American Stars 'n Bars [Enhanced, Original recording remastered]

"American Stars 'N Bars" is a foster home for wayward songs, the forgettable and truly stupid taking up residence with the occasional gem. After a Carolina vixen makes the good ol' boys drool in "Bight the Bullet," a number Young must have stolen from his cousin Angus, the keepers finally get their due. "Star of Bethlehem" is a fine ballad that features the peerless harmonizing of Emmylou Harris. A recording curiosity that Young strummed to life next to some crackling logs, "Will to Love" follows the upstream journey of an amorous "harpoon dodger." With vibes the song drifts into David Bowie waters - you almost expect the lyric "Ocean control to Major Fish." The tune is dopey and beautiful. "Homegrown" is just dopey. Its advocacy of family farming aside, the crunchy, economic riffage sounds pretty good after the tedious sprawl of "Like a Hurricane." And as for the cover, well in this case it's a good fit, a pug ugly thing designed by Dean Stockwell with a passed out floozy still gripping her tipple.

For the longest time, I did not add Neil Young's "American Stars 'N Bars" to my CD collection, because I had read and heard so much intense critcism of this album. But, I found a copy at my local 'used CD' store around the corner and decided to take a chance on this so called "oddities" album. Instantly, I fell in love with this crazy-quilt of both acoustic and electric music. I seem to love this CD for the very reasons that others disparage it. Yes, I know it's disparate, hodge-podge of songs. But, it's also raw and alive and seems to have a goofy, not-to-serious charm of it's own. On this album, Neil is no longer in the "middle of the road" ("Harvest"), but he isn't in the now infamously quoted "ditch" either ("Tonight's the Night", "On the Beach"). Young is sort of doing a balancing act in the middle, creating an album thats' sort of a warped, Frankenstein-like version of his classic, "Harvest". But it's a Frankenstein, that can tap it's toes and sort of dance. I love songs like the rustic "The Old Country Waltz" or the pulp Western tale, "Saddle Up the Palimono". I in particular, like the contributions of singers Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris & Nicolette larson. They really work well with Young giving, that perfect '70s era country-rock feeling (especially Harris, who shines on "Star of Bethlehem"). According to one tale I've heard, the ladies thought they were just doing some 'practice, run throughs' of the songs. Much to their chagrin, they later learned that Neil was using these sessions as the final takes, hence the raw feeling of the songs.The electric portions of the CD are wonderful as well. "Like a Hurricane" is of course a classic and Young has played this long & Winding song for many years in his concert repertoire. I love the song's lyrical imagery and to be blunt, the guitar soloing just kicks some rock n' roll (...)! One of my favorites on this CD is the final track, "Homegrown", a funny little ode to small farms or the joys of harvesting 'weed' (you can take your choice). It's a bouncy tune that totally gives me a case of the giggles. No, "American Stars 'N Bars" is never going to be in the cannon of the "Great, Neil Young Albums". All I can say is I don't think it deserves it's bad rep. I liked it and highly recommend it!

The late 60s to late 70s were a particularly strong 10 years for America's premiere singer/songwriter, Neil Young. He churned out classics disks like "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", "Harvest", "Tonight's The Night" and "After The Gold Rush". Somewhere in there was this album, "American Stars N Bars", which doesn't quite hold up to the others, but is still powerful, in its own right.

"Like A Hurricane" is an ass-kicker of a rocker. I'm not a musician, but it seems to be set to a 3/4 waltz time, which is uncommon for a blistering tune like this. "Will to Love" and "Star of Bethlehem" are gorgeous, sensitive melodies, which are among Young's best. It's the clanker tunes that cost "American Stars N Bars" the fifth star. "Saddle Up the Palomino", "Old Country Waltz" and "Homegrown" are real throwaway tunes that don't belong on any album. Still, this album is worth a listen.