Zuma (album)

Zuma
Studio album by Neil Young with Crazy Horse
Released	November 10, 1975
Recorded	June 16, 1974 – August 29, 1975 at Broken Arrow Ranch, Redwood City, CA and Pt. Dume, CA
Genre	Rock
Length	36:34
Label	Reprise
Producer	Neil Young, David Briggs, Tim Mulligan
Neil Young chronology
Tonight's the Night (1975) Zuma (1975) American Stars 'n Bars (1977)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	A−[2]

Zuma is the seventh studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, his second with Crazy Horse, released in 1975. Some believe the album was named after Zuma Beach in Malibu^{[citation needed]}; however, it seems more logical that the title comes from Montezuma, as he is featured prominently in the song "Cortez The Killer", and suggested also by the album art.

Zuma was the first album released after the famed Ditch Trilogy, comprising the albums Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night, and On the Beach. It has an overall more upbeat atmosphere, with a combination of country-tinged rock acoustics and lumbering hard-rock pieces similar in style to songs on Young's second album, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. As on the latter album, Young is backed up by Crazy Horse with the late Danny Whitten being replaced by Frank Sampedro.

Song notes

The melody and lyrics of "Don't Cry No Tears" are partially derived from "I Wonder", a song Young wrote in high school which appeared in his Archives in 2009. "Danger Bird" interpolates sections of an unreleased song relating to Young's breakup with Carrie Snodgress called "L.A. Girls and Ocean Boys", specifically the line "'Cause you've been with another man / there you are and here I am". Lou Reed once told an interviewer that he felt Young had become a "great guitarist" during this period, specifically citing "Danger Bird" as an example.^[3] "Pardon My Heart" was originally intended to be released as part of Homegrown.

Young has claimed several different origins for "Cortez the Killer", most notoriously saying during a show on August 13, 1996 that he'd written it in high school while suffering "Montezuma's Revenge". The song ends with a fade out because the original cut stopped abruptly due to recording tape running out before the band had finished playing, and a final verse Young had written was not recorded. Young's reaction to hearing of this was, "I never liked that verse anyway", and it has never been performed live. "Through My Sails", (originally titled "Sailboat Song") the final track, is the only track ever released from an aborted Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recording session in Hawaii in late 1974 for the as yet unreleased Human Highway album.

Young wrote songs in Zuma during his time living on Sea Level Dr. in Malibu, California.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

All songs written by Neil Young.

Side One

1. "Don't Cry No Tears" – 2:34
2. "Danger Bird" – 6:54
3. "Pardon My Heart" – 3:49
4. "Lookin' for a Love" – 3:17
5. "Barstool Blues" – 3:02

Side Two

1. "Stupid Girl" – 3:13
2. "Drive Back" – 3:32
3. "Cortez the Killer" – 7:29
4. "Through My Sails" – 2:41

Personnel

Neil Young with Crazy Horse:

• Neil Young: guitar & vocals
• Frank Sampedro: rhythm guitar
• Billy Talbot: bass & vocals
• Ralph Molina: drums & vocals

except:

• "Pardon My Heart":
  • Neil Young: vocals and all instruments except bass
  • Tim Drummond: bass
  • Billy Talbot: vocals
  • Ralph Molina: vocals

and

• "Through My Sails":
  • David Crosby: vocals
  • Stephen Stills: bass, vocals
  • Graham Nash: vocals
  • Neil Young: guitar, vocals
  • Russ Kunkel: congas

References

• McDonough, J. Shakey: Neil Young's Biography, Random House, 2002. ISBN 0-679-42772-4

External links

• "Neil Young With Crazy Horse – Zuma". Discogs.
• Zuma at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)