Zuma | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 10, 1975 | |||
Recorded | June 16, 1974 – August 29, 1975 | |||
Studio | Broken Arrow Ranch Redwood City, California Pt. Dume, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 36:34 | |||
Label | Reprise | |||
Producer |
| |||
Neil Young chronology | ||||
| ||||
Crazy Horse chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Zuma | ||||
|
Zuma,the seventh studio album by Canadian/American musician Neil Young,was released on Reprise Records in November 1975. It was the first album co-credited to Neil Young and Crazy Horse in six years and the first with Frank Sampedro on rhythm guitar,following the death of Danny Whitten in 1972. A continuation of the country rock and heavy rock sound established on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere ,Zuma includes "Cortez the Killer",one of Young's best-known songs with Crazy Horse.
Zuma was the first album released after the so-called Ditch Trilogy,consisting of the albums Time Fades Away , On the Beach and Tonight's the Night . The death of former Crazy Horse guitarist and bandmate Danny Whitten from an alcohol/diazepam overdose in 1972 affected Neil Young greatly and contributed to a hiatus of Crazy Horse.
Late in 1973,Young went on tour with the Crazy Horse rhythm section of bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina;the multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren,who had played on Young's After the Gold Rush (1970) before joining the Whitten-led iteration of Crazy Horse from 1970 to 1971;and the Stray Gators holdover Ben Keith. This group,initially billed as Crazy Horse at its first engagements,became known as the Santa Monica Flyers. They recorded most of the tracks on Tonight's the Night (1975).
After the 1974 stadium tour with Crosby,Stills &Nash and another abandoned attempt at a second CSNY studio album,Young reformed Crazy Horse in 1975 with rhythm guitarist Frank Sampedro alongside Talbot and Molina. Aside from a brief period in the late 1980s,this line-up would remain stable until 2014,when Sampedro retired as a professional musician. He was eventually replaced in 2018 by Lofgren. [2]
The songs on Zuma are a mix of the personal and the abstract,inspired by Neil Young's recent breakup with Carrie Snodgress and various contemporaneous dreams. In a June 1975 interview,he said that,"It's about the Incas and the Aztecs. It takes on another personality. It's like being in another civilization. It's a lost sort of form,sort of a soul-form that switches from history scene to history scene trying to find itself,man,in this maze." [3] Young noted on his website that the melody and lyrics of "Don't Cry No Tears" are partially derived from "I Wonder",which he wrote in high school. Early recordings of the original were included on 2009's Archives .
In "Danger Bird",Young interpolates sections of a previous song called "L.A. Girls and Ocean Boys" about the breakup with Snodgress,specifically the lines,"'Cause you've been with another man / There you are and here I am." In the biography Shakey,Young described it as "a wild song. It's so slow and great. Isn't it slow? Briggs always wanted to remix it. I like the mix. A combination of two songs... I'll be writin' another and say,'Oh,that fits.' Bang! Drop it right in." [4] Young released a piano demo of "L.A. Girls and Ocean Boys" in 2020's Neil Young Archives Volume II:1972–1976 . "Pardon My Heart" was also inspired by the deterioration of Young's relationship with Snodgress and dates from the spring of 1974. At his solo acoustic performance at The Bottom Line that year,he introduced it as "a song I learned recently. I wrote it too. This is a love song. It's one of the saddest love songs I've ever heard."
