Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity

iTunes Review

This collection of Neil Young covers benefits Casting for Recovery, a national non-profit support and educational program for women who have or have had breast cancer. Young’s tunes have been well covered over the years: The late Nicolette Larson’s “Lotta Love” being among the more famous. And here a wide range of female performers deliver their own take on this idiosyncratic rockers’ catalog, either tending towards his smoother sides or removing his prickly edges, from “I Am A Child” to “Helpless” to “The Needle and the Damage Done.” Young may have made these songs sound like alienation anthems, but in other hands they sound welcoming and reassuring. Amilia K. Spicer nicely compliments “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” with a heartfelt rendition that points up the power of Young’s simple but never simplistic melodies. Dala turns “Ohio” into a poignant piano ballad. Kristin Hersh adds an otherworldly buzz to “Like A Hurricane.” The Watson Twins harmonize for a modest acoustic take on Young’s “Powderfinger.” Heidi Gluck of Some Girls keeps Young’s buckling kick for “Walk On.”