American Stars 'n Bars (1977)

The last official album from Neil at the time American Stars ‘n Bars was released would have been Long May You Run. If I was a fan of his at this time and hadn’t seen his 1976 Crazy Horse tour, I’d have been a little worried what this album would hold. That said, of course Neil would sneak what would become one of his most epic signature tunes onto an unassuming follow up. Yes, tucked away towards the end of this country roadhouse of an album is the majestic “Like a Hurricane.” I would have loved to be a fly on the wall of any unsuspecting fan the first time they got to that song after the journey this album takes you on before it. The majority of this album was recorded with Crazy Horse in 1975 at Neil’s Broken Arrow Ranch after the Zuma sessions. As I wondered with many of the outtakes of Zuma, can you imagine if that album had “Like a Hurricane” on it in addition to “Cortez the Killer.” The amount of incredible songs bursting from Neil at this time still astounds me.

The first side of American Stars ‘n Bars was cut in a single day at the ranch. With Ben Keith and Crazy Horse being supplemented by Carole Mayedo on violin and backing vocals from Linda Ronstadt and Nicolette Larson. The second side is an assortment of songs from various recording sessions. Surprisingly it all works pretty well together. At some point before it was released, Neil also assembled a different album called Chrome Dreams, that contained some of the songs on that second side. From what I can tell, Chrome Dreams was assembled to be released late in 1976 when the retrospective Decade was delayed. However, before that could happen, Neil switched it to American Stars ‘n Bars in the ensuing few months as he kept recording.

“Originally the concept was to have two sides on the album,” Young said when asked to explain the changes. “One was going to be American history and the other was going to be social comment. The bar culture kind of thing where I was at the time, you know, drunk on my ass in bars. I couldn’t remember the history part, so we left that out.” (quote cited in Neil Young: Stories Behind the Songs 1966-1992 by Nigel Williamson)

During this time, Neil was just continually writing and recording and then assembling albums when the time felt right. Poncho said in Shakey that sometimes he had no idea what songs were going to be released until Neil said he turned in an album. I fully believe this is what makes Neil’s albums so dynamic, full of styles, tempos, instrumentation. Some artists, every song on their albums feel similar and that’s always bugged me. Too much consistency can kill you, and that’s in general what “rust never sleeps” means.

“The Old Country Waltz” kicks things off with Mayedo’s violin and Keith’s pedal steel interplaying to create a stately lament that fits its name very well. Interestingly, Neil would record this a year later during the Hitchhiker session, but tamp it down a bit in a solo piano rendition. With Larson and Ronstadt punching up on the chorus, I like this quite a bit more than that later session (a rarity, given how much I like the Hitchhiker session). Still love that line “The day that the two of us died” as a metaphor for breaking up. “Saddle Up the Palomino” is pure fun, a rollicking country funk. As evidenced by the giggling that kicks it off, it must have been a great time recording it. It’s filled with bizarre lines and high and low moments. When country does it like this, I love it. I wish he hadn’t felt the need to go more traditional on albums like Old Ways, which doesn’t feel as genuine or particularly Neil.

Slowing things down a little, “Hey Babe” is a gentle tune, with lovely harmonies and an easy going spirit. It presages albums like Comes a Time, Harvest Moon, and Silver & Gold. I like it but it’s not something I’d put on a list of great songs. “Hold Back the Tears” is a somewhat well-known song, I think. The thing I can’t get out of my head is that some of the violin melodies sound so similar to what Lucia Micarelli does in parts on this version of “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You” from the TV show Treme. It’s obviously different, but still distracts me. Neil and the band then bring this side down with the somewhat hilarious, but definitely lascivious “Bite the Bullet.” Which is all the more funny knowing that he dubbed this ad hoc group The Bullets. Hearing Larson and Ronstadt belt out the chorus is a joy, as is Neil’s short but vicious solo. April 4, 1975 must have been one hell of a day.

Moving back to 1974, we find a stray Homegrown track with “Star of Bethlehem,” a perfectly nice song but not particularly memorable to me. For me, it works a lot better as an album closer than in the middle here, but it’s nice to hear EmmyLou Harris’ harmony again. After that gentle reentry, we get to perhaps the strangest, most mystical song of Neil’s career. “Will to Love” is a seven minute allegory about a salmon swimming upstairs looking for love. This song has infamously never been recreated and I’m not sure it’s possible. Recorded in front of a roaring fire (pops included) with Neil moving from instrument to instrument in an overdubbing session, it finds a deep chilled out artist working on instinct. There’s a watery quality to his vocal that seems to be from a barely functioning microphone.

How do you follow up a barely coherent but magical solo production about a salmon? With a full bore guitar epic, of course. “Like a Hurricane” is one of those songs that have taken on such a massive presence in Neil’s catalog that there’s no objective way to assess it. Like “Cortez the Killer,” it contains some of Neil’s most memorable guitar playing, and in live performances, it’s a huge moment, a bed of guitar and synth that pushes crowds into a frenzy. The way Neil’s vocal floats over the music is a key piece of it, with Poncho’s Stringman synthesizer giving the song a critically important symphonic bedrock. Neil struggled with the song until Poncho started fiddling with that one time. It unlocked the right sound for creating this literally stormy sounding song. Likewise, Neil figures out a way to make this guitar sound like it’s actually arcing electricity in places.

There are a couple versions of “Homegrown” floating around and I like this one better than the actual Homegrown album version. As I said in that examination, Crazy Horse seems to give it the the right shambling vibe the song needs. This rendition sounds like the entire beginning collapses together and somehow stands back up. Then the song falls back down again in a heap at the end. It cracks me up and honestly, that’s the vibe of this album. A little ramshackle, a little slapstick, torn apart and glued back together into something resembling a good time. People don’t talk about this album that much, but it deserves a lot more praise for being a joy to listen to from start to finish.

Top 3:

1. Like a Hurricane
2. The Old Country Waltz
3. Saddle Up the Palomino

Cut song: Star of Bethlehem. Let it live on Homegrown.

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