Young wrote "Barstool Blues" after returning from a bar,but said when he woke up,"I couldn't remember writing it. I couldn't remember any of it. I started playin' the chords and it was so fuckin' high - I mean,it was three steps higher than the fuckin' record." [5] The lyrics to "Cortez the Killer" were first written in high school, [6] according to a story Young told an audience in 1996:"One night I stayed up too late when I was goin' to high school. I ate like six hamburgers or something. I felt terrible,very bad... and in the morning I woke up and I'd written this song." [7] In 1995 he told Nick Kent that Cortez represents "the explorer with two sides,one benevolent,the other utterly ruthless. I mean,look at Columbus! Everyone now knows he was less than great. And he wasn't even there first. It always makes me question all these other so-called 'icons'." [8] Young speculated that Cortez "[might] not have felt as good about [killing all those people] as he did when he was just dancing across the water in his boat. I have to think that changed his life,that experience. That he was not able to sleep well." [9]
"Through My Sails" dates from 1974 sessions at Young's ranch during rehearsals for that year's Doom tour with CSNY,who perform backing vocals on the track. Like his CSNY bandmates,Young is an avid sailor,and would purchase his own sailboat in the mid-70s. [10]
The sessions for the album were a prolific time for Young,and a fresh start for him personally. He was newly single,having recently split with Carrie Snodgress. He and the re-formed Crazy Horse moved into David Briggs' house near Point Dume and Zuma Beach in Malibu,California,from which the album takes its name. In his memoir Special Deluxe,Young recalls that the setup in the garage "was tight and comfortable". [11] Briggs recounted that they had "cut big pieces of foam for the windows",and then "just set up,recorded,and I mixed 'em on the spot. That's why those records sound so crude and elementary... Neil's a lot better in houses than he is in studios." [12]
The band tried out many new songs,some of which would be revisited for Rust Never Sleeps . Songs performed during the Zuma sessions that did not make the album include "Pocahontas","Sedan Delivery","Hitchhiker","Ride My Llama","Powderfinger","Hawaii","Kansas" and "Born to Run". In 1975,Young told Cameron Crowe that the songs were "about Peru,the Aztecs and the Incas. Time travel stuff. We've got one song called "Marlon Brando,John Ehrlichman,Pocahontas and Me"". He anticipated wrapping the sessions quickly and embarking on a tour. "I couldn't be happier. That,combined with the bachelor life... I feel magnificent. Now is the first time I can remember coming out of a relationship,definitely not wanting to get into another one". [13] In his 2012 memoir,Waging Heavy Peace,Young recalls how they "kept playing day after day and partying at night",and noted the tracks he chose to hold back. "Today I like listening to all of those tracks together in a compilation I call Dume that is in The Archives Volume 2. Those were some of the finest,most alive days of my life. I was getting past the lost relationship with Carrie,living the life with my best friends,making some good music,and starting to get a grip on something:an open future in my personal life and a new future with Crazy Horse after Danny." [14]
Poncho Sampedro also recalled the Zuma sessions fondly,in March 2021 telling Stereogum that the band "didn't have a concept in mind. It wasn't going to be this or that. It was all just wide open. We were just playing and recording,and we didn't know what people did with the recordings. We just kept making new ones". [15] One of the first songs recorded for the album was "Cortez the Killer",when a power surge resulted in one verse not being recorded. Young's reaction to hearing of this was that he "never liked that verse anyway" and it has never been performed live. [16] In 1990,Young told Nick Kent that "[you] can hear the splice on the recording where we stop and start again. It's a messy edit. It was a total accident. But that's how I see my best art,as one magical accident after another." [17] Poncho Sampedro recalled that the band "just played the whole thing and that was the take... We did lose the third verse. Something about 'a rocky grave.' Neil never sang it again." [18]
"Stupid Girl" features double-tracked lead vocals,with one pitched low and the other high. Young explains in a 1988 interview:"I recorded it with Crazy Horse at 4 o’clock in the morning. We were all messed up and did the track,all the vocals and everything,all in one shot. But when I listened to it with just the low vocal,I said,'That sounds too dark.' So I added the high one." [19] Towards the end of the sessions,Young and the band revisited a pair of acoustic tracks he had recorded in June 1974 during rehearsals for the CSNY tour that year. Electric guitar and backing vocals were added to "Pardon My Heart",which was added to the album's sequencing in between the newly recorded full band cuts,along with "Through My Sails".
