Everybody's Rockin'

No can argue that there isn’t a tongue-in-cheek quality to Everybody’s Rockin’. After all, the album was partially conceived as a “screw you” to Geffen after the label attempted to direct the creative content of Neil Young’s career. On the other hand, Young’s affection for rock’s early years is genuine, and his tributes to Bobby Freeman, Elvis Presley, and Jimmy Reed are delivered with love. The blend of goofiness and loose rhythm in Young originals like “Kinda Fonda Wanda” and “Jellyroll Man” is just enough to connect the new songs to the classics without becoming parody. The album features some surprisingly strong harmonica and singing from Young, whose voice is captured with replicated Sun Studios reverb. The highlight is “Wonderin’,” an old song left over from Young’s early days with Danny Whitten and Crazy Horse. The song never quite fit on any earlier album, but its gentle shuffle and bittersweet melody make it perfect for adaptation into Everybody’s Rockin’.