Notes: |
For a lenghy, track-by-track discussion of the music on "Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy," read the
book "Neil Young: Love to Burn: Thirty Years of Speaking Out, 1966-1996" by
Paul Williams. Hardcover and paperback publisher: Omnibus Press, October
1997. It's out of print, but used copies can still be found.
__________________________________
FROM OLD GREY CAT:
Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy - (Great Dane 9407/ABCD)
disc one: Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing, Birds, Cowgirl in the Sand, Tell
Me Why, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Everybody's Alone, A Man Needs a
Maid/Heart of Gold, Out on the Weekend, Love In Mind, Dance Dance Dance,
Cripple Creek Ferry, L.A., Soldier, Harvest, Sweet Joni, Tonight's the Night
disc two: Pardon My Heart, On the Beach, Traces, Human Highway, Love Art
Blues, Hawaiian Sunrise, Like a Hurricane, Stringman, Evening Coconut, Long
May You Run, Southern Man, Give Me Strength, Comes a Time, Sail Away, Lady
Wingshot, Shots, Downtown
disc three: If You Got Love, Transformer Man, My Boy, Old Ways, Kinda Fonda
Wanda, Gonna Rock Forever, Touch the Night, Amber Jean, Let Your Fingers Do
the Talking, Helpless, Down by the River, Interstate, Grey Riders, Nothing
Is Perfect, Southern Pacific
disc four: Mideast Vacation, Road of Plenty (El Dorado), Computer Age, Bad
News, Ordinary People, Rockin' in the Free World, Winterlong, Silver and
Gold, Campaigner, Homefires, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Mr. Soul,
Separate Ways, Philadelphia
A friend recently read through these reviews and chuckled. "You make me want
to own all of these," she commented. "You're so enthusiastic!" Which is
true; I am nothing if not enthusiastic when it comes to music in general and
Neil Young's music in specific.
With that in mind, Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy is a rich, if frustrating, listening
experience. Released by the Italian Great Dane record label a few years
back, it's a four-disc set that collects various Neil live performances,
spanning from his Springfield days to his Grammy Award show performance of
"Philadelphia" in 1994. Among the many treats: "Sweet Joni," a 1973
piano-based paean to Joni Mitchell apparently only performed once. It's a
fragile song with fragile lyrics, perhaps in keeping with its subject. Other
highlights include several Stills-Young Band run-throughs, especially
"Southern Man" which features some scintillating guitar solos from both
Stills and Young. Say what you will about Stills' songwriting abilities, but
there's no denying his prowess with a six-string. He's one of the best
around--always was, always will be. Other highlights include the unreleased
songs "Everybody's Alone," "Traces," "Love Art Blues," "Give Me Strength,"
"Lady Wingshot," "If You Got Love," "Gonna Rock Forever," "Amber Jean," "Let
Your Fingers Do the Talking," "Grey Riders," "Nothing is Perfect," "Ordinary
People," "Silver and Gold," "Homefires" and "Separate Ways." Add in several
reworked versions of known quantities, such as the Saturday Night Live debut
of "Rockin' in the Free World," "Shots" (performed acoustically from San
Francisco's Boarding House) and "Helpless" (a stunning take from Neil & the
International Harvester's Austin City Limits appearance in 1984) and
"Stringman," recorded in London in 1976, and you have enough for a two-album
set--a great one at that, especially if 20-bit remastering and/or HDCD
technology is employed to clean up the sound.
"To clean up the sound." Hmmm. Therein lies the rub, folks. Thanks to this
collection's breadth--in total, 63 songs taken from upwards of 40
concerts--the sound quality ranges from the near-atrocious to excellent. A
good example of this are the trio of songs ("Traces," "Human Highway," and
"Human Highway") taken from CSNY's 1974 performance at the Coliseum in
Seattle. It sounds like the audio equivalent of sludge--except, of course,
for the harmonies which do come through. Thus, as I said at the outset, this
is a rich, if frustrating, experience. Let's hope that many of its treasured
are found in better form on the Archives when/if that multi-CD set is
released.
One other comment: The accompanying booklet to Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy is
excellent, far surpassing many liner notes to legitimate boxed sets,
featuring a well-written overview of Neil's career as well as a
track-by-track commentary AND complete tour schedule from Neil's 1968/69
solo tour through to his 1993 jaunt with Booker T. & the MGs. While it
doesn't tip the scale as far as the set's rating, it does much of what the
set itself does, collecting many of Neil's comments and observations on many
of his songs.
Despite its sound lapses, until the Archives are released--and possibly even
then--this is a true "essential." (A+) |