Spiralling and unfocused Neil Young may have seemed in the time between Zuma and American Stars ‘n Bars, there appears to be a continuation of his lyrical domination. Abandoning a tour with Stephen Stills to link up with Crazy Horse for a showcase of songs, American Stars ‘n Bars would, on paper, sound scattered. Messy selections from over two years of recording but never quite piecing anything together. A bulk of the Chrome Dreams selection can be heard here – and what a welcome treat it is for those who first caught a listen of Like a Hurricane from that bootleg. There is no suggestion of a dip in form from Young here, who continues with a creative fury, sidling up to contemporary country notes of the time, and making himself comfortable. The Old Country Waltz is the first and most obvious, but there are subtle changes to fall in love with throughout American Stars ‘n Bars.
Where inconsistencies begin to show themselves on the B-Side (how could they not when some of these recordings are from 1974), they only add to the volatility, the thrill of experiencing Young while he was as shifting in his image and elusive as Bob Dylan around this time. Where Saddle up the Palomino may be a tribute to golden horses and the range of open fields heard in Harvest, the follow-up track, Hey Babe, feels relatively plain. But listen in a little closer, let it settle that bit longer, and the heartbreak begins to develop, rapidly so. A tremendously hopeful song where the fears of failure present themselves, rearing themselves like some ugly mutt on the horizon. But there is no avoiding the tensions its appearance provides, and American Stars ‘n Bars relies on Crazy Horse and The Bullets to punctuate those horrors.
They come true on follow-up Hold Back the Tears, a fantastic continuation of grief as a tool for finding a new path. But it is not long before Young and the band are tearing up a storm to counter those pangs of heartbreak, with Bite the Bullet a masterclass in furious writing, frenetic instrumental energies and confident vocal performances. The big three are layered well before the country sound returns on Star of Bethlehem, a slowed and sentimental song. American Stars ‘n Bars finds comfort in a lack of storyline, in a scattered theme. These are the immediate emotional responses to life’s great mysteries and mix-ups. A selection of songs with constant reminders of the past, more because most of this material is a faded memory by the time they are fine-tuned and set for release.
But there is a charm in that style which extends well beyond being a limited prop-up for Hurricane. Will to Love is sparse in its instrumentals and relies almost entirely on the charm and horror Young can slip into so easily. Envious skills aside, the crackling percussion and the soft acoustic style found so suddenly, pushed away just as quickly by Hurricane is part of the charm American Stars ‘n Bars still holds. Those instrumental riffs from Young and Crazy Horse on Hurricane may just be the best piece the group has released. Sneaky recordings of what the band believed to be rehearsals give American Stars ‘n Bars a relaxed and genuine improvisational feel. The pressure is off, tand he players feeling their way towards what the song may mean. That is for Young, and later a listener, to know, and for his collection of exceptional instrumentalists to find out. American Stars ‘n Bars is, as Homegrown points out, the way to be. It sticks to this fundamental, and is an attractive, exceptional release for it.
