Don't Cry No Tears - 2016 Remaster

"Don't Cry No Tears" is a song typical of Zuma, the first album after the famed "Ditch Trilogy," which sees Young picking his spirits back up and getting back together with his beloved Crazy Horse backing band. It was also one of the breakup songs. In this one, Neil comes off as almost icy as he tells his ex to stop blubbering and move on. Young had recently split with actress Carrie Snodgrass, who was the mother of his son Zeke. Young was being quite honest here - he was loving the new swinging bachelor life and happy after pulling out of his depressed funk.

That's Frank Sampedro on rhythm guitar, Billy Talbot on bass, and Ralph Molina on drums. Sampedro was the newest member of Crazy Horse and has stuck with them, but the group is so tight that even after all these years, he's still referred to by the others as "the new guy." Talbot and Molina discovered Sampedro and brought him to Young for an audition. It turned out Sampedro had spent a lot of time listening to Young's album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and jamming along to it on his own guitar - in fact he'd learned all the parts!

Young scored a trifecta of dumping right around the time of "Don't Cry No Tears." First he dumped Crazy Horse again right when they were beginning to get their second wind with the tour for Zuma. Then he semi-reunited with CSN (&Y) only to pick Stephen Stills to collaborate with for Long May You Run and cut Crosby and Nash cold out of the action. Then he famously turned around and bit Stills, too. Neil Young is many things, but he's never been accused of being clingy. Neil Young: Long May You Run: The Illustrated History gives the text of the telegram Young sent to Stills to let him know that the Stills-Young Band was finished: "Dear Stephen, funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach, Neil."