NEIL YOUNG

NEIL YOUNG
AMERICAN STARS 'N BARS (1977)
REMASTER
320 KBPS

OK, "Like A Hurricane" and "Star Of Bethlehem" have been available on CD for years ("Decade"), and "American Stars & Bars" is sort of a Frankenstein effort, combining material from the aborted "Homegrown" album and featuring a mish-mash of Crazy Horse & Stray Gators with Emmylou, Linda and Nicolette thrown in. However, forget all that. The three essential "Lost CD Tracks" are: 1). "Hey Babe"...Nice easygoing Neil that would have sounded perfectly at home on the "Comes A Time" album, 2). "Bite The Bullet"...He must have been channeling BB King when he recorded the solo on this, because it is atypical of his "spray the air with random notes and feedback for ten minutes" style: brief (30 seconds or so), precise, and it stings like a big ol' mother bee. Plenty of bad attitude whammy bar vibrato being squeezed out of his beloved "Old Black" on this one, folks. Nicolette (and particularly Linda) shout / chant "Bite The Bullet" like a crazed mantra as Neil and the band slash and burn through three and a half minutes of the toughest, loudest, cleanest music he's ever recorded. EVER. Listen to it and you'll know why some people use the words "Neil Young" and "Lou Reed" in the same sentence. Finally, 3). "Hold Back The Tears"...which backs off a bit in intensity from "Bullet" but still features many of the dynamics that make that track great (Linda and Nicolette, and a memorable chorus). Legendary stuff that still smolders 26 years later.

1. Old Country Waltz
2. Saddle Up the Palomino
3. Hey Babe
4. Hold Back the Tears
5. Bite the Bullet
6. Star of Bethlehem
7. Will to Love
8. Like a Hurricane
9. Homegrown