So I’m going to included some very huge name artists, it’s not all going to be odd stuff my little list! Does everyone think you got to included some Neil Young in any kind-of these list of faves? Well, here’s my fave one I do love the very most out of his whole back catalog. Maybe this album don’t unfairly get as much love as some of the more popularly titles he’s got but it’s been my go to Neil Young album for years now! I don’t understand why it’s not one of his biggies, really? Well, I guess it’s the first release after his so-called Ditch Trilogy of records and before that was his earlier ones which everyone knows and are the ones that get name drops the most. The Zuma album came out late 1975, mid-70’s and maybe people were losing a little interest in Young by then because it’s his seventh studio album.
I don’t know what else to say because everything that needs to be said about Neil by now has! So my intro to him was the 1991 live album Weld with off course the track Cortez The Killer on it so I just had to find the studio version of that song. Before that I came to him by way of my old man’s vinyl, he says he totally dislikes Young when I asked him about them records just few years ago so he didn’t know why he keep those records? Maybe for me to discover him!
Another reason I love this album is I really do love artwork album cover by James Mazzeo, it really look like it shouldn’t be an album cover or something? Apparently Young asked Mazzeo for something and these were just some rough sketches or a draft but Young took them and told him “they are complete.” But you can find the finished artwork on his website linked here.
The album is credited as Crazy Horse but is not all just Crazy Horse tracks. On the back cover of they’re little drawings of moons and stars crediting others but Crazy Horse does get six of the nine songs plus Young co-producer with David Briggs which has a crescent moon next to them. The last track Through My Sails is with Crosby Stills & Nash with three little stars, Lookin’ for a Love is a Crazy Horse song but is co-producer with Tim Mulligan with two stars and Pardon My Heart is solo Young with Tim Drummond on bass, backing vocals by Crazy Horse guys and co-producer with Tim Mulligan has just one star.
I do love all these tracks more than his other bigger hit songs, almost all are under-rated gems. I guess, you can’t say that about and because hearing Cortez The Killer before the rest it’s my fave track by him. Fun facts about it is Young wrote while in high school plus according to Neil’s father while recording it an electrical circuit had blown to halting the recording process and it just fades out on the album so a final verse was lost but Neil has said that he “never liked that verse anyway.”
Never seen him play live, funny that because his last Aussie tour he did here was supported by my fave local band The Drones so I really should have gone to that one!
Might be a good point to stop now. The already “Y” artists I’ve added are The Young Gods and You Am I in my now going backwards A-Z countdown of fave albums. Zola Jesus was my “Z” artist yesterday but I guess I could say Zuma is my “Z” album too? My “Y” album would be by The Pop Group but another “Y” artist coming soon!
Zuma track listing:
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
6. “Stupid Girl” 3:13
7. “Drive Back” 3:32
8. “Cortez The Killer” 7:29
9. “Through My Sails” 2:41
So this list below are my 100 faves, so far because I’m still counting them up. Now Zuma by Neil Young is the 101st album post today!
- Tales From The Australian Underground – Volume 1 & 2 by Various Artists
- Station To Station by David Bowie
- Unplugged In New York by Nirvana
- Rust In Peace by Megadeth
- Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs by Marty Robbins
- Henry’s Dream by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
- Whatever You Love, You Are by Dirty Three
- Gala Mill by The Drones
- Black Monk Time by The Monks
- Ex Tropical by Lost Animal
- Work (Work, Work) by HTRK
- In The Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra
- The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn by Pink Floyd
- Songs Of Love And Hate by Leonard Cohen
- Warm Leatherette by Grace Jones
- The White House by The Dead C
- Silence Is Sexy by Einstürzende Neubauten
- Lulu by Lou Reed & Metallica
- Kaira by Toumani Diabaté
- Kings Of The Wild Frontier by Adam And The Ants
- Drowning In The Fountain Of Youth by Dan Kelly And The Alpha Males
- Aerial by Kate Bush
- The Future by Leonard Cohen
- Rock For Light by Bad Brains
- Last Splash by The Breeders
- Sex by The Necks
- Emergency Ward by Nina Simone
- Paradise by My Disco
- Batman by Prince
- Sings Christmas Carols by Mark Kozelek
- What Are Rock Stars Doing Today by Magic Dirt
- Love Of Life by Swans
- Big Name, No Blankets by Warumpi Band
- Blue Valentine by Tom Waits
- In The Pines by The Triffids
- Where Joy Kills Sorrow by Various Artists
- TV Sky by The Young Gods
- King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime by Faith No More
- Jean Lee And The Yellow Dog by Ed Kuepper
- Law Of Nature by Laughing Clowns
- (I’m) Stranded by The Saints
- Super Ape by Lee “Scratch” Perry & The Upsetters
- The Soft ‘N’ Sexy Sound by Dave Graney ‘N’ The Coral Snakes
- Mutiny/The Bad Seed by The Birthday Party
- Bahdeni Nami by Omar Souleyman
- Ascension by John Coltrane
- The Definitive by Blind Willie McTell
- Rid Of Me by PJ Harvey
- Horses by Patti Smith
- Vespertine by Björk
- Hex Enduction Hour by The Fall
- Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood by DMX
- I’m New Here by Gil Scott-Heron
- Charcoal Lane by Archie Roach
- In My Own Time by Karen Dalton
- Stay Sick! by The Cramps
- Primary Colours by Eddy Current Suppression Ring
- Veedon Fleece by Van Morrison
- Trainspotting by Various Artists
- After School Session by Chuck Berry
- Body Language by Kylie Minogue
- Bricks Are Heavy by L7
- Trailer Park by Beth Orton
- Arular by M.I.A.
- Moon Pix by Cat Power
- White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground
- Y by The Pop Group
- The Human Jukebox by Scientists
- The Shape Of Things by Pere Ubu
- Congotronics by Konono Nº1
- High Voltage by AC/DC
- Self-tilted by The Seeds
- His Best by Bo Diddley
- Embracism by Kirin J Callinan
- Benji by Sun Kil Moon
- Betty by Helmet
- Late Registration by Kanye West
- Under The Western Freeway by Grandaddy
- What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have by Sarah Blasko
- Regret Is An Inevitable Consequence Of Life by Ricaine
- Tu-Plang by Regurgitator
- Hourly, Daily by You Am I
- In A Bar, Under The Sea by dEUS
- Gurrumul by Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
- Twin Peaks by Angelo Badalamenti
- Some Girls by The Rolling Stones
- Adult Themes For Voice by Mike Patton
- Candy Apple Grey by Hüsker Dü
- This Is It by The Strokes
- To Record Only Water For Ten Days by John Frusciante
- How I Love You by The Angels Of Light
- Soaking Red by Tendrils
- Rock Action by Mogwai
- Rock And Rollin’ With Fat Domino by Fat Domino
- The Axeman’s Jazz by Beasts Of Bourbon
- This Is Not The Way Home by The Cruel Sea
- Black & White Self-titled by Primitive Calculators
- Still Life by The Paradise Motel
- Messenger by Jimmy Little
- Conatus by Zola Jesus
Who else digs this Neil Young album? Or do you just what to tell me your fave?
Cheers 🙂
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