American Stars 'n Bars

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American Stars 'n Bars
Studio album by Neil Young
Released	May 24, 1977 (1977-05-24)
Recorded	Recorded at Quadrafonic, Nashville; Wally Heider Recoding Studios, Hollywood; Broken Arrow Ranch, Redwood City, CA, and Indigo Recording Studio, Malibu, Dec. 13, 1974-Apr. 4, 1977
Genre	Folk rock, Country rock, Hard rock
Length	37:54
Label	Reprise and Warner Bros. Records
Producer	Neil Young & David Briggs with Tim Mulligan, Elliot Mazer
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B+) link Pitchfork Media (8.3/10) link Rolling Stone (not rated) link
Neil Young chronology
Long May You Run (Stills-Young Band, 1976) American Stars 'n Bars (1977) Decade (1977)

American Stars 'n Bars is a 1977 rock album by Neil Young, the most popular track being "Like a Hurricane". The album was produced by Neil Young and David Briggs with Tim Mulligan except "Star of Bethlehem" by Elliot Mazer. The album cover was designed by Young's friend, actor Dean Stockwell, and features Connie Moskos keeled over with a bottle of Canadian whiskey in her hand and an intoxicated Young with his face pressed against the glass floor.

According to writer William Ruhlmann, "Neil Young made a point of listing the recording dates of the songs on American Stars 'n Bars; the dates even appeared on the LP labels. They revealed that the songs had been cut at four different sessions dating back to 1974. But even without such documentation, it would have been easy to tell that the album was a stylistic hodgepodge, its first side consisting of country-tinged material featuring steel guitar and fiddle, plus backup vocals from Linda Ronstadt and the then-unknown Nicolette Larson, while the four songs on the second side varied from acoustic solo numbers like "Will to Love" to raging rockers such as "Like a Hurricane." "Will to Love" is a particularly spooky and ambitious piece, extending the romantic metaphor of a salmon swimming upstream across seven minutes. The album's centerpiece, however, is "Like a Hurricane," one of Young's classic hard rock songs and guitar workouts, and a perpetual concert favorite.

"Star of Bethlehem" was originally intended to be released as part of Homegrown, as was an earlier version of the song "Homegrown."

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Side One 1.2 Side Two 2 Recording sessions & personnel 2.1 November 1974 2.2 November 1975 2.3 May 1976 2.4 April 1977 3 References

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Neil Young, except as indicated.

[edit] Side One

1. "The Old Country Waltz" – 2:58
2. "Saddle Up the Palomino" (Neil Young, Tim Drummond, Bobby Charles)– 3:00
3. "Hey Babe" – 3:35
4. "Hold Back the Tears" – 4:18
5. "Bite the Bullet" – 3:30

[edit] Side Two

1. "Star of Bethlehem" – 2:42
2. "Will to Love" – 7:11
3. "Like a Hurricane" – 8:20
4. "Homegrown" – 2:20

[edit] Recording sessions & personnel

[edit] November 1974

• "Star of Bethlehem"
  • Neil Young - acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocal
  • Emmylou Harris - vocal
  • Ben Keith - dobro, vocal
  • Tim Drummond - bass
  • Karl T. Himmel - drums

[edit] November 1975

• "Like a Hurricane" & "Homegrown"
  • Neil Young & Crazy Horse:
    • Neil Young - lead guitar, vocals
    • Frank "Poncho" Sampedro - rhythm guitar
    • Billy Talbot - bass, vocal
    • Ralph Molina - drums, vocal

[edit] May 1976

• "Will to Love"
  • Neil Young - all instruments, vocals

[edit] April 1977

• "The Old Country Waltz", "Saddle Up the Palomino", "Hey Babe", "Hold Back the Tears" & "Bite the Bullet"
  • Neil Young, Crazy Horse & the Bullets:
    • Neil Young - acoustic & electric guitar, vocals
    • Frank "Poncho" Sampedro - acoustic & electric guitar
    • Billy Talbot - bass
    • Ralph Molina - drums
    • Ben Keith - pedal steel guitar
    • Carole Mayedo - violin
    • Linda Ronstadt - vocal
    • Nicolette Larson - vocal

[edit] References

Ruhlmann, William. American Stars 'n Bars, Music Guide Accessed 25 December 2005.

v • d • e Neil Young Crazy Horse • The Stray Gators Discography Studio albums: Neil Young • Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere • After the Gold Rush • Harvest • On the Beach • Tonight's the Night • Zuma • American Stars 'N Bars • Comes a Time • Rust Never Sleeps • Hawks & Doves • Re-ac-tor • Trans • Everybody's Rockin' • Old Ways • Landing on Water • Life • This Note's for You • Freedom • Ragged Glory • Harvest Moon • Sleeps with Angels • Mirror Ball • Broken Arrow • Silver & Gold • Are You Passionate? • Greendale • Prairie Wind • Living with War • Living with War: In the Beginning • Chrome Dreams II EPs: Eldorado Live albums: Time Fades Away • Live Rust • Weld • Arc • Unplugged • Year of the Horse • Road Rock Vol. 1 Soundtracks: Journey Through the Past • Where the Buffalo Roam • Philadelphia • Dead Man Compilations: Decade • Lucky Thirteen • Greatest Hits Archive Series: Live at the Fillmore East • Live at Massey Hall 1971 • The Archives Vol.01 1963-1972 Unreleased albums: Homegrown • Human Highway • Chrome Dreams Also see Buffalo Springfield • Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young) • The Stills-Young Band