“Zuma” by Neil Young with Crazy Horse - album review

features in: Album Chart of 1975Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s

TJR says

Following the death of Danny Whitten, the future for Crazy Horse as an independent group of their own looked to be over but, in late 1974, Neil Young, Billy Talbot, and Ralph Molina spontaneously convened at Talbot's Echo Park home with rhythm guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro, who proved to be just the right person to help resurrect Crazy Horse. “It was great”, Talbot would say of the coming together and the chemistry it evoked. “We were all soaring. Neil loved it. We all loved it. It was the first time we heard the Horse since Danny Whitten died.” After a five-year hiatus Neil Young and Crazy Horse was born again through “Zuma”, issued in November ’75. This was a full-on rock production, with Neil singing again – a whole different ball-game to the blackness which had overshadowed the preceding long-players. “Danger Bird” and “Cortez The Killer” are widely acknowledged as being highlight tracks here, with Neil’s guitar playing being cited as reaching new technical peaks, but this doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid – those winding solos are just too much. Call me a philistine, but the late 60s Californian jangle of “Don’t Cry No Tears”, a song of his which began life in his high-school days circa 1960, is my favourite, followed by “Barstool Blues” which is cut from a not too dis-similar folk-rock cloth. These are not really where his head’s at though. At the time he said: “I'm playing a lot of electric guitar and that's what I like best. Two guitars, bass and drums. And it's really flying off the ground too. Fucking unbelievable.” Nice to hear him enthused all the same – it’s easy to hear why the rock-heads love this one…

The Jukebox Rebel
08–Feb–2009

Tracklist
A1 [02:34] 7.5.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Don’t Cry No Tears (Neil Young) Folk Rock / Americana
A2 [06:54] 5.8.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Danger Bird (Neil Young) Rock
A3 [03:49] 6.4.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Pardon My Heart (Neil Young) Folk Rock / Americana
A4 [03:17] 5.6.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Lookin’ For A Love (Neil Young) Alternative Country
A5 [03:02] 7.4.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Barstool Blues (Neil Young) Folk Rock / Americana
B1 [03:13] 7.1.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Stupid Girl (Neil Young) Rock
B2 [03:32] 6.0.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Drive Back (Neil Young) Rock
B3 [07:29] 5.5.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Cortez The Killer (Neil Young) Rock
B4 [02:41] 4.7.png Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Through My Sails (Neil Young) Songwriter

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