Set Lists

American Stars 'N Bars

American Stars and Bars is a mixture of songs recorded at various times. In short, most of the material isn't very good. The cd gives musician credits by track. The first five have the same band and include vocal backing by Linda Ronstadt and Nicolette Larson. Of the songs, they take a country tone, with the last being electric and the others acoustic oriented. Track two, "The Old Country Waltz" offers a pretty good mood, while "Hey Babe" is too much like "Tell Me Why" from Young's 1970 classic After the Gold Rush. The six song, "Star of Bethlehem" includes Emmylou Harris on background vocals. While the logic of keeping the first five songs together because of personnel, the flow from track "Bite the Bullet" to "Star of Bethlehem" is poor. After, are a few long tracks, "Will to Love" is a solo acoustic piece that drags on for over seven minutes. The mood shifts to electric music for the classic "Like a Hurricane."

The two keepers on American Stars and Bars are "Like a Hurricane" and "Star of Bethlehem" both which are included in the still relevant compilation, Decade. You can download the key tracks at iTunes.

by Barry Small © 

Order: CD 

1. The Old Country Waltz
2. Saddle Up Palomino
3. Hey Babe 
4. Hold Back The Tears
5. Bite The Bullet 
6. Star Of Bethlehem
7. Will To Love 
8. Like A Hurricane 
9. Homegrown