Neil Young - American Stars N Bars

For me this is pretty much as great as anything he did in the 70's. There was a poll here on Neil's album, done in two parts. The results from part I of those polls led to me to crown this Neil Young's most overlooked/misunderstood/underrated full blown classic. A truly brilliant album!!

 

Neil cut it at home on a tape deck in front of the fire place, and then he and Briggs transferred the tape to multitrack and did overdubs at a studio, yes.


It's a lovely album, but perhaps the weakest of his career up to then, being one side of rough country rock tunes and the other side older material. Like the later Hawks And Doves.

 

This has always struck me as being a very unified, cohesive album, in spite of the fact that the songs were recorded over the space of 2 or 3 years. Isn’t that what musicians do nowadays so Neil was ahead of the curve!

Funny thing about all those so-called “lesser” songs, Homegrown, Star of Bethlehem, Saddle Up the Palomino, Hey Babe, Old Country Waltz: they will sneak up on you when you aren’t paying attention and hit you on the head with a bottle of beer!

 

It's a great album in his greatest stretch of albums. I love the drunken ganja empty-barroom foggy-redwoods reek of the LP. "Will to Love" and "Hurricane" alone are beyond magnificent....

Also great (in a different way): Hawks & Doves.

 

I've always enjoyed both American Bars N Stars and Hawks & Doves

 

I love it too, that's a pretty apt description... But it stills feels like a "hodgepodge" - 5 quickly written and recorded country rockers that have little to do with the second side of archive material.
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush, Harvest, Time Fades Away, Tonight's The Night and Zuma all hang together better stylistically and are more even in quality. Not counting Long May You Run. Which is of course just an opinion!

 

Hodgepodge is okay with me in this instance.

One of the reasons I can't wait for Archives II is the planned inclusion of several unreleased "lost" albums from this period that may change the way NY's 1970s output looks like in retrospect, including American Stars N Bars. Neil was moving and changing too fast for the record industry to keep up.

 

Yup, Neil was on fire creatively that decade, and couldn't/wouldn't put everything out, especially around the time of Bars, then we have Homegrown etc...

 

Thanks for insight. great stuff.

 

Dvd-a well worth tracking down. Fabulous 5.1.

 

Someone mentioned "Winterlong" belonging on this album. I have to agree... would fit perfectly next to 'Hurricane." Still, a great set of songs as it is.

 

I love this album, played it to death. I love Bite The Bullet with Linda's saturated big voice. Homegrown and Palomino too. They sound like songs recorded in a funky van by a white trash stoned and sexy combo.

 

Of the oral variety, I should think. I'd say the titular "bullet" refers to that certain part of the female anatomy which (sometimes) rhymes with "Dolores."

 

Mulva?

 

I've always thought of this record as Hurricane and Will to Love and filler. A friend theorizes that it was thrown together quickly to get Like A Hurricane on a record prior to Decade.

 

I can still recall the first time I heard Like A Hurricane in the Early 80's, I think -81 and I must have been like 14 yrs of age.
Was listening to Swedish national radio and there was some kind of program were you could send in requests and obviously
someone requested Neil Young and Like A Hurricane. My hair on the arms stood straight up and I thought: Whaaaaat the ... !!!!
I'd only vaguely heard of Neil Young before but I just had to get that song, so I bought the Stars'n Bars LP and played the
Will To Love/Like A Hurricane combo over and over. Now I like all of the record though I can't say I think it's one of his best. Still very good though.
Been a big fan of Neil since that day.

 

Its stereo only !! but well worth tracking down.

 

My bad. I must have used Dolby to simulate 5.1; still sounds great!

 

The version on the album was recorded at his Broken Arrow Ranch studio in November '75. It's not a live recording.

 

It was recorded at Indigo Ranch, on a mountainside above Malibu at night under a full moon. I've read comments from both Young and the studio engineer/owner to the effect that it was one of the most memorable recording moments either had ever been involved in. Not sure if the fire was live or added via an overdub.

 

[QU bOTE="robcar, post: 12226463, member: 31940"]It was recorded at Indigo Ranch, on a mountainside above Malibu at night under a full moon. I've read comments from both Young and the studio engineer/owner to the effect that it was one of the most memorable recording moments either had ever been involved in. Not sure if the fire was live or added via an overdub.[/QUOTE]
The basic track was recorded at Neil's home, the overdubs at Indigo Ranch.

 

Picked it up today on vinyl - soooo good!!!!!

 

I remember how funky and right this sounded when it came out. Reminds me a lot of Everybody Knows in that it inspires you to pick up a Martin guitar for the acoustic stuff and a Les Paul overdriving a tweed Deluxe for the raunch.

Love the bridge on Country Waltz...

Out the window the moon shines on the roofs of the cars while I knock down tequila and salt ...whoa,wo.

Is that how it goes? Been awhile since I spun it but that all changes tomorrow morn. Thanks. Never lose the will to love.

 

Surprisingly raunchy.

 

It's far from his best. Yet! It's far from his worst sure, no argument there. It's just beyond my top ten of favourite Neil albums. Like a Hurricane is killer of course. Will to Love I love very much too. Yes, side 2 in general is far better for me than the country side. Can't wait to hear Homegrown and Chrome Dreams when released finally (or if) with Archives 2. We would see many familiar tracks in a completely different light.