Neil Young puts new twist on old ballads
AMERICANA Neil Young & Crazy Horse ( Reprise)
Let those who think She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain shouldn’t sound like Hey Hey, My My ( Into the Black) speak now or forever hold their peace. The marriage of the campfire classic — titled Jesus’ Chariot here — and Neil Young’s reliable sonic overdrive with Crazy Horse brings sinister reality to the song’s end- of- days lyrics.
Oh Susanna, Clementine ( better known as Oh My Darling Clementine) and Tom Dula ( best remembered as the folk standard Tom Dooley) are among the other ancient singalongs given the Crazy Horse makeover on Young’s first album with his long- standing backup band since 2003. Which is to say the remakes retain the lyrics and little else. Basing a few of the arrangements on versions worked out by Young’s early-’ 60s band the Squires, Young and his favourite bashers throttle these centuriesold songs within an inch of their lives.
Young’s definition of Americana — perhaps because he’s Canadian — is broader than one might expect. In his version of history, the doo- wop masterpiece Get a Job by The Silhouettes ( faithful to the original), Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land and Billy Grammer’s catchy country chestnut Gotta Travel On ( simply Travel On here), while not traditional, belong in this public- domain company.
And why not? Those songs might be of more recent vintage, but they’re about unemployment, class distinction and the flight from justice. And they also feel as if they’ve always been around. Most importantly, they fit right in with the rest of the darker subject matter, like murders, hangings and Biblical apocalypse. Even God Save the Queen ( no, not The Sex Pistols favourite) concludes the album with a deafening piece of history that feels natural, while Young sneaks in some of My Country ‘ Tis of Thee.
By plugging in and resurrecting these evergreens from the museum, Young and the Horse present a case for their continued relevance: do despair, fear and alienation ever go out of style? And Crazy Horse, with all its sloppy intensity, sounds like the right band to update these songs ( although drummer Ralph Molina, surely one of rock’s luckiest men, simply whacks his way along — barely holding on, as usual). A few songs overstay their welcome ( the Horse will do that), but there’s little trimming needed on this affectionate and offbeat tribute to American music through the ages.