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Neil Young is the latest artist to cover Gordon Lightfoot's 1966 classic "Early Morning Rain." He recorded the song at the Farm Aid concert in Saratoga Springs, NY on September 21, 2013. It's one of Lightfoot fans' most beloved compositions. Lightfoot wrote the song, which includes the memorable line "you can't jump a jet plane, like you can a freight train," based on his memories of living in Los Angeles as a music student and watching "big 707" jetliners taking off from LAX. Now Young is recording "Early Morning Rain" as part of a new album of cover songs for Jack White's Third Man Records and will likely be released by Warner Bros, as well. In December 2013, the Neil Young website Thrashe...

The Flannel-Shirted One, a soul singer? Backed by Booker T & the MGs, you might think Neil has such pretensions. It’s a bad idea, an oil-and-water solution in which Neil’s squeaky, croaky falsetto never blends with the band’s tight rhythmic groove. Nor are the songs, including  “Let’s Roll,” Neil’s homage to the fighting spirit of Todd Beamer, the doomed hero of Flight 93, anything to write home to Winnipeg about.  But, like Dylan, the man’s entitled to the occasional dud.

With his memoir and this two-disc set, Neil’s in a reflective mood. Lengthy jams like “Driftin’ Back” and “Walk Like a Giant” are angry accounts of Sixties idealism’s failure, but the rock legend pays sweet tribute to his Ontario roots, wife Pegi, and their disabled son, Ben, on songs like “For the Love of Man.”

Neil often defies expectations. Here, he releases a collection of tunes by his favorite songwriters recorded in a retro recording booth—with instant, if decidedly lo-fi results. Neil’s fans won’t mind: hearing the legendary rocker sing intimate covers of songs by Bob Dylan and others is priceless. Among the standouts are his takes on Willie Nelson’s “Crazy” and Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown.” Best of all are Neil’s versions of Gordon Lightfoot’s classics “Early Morning Rain” and “If You Could Read My Mind.” A tribute from Canadian icon to another.