Pardon My Heart

Now in possession of the family crutches (we're a clumsy lot) I was able to get out yesterday and have a look round a car boot sale.  I got this album for £2, which funnily enough I'd recently bought on CD:

Neil Young - Zuma (1975)

This was Neil Young's seventh album overall and the second to be credited with Crazy Horse.  It contains just two acoustic songs; the gentle, harmonic country of Pardon My Heart (albeit with electric solo) and the brief Through My Sails taken from aborted sessions with C.S.N.

Rear cover

The rest is a variety of electric rockers, from the leaden beauty of Danger Bird through mid-paced numbers like Barstool Blues to the seven-minute epic that is the glorious Cortez The Killer.  It's on this loose description of the Spanish defeat of Mexico by conquistador Hernan Cortez in the 16th century that Young is able to stretch out, with an exquisite long intro before the vocal only coming in during the 4th minute.

This track would have gone on longer if the tape hadn't run out before the last verse could be recorded; instead it fades out rather abruptly.  Neil claims to have never much liked this final verse anyway, and doesn't include it when playing live.

Zuma reached no. 25 on the U.S. Billboard chart.  It's one of the few Young albums not to feature on Spotify, which is a shame as I really rate it.  Anyway, here's Cortez The Killer: