Warren Zevon

Learning to Flinch is pretty close to an essential best-of, with Zevon performing solo on the 12-string and piano.

I don't know of a ton more examples of a musician making their last album and knowing full well it's their last album, but I dare you to listen to The Wind and not get choked up by the end. VH1 filmed the whole thing, but I haven't been able to see it.

I believe it's out of print by now, but Rhino's 2-disc I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: An Anthology is, along with 'Learning to Flinch', the essential best-of introduction to Warren Zevon. Beyond that, you can't go wrong with Excitable Boy or Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School, and I reccomend staying away from his last three albums--Life'll Kill Ya, My Ride's Here and The Wind until you've really exposed yourself to and fallen in love with the rest of his music. Taken on its own merits, I think 'The Wind' is somewhat unspectacular when compared to the rest of Zevon's work, but it's still incredibly meaningful if you've already listened to as much of his other music as you can--if that makes sense.

Warren Zevon is probally my single favorite musician of all time, so I will most likely be talking in this thread a lot.

I have it floating around somewhere, it's very moving.

The best part is when his daughter - who is pregnant with twin boys - tells him that they are going to name them Maximus and Augustus Warren. Zevon just looks awestruck for a minute, and then goes "awwwwwwwwww...." and hugs her. Great moment.

The only album of his that I have is Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School but it is fucking awesome. I've been meaning to listen to more of his music.

Your local public library is your friend.

I'd recommend "Enjoy Every Sandwich," which is a pretty interesting Zevon Tribute album, with Springsteen, the Pixies and some other heavy hitters, as well as random folks like Adam Sandler and Billy Bob Thornton. Jill Sobule (of Kissed a Boy fame) sings an absolutely devestating version of Don't Let Us Get Sick.

Might also check this out. As really strange but poignant tribute: http://filmgen1.nfshost.com/film/zevon.mov

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhRRWwH3Fro


gives me chills.

Here's the vid for the song I mentioned

Rath mentioned my two favorites, Excitable Boy and Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School, both excellent albums. And I agree that the "impending death" albums should be saved until you're more familiar with his earlier work.

He's a bit Tom Waits-ish in the fact that he always lacked big public awareness, but was becoming huge in cultish circles.

I was reading Kill Your Idols (edited by Jim DeRogatis) and he opined that Warren Zevon "regularly wrote circles around" Bruce Springsteen.

I certainly wouldn't argue with that.

I'd assumed the basic bases had been covered for him to be so gung ho abt Zevon. If you haven't heard Excitable Boy or Bad Luck... yet, yes, wait.

Thornton really surprised me on that fun but uneven 'Enjoy Every Sandwich' album--of all the artists on there, he's the one that I felt was spiritually closest to Zevon's style and attitude.

By the way, am I the only one who's become slightly annoyed at how certain fans of Warren Zevon have adopted 'enjoy every sandwich' as a mantra? I was guilty of overusing the phrase at one point in time, but the more I see it used, the more I think that Zevon himself would have been both amused and irked that his entire career is often summed up in those three words. I remember reading one of the last Rolling Stone interviews he gave-- and I think he talks about it in the VH1 documentary--but the apparent fetishization of his acceptance of terminal illness bothered him quite a bit.

As for Warren vs. Springsteen, who I both love to death (Springsteen, depending on my mood or the time of year, alternates out with Dylan and Zevon as my favorite musical artist), and it's hard for me to compare one without the appearance of denigrating the other. Springsteen, it seems, is content to work in the folk/rock mold, where Zevon experimented with different styles throughout his career--'Transverse City', for example. I think that Zevon was a more accomplished musician because of his classical background. I feel that like Randy Newman, Zevon tried to take the pop/rock song and elevate it to the level of classical music (just listen to the mini-symphony that is "Desperadoes Under The Eaves", my favorite Zevon song, or "Frank and Jesse James"), and there were rumors, before his diagnosis, that he one day wanted to attempt a symphony. I think that would have been spectacular. And Springsteen says on "Enjoy Every Sandwich" that he thought Zevon was one of the 'great, great American songwriters,' which I feel is certainly true.

Although at the end of the day, I think I know more Zevon lyrics than I know Springsteen ones, but that comes from an ill-fated, on again, off-again attempt to write a 'musical biography' of the guy for the last six years.

Maybe my favorie musician ever. There are reissues/expansions coming in March for Excitiable Boy, The Envoy, and Stand in the Fire, all of which should help get you further into the man's work. And Life'll Kill Ya is an out-and-out classic.

I'm so excited about those--'Stand in the Fire,' which I think's been out of print for years, in particular.

It could be on youtube, but his last appearance on Letterman (October 04 maybe?) needs to seen. The tone was so sad, but Zevon's wit was still there.
Ive never seen Letterman extend so much humanity to one person as he did that night. This was after it was known he was terminal and didn't have much time. That's where I heard the line about "enjoying every sandwhich."

I thank "Solid Gold" & Letterman for exposing me to Zevon. The former is where I heard "Werewolves of London" for the first time and Letterman during his NBC days when he would say the best lines of any recent American song ever were, "You can't start it with a car, you can't stop it with a gun."

It was Fall 2002 that Zevon made his last appearance on Letterman. It was my freshman year in college, I was watching it in my dorm room, and trying not to choke up like a big girl.

