Neil Young - American Stars 'N Bars - Classic Rock - LP
LP

Neil Young - American Stars 'N Bars



Label: Reprise Records - MSK 2261
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Record: VG+ VG++ few light scuffs
Cover: VG+ ringwear, spinewear, cornerwear
Includes Inner Sleeve: VG++
Country: US
Released: 04 Jun 1977
Genre: Rock
Style: Classic Rock


Tracklist

Neil Young, Crazy Horse And The Bullets – The Old Country Waltz 2:58
Neil Young, Crazy Horse And The Bullets – Saddle Up The Palomino 3:00
Neil Young, Crazy Horse And The Bullets – Hey Babe 3:35
Neil Young, Crazy Horse And The Bullets – Hold Back The Tears 4:18
Neil Young, Crazy Horse And The Bullets – Bite The Bullet 3:30



Neil Young And Crazy Horse – Star Of Bethlehem 2:42
Neil Young And Crazy Horse – Will To Love 7:11
Neil Young And Crazy Horse – Like A Hurricane 8:14
Neil Young And Crazy Horse – Homegrown 2:20


Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Frank Sampedro (tracks: A1 to A5)
Artwork By [Cover] – Dean Stockwell
Bass – Billy Talbot (tracks: A1 to A5, B3, B4)
Drums – Ralph Molina (tracks: A1 to A5, B3, B4)
Other [Direction] – Elliot Roberts
Other [Support & Slack] – Mo Ostin
Producer – David Briggs, Neil Young
Producer [With] – Tim Mulligan
Steel Guitar – Ben Keith (tracks: A1 to A5)
Violin – Carole Mayedo (tracks: A1 to A5)
Vocals – Linda Ronstadt (tracks: A1 to A5), Nicolette Larson (tracks: A1 to A5)
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Neil Young (tracks: A1 to A5)
Written-By – Neil Young (tracks: A1, A3 to A5)
Notes
Linda Ronstadt appears courtesy of Asylum Records

Tracks A1 to A5 recorded April 1977
Track B1 recorded November 1974
Track B2 recorded May 1976
Tracks B3 & B4 recorded November 1975

Track A1, A3 to B5 published by Silver Fiddle (BMI)
Track A2 published by Silver Fiddle / Barnyard Productions / Rice & Gravy Music (BMI)



Most hard-core Neil Young fans know that the man usually produces his best work when he's mired in dispair and depression. This was evident on classic gems like "Tonight's the Night" and "On the Beach."
But "American Stars & Bars" shows that the brigther side of Neil can be just as entralling. Cobbled together from a variety of recording sessions in the mid-70s, AS&B features up-tempo countrified songs filled with caustic humor and sly insights into subjects such infidelity. (On "Saddle Up The Palemino," Young sings, 'There's no reward in your conscience, Lord, when your sleepin' with another man's wife...' And notes that 'It's a cold bowl of chili when life lets you down...')

Many of these songs feature outstanding back-up vocals from Linda Ronstadt and Nicolette Larson -- giving the tunes a joyous, raucous feel: this includes the aforemention 'Palemino,' along with the lilting, light-as-air 'Old Country Waltz,' and the jaunty 'Hey Babe.'

The album is not without its rockers: "Bite the Bullet," also featuring Ronstadt and Larson, is a scorching tune, loud and boisterous filled with leering sexual innuendo ('She's Carolina dream, A walkin' love machine, and I like to make her scream, When I - bite the bullet'). AS&B is also the album that gave us the all-time classic epic rocker 'Like a Hurricane.' Clocking in at just under 10 minutes, 'Hurricane' features one of Neil's signature guitar riffs accompanied by dreamy, surreal lyrics about a chance encounter:

"Once I thought I saw you in a crowded hazy bar
Dancing on the lights from star to star..."

However, one of the tracks that really stands out on AS&B the most is the enigmatic acoustic ballad, "Will to Love." Young recorded this one all by himself at his ranch home in central California. You can actually hear the fire in his fireplace crackling away in the background along with an array of odd effects Young dubbed in along the way.

"Will to Love" is one of the few somber songs on AS&B, but it's also the most intriquing. Young sings in a mumblely, otherworldly voice, using the migration of a fish as a metaphor for the perials of searching for human connection and love.

The album, however, ends on a humorous note with "Homegrown," another country/rock ditty, clocking it at an efficient 2 1/2 minutes, where Young extols the virtue of growing your own:

"Homegrown's all right with me
Homegrown is the way it should be
Homegrown -- it's a good thing
Plant that bell and let it ring."

Crazy Horse accompanies Young on many of these tunes, giving the overall album a harder-edged garage feel, saving it from otherwise being swallowed up by its more maudlin aspects.

"American Stars & Bars" is quintessential Neil Young.


Neil Young - Like A Hurricane

live 1978

This shows what he is all about in his solos: Soul. Sure, there is definitely players that are technically better, but not many can match the attitude, emotion, or soul in his solos.





Neil Young - Homegrown live at Farm Aid II


Big guy on the fiddle is Rufus Thibodeaux, a favorite of Neil's. RIP 2005.