Difficult times with his record label and a seeming lack of interest in music stifled Neil Young in the 1980s. A decade of being told what to do and doing anything but that. It means there are some patchy spots in a ten-year run of protesting Geffen Records, though it would improve towards the end. Landing on Water and Life, while far from the promise of the incredible run of releases in the 1970s, are solid works. This Note’s for You would be the first album Young recorded for the revived Reprise Records. This Note’s for You would provide a short road back to the all-time great quality for Young. It was a period of malaise, but for the dedicated Young listener, these songs are of definite interest. Born from a blues break on shows throughout 1987, adapting the volatility of the crowd to a tight, forty-minute album is what Young and The Bluetones manage here.
A dangerous time to make a blues album, given the experimental edge Young had been trialling just five years earlier, but it’s nice to hear it all the same. His Ten Men Workin’ opener is a bit of a rough one, though it has the charm and spirit of blending blues with his unique vocal style. He is here to hammer the blues. That is what Young and The Bluetones make abundantly clear on this opening song. It’s a solid jam, though the “oohs,” and “aahs,” which feature throughout are unconvincing of the mood Young and The Bluetones are trying to create. But it’s just a dud start, they pick it up well with the title track. A song which lends itself to the rougher sound Young would begin to dig into on Freedom, This Note’s for You has a vicious instrumental line and a stinging few lyrics. Are they aimed at Geffen Records? They may as well be, as Young takes swipes at those who made him look like a joke.
This Note’s for You evolves into a denouncement of taking money for endorsement, political or otherwise. It extends further with Coup de Ville, a staggering song which truly engages those blues roots. This Note’s for You is a satisfying mix of light and breezy blues numbers with a more concerned, provocative twist on a few songs. Twilight is a bruised piece of work, a hearty effort where sparse instrumentals, the improvisation of electric guitar, is the lead draw. Domesticity begins to linger on This Note’s for You, with Married Man and Can’t Believe You’re Lyin’ reflecting the highs and lows of life with another. It’s a tricky line Young walks, having to derive deeper meaning from his life for the sake of blues fundamentals, but also innovating as he does. Difficult, definitely. But doable. Young comes through with a solid collection of blues efforts.
Much of This Note’s for You is Young scrambling for some primitive but positive lines. Hey Hey is the instrumental styling which would serve him well on follow-up album, Freedom, but the lyrics are far from his greatest. Repetitive but reliable efforts the whole way through. He’s not setting the world on fire with This Note’s for You, nor should he be expected to. Young was still reeling from his days at Geffen Records but you can barely hear that. Ironically, the real blues he could have drawn from at the time are nowhere to be found. What comes through is a celebration through a form usually reserved for the crises of life. A still solid release from Young, though, whose more-than-capable collection of instrumentalists and ear for lush studio details serves him well here.
