Americana by Neil Young

Neil Young has gotten together with his band Crazy Horse and delivered us very interesting new record, Americana, only it isn't new. It's a bunch of old songs, most of which you will know from childhood sing-a-longs. These are songs that Young has known for most of his life, but he has made them new by changing major cords to minors and giving them the Crazy Horse treatment.

One of the more interesting songs on thee record is "God Save the Queen." As a Canadian, Young grew up a subject of the crown, singing this song at the start of every school day. Something I didn't know was that we turned the tune into "My Country 'Tis of Thee."

There are a couple of really old songs, "Oh Susanna" and "Tom Dula" which were written in the 1800's that sound great. In high school we used to sing "Tom Dula," but substitute the names of our friends, which the teacher never liked. "Jesus' Chariot" is a song I see in a whole new light. I thought it was called "Coming Round the Mountain," turns out it's about really about driving Jesus' chariot and is one of the best songs on the record. The only dud on the record is "Get a Job." This mid-century do-wop song by the Silhouettes, has never been a favorite, but I thought Young might rework it because the lyrics are cool. He didn't and that is a shame.

Ideally we'd have a new Neil Young and Crazy Horse record, but this is the next best thing.