Neil Young: Lost country 'Treasure' unearthed

Neil Young

and the International Harvesters,

'A Treasure' (Reprise)

In 1984-85, Neil Young toured with a hand-picked all-star country band, the International Harvesters, featuring pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith, Cajun fiddler Rufus Thibodeaux, pianist Spooner Oldham and a passel of other country-music studio legends. Twenty-five years later, a selection of recordings from the tour (including five never- released songs) is a crisp snapshot of a lost moment.

Alternating between a semi-acoustic sound and raucous, muscular country rock, the band locks in with Young's famously deliberate delivery and unusual tempos, which rival Thelonious Monk's for their in-between-normal speeds.

Highlights include the sweet country fiddling and winsome mood of "It Might Have Been"; the perfectly crafted ballad storytelling of "Bound For Glory"; the more space-rockish, echoed-up "Flying On the Ground Is Wrong"; and the grand romance of a train song, "Southern Pacific." Of the unreleased material, only "Nothing Is Perfect," a gospel waltz with a tender hook, seems to have languished unjustifiably.

Paul de Barros, Seattle Times arts writer

Other new releases

Original cast, "Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark" (Interscope)

Jackie Evancho, "Dream With Me" (Sony)

Various Artists, "Now That's What I Call Country" (Universal)