Neil Young, Friends & Relatives: Road Rock Vol. 1

Neil Young's live sets warrant documentation, but Young's relentless tour schedule and recent habit of releasing a ramshackle live album every few years still seems excessive. Unlike fellow post-folk firebrand Bob Dylan, Young doesn't really radically alter the arrangements of his songs. Generally speaking, they differ only in terms of length, and on that front, the new Road Rock ups the ante. The disc, drawn from two September 2000 concerts, begins with a shambling "Cowgirl In The Sand" that runs for nearly 20 indelible minutes. A harrowing 10-minute "Tonight's The Night" and seven-minute "All Along The Watchtower" lend the disc even more heft. The newsworthy factor here is that, for this tour, Young was backed by some of the most respected players in rock 'n' roll: Ben Keith on pedal steel, soul songwriter Spooner Oldham on keyboards, Booker T. & The MGs and Stax house bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, and redoubtable session drummer Jim Keltner, along with wife Pegi, sister Astrid, and (on one track) opening act Chrissie Hynde. It's no small achievement that Young makes these seasoned vets sound like a loose bar band, reveling in sloppiness and barely held together by his searing guitar work. Even more surprising, though the disc includes one unreleased song, "Fool For Your Love," it ignores Young's pleasant but weak Silver & Gold, making Road Rock superfluous as a souvenir. Instead, Young fans can settle for rare performances of songs such as "Walk On," "Motorcycle Mama," and an 11-minute "Words," stirring proof that even Young's less familiar material frequently works great in a live setting.