Neil Young's seventh studio album, which was recorded with Crazy Horse, was released in 1975 and features the song "Cortez the Killer". The album peaked at #25 on the Billboard 200.
The unique album cover of Neil Youngs Zuma was sketched in less than 10 minutes by James Mazzeo in 1975he was paid $2,000. It is a ballpoint-pen rendition of a bird and a naked lady and a cactus giving "the bird." The album name is a nod to Zuma Beach, Los Angeles, where Young owned a home.
"... the music had a lively sound well-suited to the songs, which were some of the most melodic, pop-oriented tunes Young had crafted in years, though they were played with an electric-guitar-drenched rock intensity. The overall theme concerned romantic conflict, with lyrics that lamented lost love and sometimes longed for a return ('Pardon My Heart' even found Young singing, 'I don't believe this song'), though the overall conclusion, notably in such catchy songs as 'Don't Cry No Tears' and 'Lookin' For A Love,' was to move on to the next relationship. But the album's standout track (apparently the only holdover from an early intention to present songs with historical subjects) was the seven-and-a-half-minute epic 'Cortez the Killer,' a commentary on the Spanish conqueror of Latin America that served as a platform for Young's most extensive guitar soloing since his work on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere." - William Ruhlmann, allmusic.com
Features:
Vinyl LP
Selections:
Side A:
1. Don't Cry No Tears
2. Danger Bird
3. Pardon My Heart
4. Lookin' For A Love
5. Barstool Blues
Side B:
1. Stupid Girl
2. Drive Back
3. Cortez The Killer
4. Through My Sails