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I know something about good songs. One was recorded about me in 1963. Maybe you?Äôve heard it. Maybe you?Äôve heard of me. My friends call me Jack. Back then I was known as Little Jackie. Back then millions of people were interested in my frolicking in the autumn mist with a friend who lived by the sea until our friendship dissolved. Like mist. Like old paper.

Once I grew up I got a job, met a girl, got married, had a few kids. My life has pretty much played out like anyone else?Äôs. I have interests. Some have stayed with me for decades. Some of my friends consider them my obsessions.

Neil Young?Äôs music has been one of those obsessions. Ever since I saw Buffalo Springfield play ?ÄúMr. Soul?Äù on ?ÄúThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,?Äù I was hooked. Lately, though, not so much. Ever since that CD he did with Pearl Jam twelve years ago, I?Äôve been pretty bored with his newer stuff. Maybe I?Äôve just heard what he does too many times. Maybe his painted wings and giant strings made way for other toys. Despite my recent indifference, it hasn?Äôt seemed to cause him to cease his fearless roar. That?Äôs kind of funny, actually, since he has more of a whine than a roar.

His new CD is called ?ÄúChrome Dreams II.?Äù I haven?Äôt heard it and probably won?Äôt unless someone gives it to me. Maybe Mary might send it on my next birthday. We?Äôve stayed in touch over the years. I always liked her. The guys, too.

I?Äôm not sure what the new CD has in common with the original ?ÄúChrome Dreams,?Äù either. For one thing, ?ÄúChrome Dreams II?Äù was actually released. If ?ÄúChrome Dreams?Äù had been released back in 1977, I think it would?Äôve been considered Neil?Äôs greatest accomplishment. And that?Äôs saying something.

Like I said, I know something about good songs and ?ÄúChrome Dreams?Äù is nothing but classics. Every single one. Anyone with a basic interest in Neil?Äôs music knows these songs. In song order, and keep in mind this recording was designed during The Vinyl Era, Side One was ?ÄúPocahontas,?Äù ?ÄúWill to Love,?Äù ?ÄúStar of Bethlehem,?Äù ?ÄúLike a Hurricane,?Äù and ?ÄúToo Far Gone.?Äù That?Äôs a career for virtually everyone who gets signed to a major record company label. Side Two is just as high quality: ?ÄúHold Back the Tears,?Äù ?ÄúHomegrown,?Äù ?ÄúCaptain Kennedy,?Äù ?ÄúStringman,?Äù ?ÄúSedan Delivery,?Äù ?ÄúPowderfinger,?Äù and ?ÄúLook Out for My Love.?Äù

And it didn?Äôt get released.

Oh, the songs did. Five of them wound up on the album he eventually decided to use that year, ?ÄúAmerican Stars and Bars.?Äù After that one, he cherrypicked from the remaining ?ÄúChrome Dreams?Äù songs and used them on his subsequent recordings. Some of them he rerecorded; for ?ÄúRust Never Sleeps?Äù he did new versions of ?ÄúPocahontas,?Äù ?ÄúSedan Delivery,?Äù and ?ÄúPowderfinger,?Äù and I think it?Äôs splitting hairs to name the better of the two. The rest of the songs were on ?ÄúComes a Time,?Äù ?ÄúHawks and Doves,?Äù ?ÄúFreedom,?Äù and ?ÄúUnplugged.?Äù That?Äôs a total of six albums made from one source. That?Äôs a force like a ?Äì dare I say? ?Äì hurricane.

But why didn?Äôt ?ÄúChrome Dreams?Äù get released? No idea. Only Neil knows the answer to that one. Maybe it has something to do with the popularity of ?ÄúHarvest?Äù and his reasons for not wanting to deal with it again. Maybe it has something to do with an audience willing to accept whatever he decides to put out. Maybe a little of both. All I can tell you is how I think it was a collection of music that is as good as it gets. It?Äôs the kind of music that can keep its creator stocked with strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff.

But that?Äôs just how I feel. And like Neil once sang in one of those songs he did with Pearl Jam, ?Äúsometimes I feel like a piece of paper.?Äù Little Jackie Paper. I love that rascal. Puff.

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