malin, Devendra Banhart, and Modest Mouse with Califone. Once again, all proceeds from the compilations will go to Young's Bridge School. Today, we get two new singles from those comps. The ascendant alt-pop star King Princess takes on "Helpless," which Young wrote for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 1970 album Déjà Vu and which he performed in The Last Waltz. In a press release, King Princess says:It felt kismet that they asked me to do "Helpless." It’s my mom and my favorite Neil Young song; I can hear her singing it in the car on our way upstate. As far as the recording process, Brad Oberhofer and I decided to take it on together at my dad’s studio (recorded by my dad himself). We tried to record it as simply and intimately as the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young version. Brad played guitar, and I played drums and keys. We did it as a one take, off click, and the rest we just built together as a two-man band. The only thing we changed was just making it longer. My only complaint about the original is that it’s too short. I want moreMeanwhile, Draco Rosa, the former Menudo member who became a rootsy folk musician, contributes his slow, grave version of "After The Gold Rush," the deathlessly haunting title track from Young's 1970 solo album. (Neil Young did a lot of things in 1970.) Below, check out the two compilations' tracklists and the King Princess and Draco Rosa covers.TRACKLISTS:Heart Of Gold: The Songs Of Neil Young, Vol. 2 - Out Of The Blue:01 My Morning Jacket - “Like A Hurricane” (feat. the Preservation Hall Jazz Band)02 Ann Wilson - “Walk With Me”03 Draco Rosa - “After The Gold Rush”04 Peter Frampton & John Jorgenson - “Heart of Gold” (feat. Jay Dee Maness, Herb Pedersen, Steve Duncan, & Mark Fain)05 Lucinda Williams - “Don’t Be Denied”0606 Los Lobos - “Cinnamon Girl” 07 Edie Brickell - “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”08 Tyler Ballgame - “Tell Me Why09 Sharlotte Gibson - “Ohio”10 Jesse Malin - “Pocahontas"11 Southside Johnny & Bobby Bandiera - “Rockin’ In The Free World”12 Dramarama - “Kinda Fonda Wanda”Heart Of Gold: The Songs Of Neil Young, Vol. 3 - Into The Black:01 Briston Maroney - “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)"02 LP - “Harvest Moon” 03 King Princess - “Helpless” 04 Modest Mouse - “Barstool Blues” (feat. Califone)05 Ben Gibbard - “Don’t Cry No Tears”06 MJ Lenderman - “Separate Ways”07 Cold War Kids - “Tonight’s The Night"08 Kurt Vile And The Violators - “When Your Lonely Heart Breaks” 09 Devendra Banhart - “Pardon My Heart”10 Emily Hackett - “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”11 RAC - “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” (feat. Kelcey Ayer)12 New Constellations - “Unknown Legend"Heart Of Gold: The Songs Of Neil Young, Vol. 2 - Out Of The Blue and Heart Of Gold: The Songs Of Neil Young, Vol. 3 - Into The Black are out 11/6. Pre-order them here. Check out our 2025 feature where 80 artists picked their favorite Neil Young songs.