The sessions were notable for the many visitors they attracted,including Rod Stewart,Britt Ekland and Dylan. [20] In an April 2021 Aquarium Drunkard interview,Frank Sampedro recounted that Young called the band outside,saying:""Check this out. There's a van parked in the driveway. This guy is listening to us. Check it out",and it was Dylan. Dylan lived around the corner... and then he came in and played with us one day... I wish we would have got "Tangled Up In Blue" because I was having a blast playing that song. But somebody kept missing one of the changes. Neil was killin' it with the lead guitar. We all had big smiles on our faces. We just weren't that accomplished of a band to pick up a song in three minutes." [18] Dylan gave Young some feedback. "When he heard "Hitchhiker," a confessional about the progressive history of drugs I had taken through my life,he told me,"That's honest." That moment still crosses my mind. It makes me laugh every time I think of it because Bob's humor is so wry. I think it was his way of saying kindly that the song was not very inventive as far as creating a story goes". [21]
All tracks are written by Neil Young.
Crazy Horse
Additional musicians
Technical
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | A− [22] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [23] |
The Great Rock Discography | 8/10 [24] |
MusicHound Rock | 4/5 [25] |
Pitchfork | 8.7/10 [26] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [27] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [28] |
Tom Hull | B+ [29] |
Upon release,it peaked at #25 on the Billboard 200. In 1997,the album received a RIAA gold certification. [30] In 2000,it was voted number 410 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums . [31]
Chart (1975) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [32] | 44 |
US Billboard Top LPs &Tape [33] | 25 |
UK Album Charts [34] | 44 |
Canadian RPM 100 Albums [35] | 69 |
Finnish Album Charts [36] | 27 |
French Album Charts [37] | 13 |
Japanese Album Charts [38] | 84 |
Spain Album Charts [39] | 13 |
New Zealand Album Charts [40] | 35 |
Dutch MegaCharts Albums [40] | 4 |
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums [41] | 25 |
US Record World Album Chart [42] | 30 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [43] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [44] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Decade is a compilation album by Canadian–American musician Neil Young,originally released in 1977 as a triple album and later issued on two compact discs. It contains 35 of Young's songs recorded between 1966 and 1976,among them five tracks that had been unreleased up to that point. It peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart,and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1986.
Crazy Horse is an American rock band best known for their association with the musician Neil Young. Since 1969,fifteen studio albums and eight live albums have been billed as being by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. They have also released six studio albums of their own between 1971 and 2009.
American Stars 'n Bars is the eighth studio album by Canadian-American folk rock songwriter Neil Young,released on Reprise Records in 1977. Compiled from recording sessions scattered over a 29-month period,it includes "Like a Hurricane",one of Young's best-known songs. It peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200 and received a RIAA gold certification.
Comes a Time is the ninth studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young,released by Reprise Records in October 1978. The album is largely performed in a quiet folk and country style. It features backing harmonies sung by Nicolette Larson and additional accompaniment by musicians that had accompanied Young on his commercial pinnacle,Harvest. Like Harvest,the lyrics to many of its songs are inspired by relationships. In his memoir,Waging Heavy Peace,Young describes Comes a Time as one of his best albums ever.
Weld is a live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse released in 1991,comprising performances recorded on the tour to promote the Ragged Glory album. It was initially released as a limited edition three-disc set entitled Arc-Weld,with the Arc portion being a single disc consisting in its entirety of a sound collage of guitar noise and feedback. Arc has since been released separately.
Rust Never Sleeps is the tenth album by Canadian American singer-songwriter Neil Young and his third with American band Crazy Horse. It was released on June 22,1979,by Reprise Records and features both studio and live tracks. Most of the album was recorded live,then overdubbed in the studio,while other songs originated in the studio. Young used the phrase "rust never sleeps" as a concept for his tour with Crazy Horse to avoid artistic complacency and try more progressive,theatrical approaches to performing live.
