Page 28 - the NOISE June 2012

REVIEW’D
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Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Americana
Reprise
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Well, shave my teeth and call me Henry. I was NOT prepared for this.
I was planning on using this review to pig- gyback a diatribe about how Neil Young rips off his loyal fans (because he does), but that’s going to have to wait because Americana is one of those albums that makes it (almost) OK.
On paper, it sounds ridiculous. “Clemen- tine”? “Oh Susanna”? “She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain”? What is this, Happy Fun Time Singalong With Neil? Who’s his creative con- sultant, Barney The Dinosaur?
I forgot who was along on this ride. I could MAYBE picture Neil hanging with Big Bird and Kermit and the gang, but Crazy Horse? No way. Those kids would take one look at Billy, Ralph and Poncho and start whimper- ing for their mommies (although I bet the band is tight with Oscar The Grouch).
Americana is as crunchy as re.ac.tor, as tri- umphant as Ragged Glory, as weird as Life, as funereal as Tonight’s The Night, as sad as Sleeps With Angels, as stompin’ as Zuma, as radical as Greendale, as tuneful as Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, as eclectic as Broken Arrow, and as timeless as Rust Never Sleeps. It’s got “instant classic” written all over it.
Neil recasts several of these familiar melo- dies as minor-key dirges for his band to tread all over and scuff up. Neil bases his “Oh Su- sanna” on a 1963 arrangement by The Big 3, a group which included banjoist Tim Rose and the brass pipes of (Mama) Cass Elliot. Listen to The Big 3’s “Oh Susanna” followed by The Shocking Blue’s “Venus” and prepare for your head to explode.
This is a dark, dark record. Let’s see ... “Way- faring Stranger” is about death, “Gallows Pole” is about death, “Tom Dula (Dooley)” is about death, “Clementine” is about ... death,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
and did you know “She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain” is about the freakin’ APOCA- LYPSE? No sh*t. You haven’t heard true men- ace until you hear Neil growl: “Oh, we’ll kill the big red rooster when she comes!” Gave me an honest-to-God chill.
Americana isn’t all doom and gloom. “Travel On” and “High Flying Bird” (recorded by Jefferson Airplane, Richie Havens, and gravel-voiced folk weirdo Judy Henske) are countryish delights, and Crazy Horse gets to sha-na-na and dip-dip-dip their way through The Silhouettes’“Get A Job”, which recalls the boozy first-take vibe of “Farmer John” from Ragged Glory. It might just be the funniest
thing Neil’s ever waxed.
Crazy Horse DID start out as a doo-wop
group, and along with Pegi (Mrs. Neil), the boys get to bellow and yell on nearly every song, making Americana the most commu- nal-sounding Horse LP since ... ?
Only an idiot would mess with the words or tune of “This Land Is Your Land” and Neil’s mama didn’t raise no fool. The song is treat- ed with the proper (ir)reverence, and Neil gets to sing some of Woody’s more “unpopu- lar” verses.
Speaking of unpopularity, it wouldn’t be a Neil Young album without a little something to piss people off, and this one’s a hum- dinger. Only Neil would cap off an LP called Americana with a rousing unironic march through ... “God Save The Queen.” God Save The QUEEN? What kind of Commie horsesh*t is this?
No, it’s not the Sex Pistols’ version (I wish), but the patriotic co-national anthem of the Great White North which our hero, still a Canadian citizen, probably sang as a boy in school. Neil’s signature overdriven guitar tone fits the melody beautifully and he does throw in a stanza of “My Country Tis Of Thee” as sop to us Yanks. In the end, “God Save The Queen” serves as a reminder that Canada is indeed part of the North American continent, and thus qualifies as Americana.
Congratulations Neil, you pulled another milestone out of your ass. Way to stay rele- vant at 66. You’ve been spared my righteous wrath for another month, at least.
— Tony BallZ
28 • JULY 2012 • the NOISE arts & news magazine • thenoise.us