ZUMA - Neil Young & Crazy Horse

released 11-10-1975

In 1975 I was living on Broken Arrow ranch in Northern California but I had rented a place on the Beach in ZUMA to be able to visit my friends. One day I was talking to Billy and he told me he had finally found someone who could fill the void left by Danny Whitten’s death. His name was Poncho Sampedro. We played with Poncho at Billy’s house in Echo Park, a part of LA. We sounded good right away and he joined us in Chicago shortly thereafter for a session at Chess records. That session in December of 1974, with Ben Keith along on steel guitar, produced ‘Changing Highways’, a song in the Archives we have never shared; the first song recorded with Poncho Sampedro.

With Poncho in the band and me living down in Zuma on the beach, I started writing. The first song I wrote there was Cortez the Killer. Sedan Delivery, Dangerbird and some others followed.

‘Zuma’ was recorded in David Briggs’ house on Point Dume, high over Zuma beach. Late night/early morning, after recording, I would walk the two miles up the beach to my house, trying to come down from whatever drugs I might have taken. I know I am lucky to be here today.

One day Bob (Dylan) came over to watch what we were doing. We played something and we took a walk together afterward. With Zuma, the music was great. We were having fun and laughing. We were loose again.

The power went out in the control room while we were recording ‘Cortez the Killer’. Briggs cranked it up as soon as control room power returned, 30 seconds or so later, and continued recording. We kept playing. We had power . . .so we lost a verse. We cut it together with the missing verse gone forever. Those are some of my most vivid memories of Zuma. The Horse was reborn.

Two songs we tried and did not get were ‘Powderfinger’ and ‘Sedan Delivery’. They didn’t make the cut for Zuma.
ny