Arc is an album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse,recorded early 1991 and released in October 1991.
Sleeps with Angels is the 22nd studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young,released on August 16,1994,on Reprise as a double LP and as a single CD. Young's seventh album with Crazy Horse,it was co-produced by long-time collaborator David Briggs who died the following year. The title track was written in response to Kurt Cobain's suicide. Musician and author Ken Viola described the album as one of Young's "top five records. It examines the nature of dreams —both the light and dark side —and how they fuel reality in the nineties. Dreams are the only thing that we've got left to hang on to."
Live Rust is a live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse,recorded during their fall 1978 Rust Never Sleeps tour.
Left for Dead is a 1989 album released by the group Crazy Horse.
Ragged Glory is the 20th studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young,and his sixth album with the band Crazy Horse. It was released by Reprise Records on September 10,1990. Ragged Glory was voted the 36th best grunge album of all time by Rolling Stone in 2019. A live recording of the album from November 2023 was released as Fuckin' Up in April 2024.
Broken Arrow is the 24th studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young,and his 8th with Crazy Horse,released in 1996.
Chrome Dreams is the 46th studio album by Neil Young. It was first compiled as an acetate for consideration as an album for release in 1977. A copy of the acetate widely circulated as a bootleg in the decades prior to its release. The album was officially released on August 11,2023,to universal acclaim from critics.
Frank "Poncho" Sampedro is an American retired guitarist and member of the rock band Crazy Horse,known mainly for his longtime collaboration with singer-songwriter Neil Young. Sampedro has played and recorded with Young in many other configurations aside from Crazy Horse and earned co-writing credits on several Young songs. Out of all Young's musical collaborators,Sampedro has perhaps proven the most adept at working with the mercurial artist.
Crazy Moon is the fourth album by the American band Crazy Horse. It was released by RCA Records in 1978. The record was recorded at the Broken Arrow in Redwood City,Kendun Studio in Burbank,Village Records in West Los Angeles,and Sound City in Van Nuys.
Neil Young Archives Volume II:1972–1976 is a 10-CD box set from American-Canadian folk rock musician Neil Young that was initially released in a limited deluxe box set on November 20,2020. The release is the second box set in his Neil Young Archives series,following 2009's The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972,and covers a three-and-a-half-year period from 1972 to 1976. The track list was officially announced on the Neil Young Archives site on September 20,2020,with the first single,"Come Along and Say You Will",being posted to the site as the Song of the Day on October 14. The set then went up for pre-order on October 16,2020,as an exclusive release to his online store,with only 3,000 copies being initially made available worldwide. After selling out the following day,Young announced several weeks later that a general retail version,as well as a second pressing of the deluxe box set,is expected to be released to market on March 5,2021. This was followed by the release of a second single,"Homefires",on October 21,and a third,an alternate version of "Powderfinger",on November 3.
Way Down in the Rust Bucket is a live album and concert film from Canadian-American rock musician Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse,released on February 26,2021. It is Volume 11.5 in the Performance Series of Neil Young Archives.
Toast is the 44th studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young and Crazy Horse. One of Young's several "lost" albums,it was recorded in 2000-2001 but shelved in favor of Are You Passionate?,and was finally released on July 8,2022. It is Volume 09 of Neil Young Archives' Special Release Series.
Odeon Budokan is a live album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young,released on September 1,2023,on American record label Reprise Records.
Neil Young Archives Volume III:1976–1987 is a 17-CD and 5-Blu-ray disc box set from American-Canadian folk rock musician Neil Young that was released on CD and vinyl on September 6,2024. Pre-ordering went live for members of Neil Young Archives on July 25,2024,with access to a version that came with a CD sampler of 16 tracks and a pin. The release is the third box set in his Neil Young Archives series,following 2009's The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972 and 2020's Neil Young Archives Volume II:1972–1976,and covers an eleven-year period from 1976 to 1987.