Neil Young, Friends, and Relatives
Road Rock, Vol. 1
File Under: Dusty trails

by Russell Hall

There are legions of Neil Young fans who insist that in order to fully appreciate the legendary songwriter, you have to experience his music in a live setting. That may be true, but the gulf between seeing Young live and hearing him live has always been problematic on his concert recordings. A riveting performer, Young is one of the few artists capable of holding an audience transfixed with a guitar solo that might run upward of 10 minutes. Sans the visuals, however, such workouts can at times become tedious.

A memento of his recent "Music in Head" tour, Road Rock, Vol. 1 finds Young reaching far back into his catalog for some familiar classics and a few well-chosen nuggets. After kicking off with an overlong (as in 18-minute) version of 1969's Cowgirl in the Sand, the band settles into a relaxed vibe that zigzags between jaunty, incendiary, and poignant. Particularly effective is the acoustic guitar-driven Peace of Mind (from 1978's Comes a Time) and a never-before-released swing ballad (Fool for Your Love) that's burnished with light sprays of distortion. The swaggering crowd-pleaser Motorcycle Mama fares similarly well, but despite gamely rendered vocal assistance from Chrissie Hynde, Young's cover of Dylan's All Along the Watchtower comes off as so much aural bluster.

Pitching in on Road Rock are such longstanding Young cohorts as Spooner Oldham (keyboards), Jim Keltner (drums), and Ben Keith (guitars), but such is the CD's murky sound that the contributions of all are rendered a bit flat. Moreover, although the collection clocks in at 65 minutes, the performance feels truncated and lacks thematic unity. Purportedly, the DVD video and audio versions of the disc will feature more than 20 tracks, thereby fleshing out the proceedings into a full-fledged concert. Meanwhile, Road Rock, Vol. 1 has the flavor of a sample platter.