Thanks for bringing Zevon to my attention. I had only heard Werewolves of London prior to this week, but I went out and bought 2 of his albums since Istarted this thread.

And, for those of you reading the Fan Made Movie Posters thread, I present to you what I beleive to be myers87's tribute to Zevon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foQHH...elated&search=

What did you pick up?

Because of Werewolfs of London, I am writing a screenplay. Yes, the song would be used in the "film."

I don't know if the Zevon fans on the board knew about this, but when looking for the new editions of some of Warren's hard-to-find work at Best Buy today, I also saw "Preludes," a collection of rare and unreleased recordings. So I snapped it up. It's pretty good, although the sound quality is really iffy on some of the songs, but the second disc is a series of interviews Warren did around 1999 and the release of "Life'll Kill Ya." There's a version of "Werewolves" that actually makes that song seem fresh, and the whole thing closes out with a live version of "Don't Let Us Get Sick" recorded for Austin City Limits that's so sparse and heartbreaking, I had to check to see if this wasn't recorded closer to the man's death.

Definitely not for people looking to get into Zevon's work, but a pretty decent set for collectors and obsessives like me, and it's probably the closest thing we'll get to a box set.

I took out some of his albums from the library:

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Genius- The Best Of Warren Zevon
Transverse City
Life'll Kill Ya
Mr. Bad Example

Thoughts?

By the way, I already have Excitable Boy and The Wind

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead--Brilliant; the best introduction to his work available. For anyone looking to get into Zevon's work, there's this and "Learning to Flinch."

Genius- The Best Of Warren Zevon--Only for fans, as everything is pretty much on "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead." Covers the highlights of the "Death Trilogy", save "The Wind," but also worth it for the album version of "The French Inhaler."

Transverse City--Very bizarre -- not for the casual fan. Some wonderful songs on here, including "Run Straight Down" and "Nobody's In Love This Year," but much more electronic and produced than his other stuff.

Life'll Kill Ya--Probably the best of the "Death Trilogy," although I'm a big fan of "My Ride's Here" as well. Zevon at his most playful and profane, with a excellent cover of "Back In The High Life Again" and some truly wonderful music. "Porcelin Monkey" is only major misstep, though.

Mr. Bad Example -- A very good album. Not one of his greatest, but certainly one that contains a few of his greatest songs.

Rath's pretty well covered it, though I'd argue that "Mr. Bad Example" is one of the most criminally overlooked records in his catalogue, and "Porcelain Monkey" is a great song.

You read the book yet, Rath? The man was flawed, to say the least. Great read, though.

I didn't read the book, as I had dismissed it because it was from an ex-wife. (Or is it his daughter?) The CD I picked up contains some excerpts the book with guys like Springsteen and Browne (as well as a really touching essay by his son Jordan), so it looks like it's a pretty fair portrayal. Definitely intrigued now.

The book's an oral history, spearheaded by his ex-wife. According to all involved (ex-wife, son, daughter), he asked her to tell the story after he was gone. They stayed close after they divorced. I'd say it's worth the read, though I've read some feedback over on his site that some thought it was too "warts and all." I liked it myself.

Holy shit, I must read it then, especially since I want to write the Warren Zevon movie/Off-Broadway musical some day.

I was going to say, most reviews I've read say that while it isn't a whitewash, it isn't character assassination either - very even-handed, and VERY well done. Gotta pick it up soon myself.

This is probably my personal fave; I've heard the original version of "Networking" and it's really good, and I think "Splendid Isolation" (Michael Jackson in Disneyland/Don't have to share it with nobody else/Lock the gates, Goofy take my hand/and lead me into the world of self") is terrific. "Gridlock" is great rush hour music, and "Down in the Mall" is fantastic fun ("there's a brand new shoppin' center 7 stories high/there's bound to be a set or two of somethin' we can buy").

Yeah, I think "Splendid Isolation" and "Tranverse" in general are great, I just think that somebody looking to get into his music might not want to start with that one.

Also, there's a version of "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" on the rarities disc that's sad/awesome, because you can tell he was angry and trashed out of his mind when he recorded it, and because it's like the man doing a "sing-along with your drunk buddies" version of one of his own songs. But it really rocks.

Y'all didn't mention that the biography is 500 pages long. I mean, that's awesome, as I expected it to be comprehensive, but not that comprehensive.

The Onion reviewed it and said it needed a good editor.

I don't know, it didn't seem inflated or overlong to me. I finished it in a weekend. Granted, I didn't go out much that weekend...

The thing about this biography is that I knew Zevon was a pretty fucked up dude, and it's safe to say that I consider him one of my heroes, at least from an artistic standpoint, but this book is revealing just how fucked up he was from a very early age. The stuff about taking his gangster dad's money and "stealing a sandwich from his poor friends" story was like being a Walt Disney fan and learning the dude used to ice his balls. So it's really illuminating in that regard.

Yeah. In reading the book, you find out the guy had some insane issues and could be a bastard, frankly. But all of that fed into his body of work, which is what counts for fans in the end.

Final verdict on the book: Not enough about the music, too much about Zevon's love life. Still, it got me thinking about the Zevon musical (not a biopic) I'd like to write, and I think that this book could form the spine of a pretty great one.

Warning: this post is a little blog-ish. Sorry.

I gave the book to my Dad for Father's day.

Fun Fact: Bruce Stein, who appears in a photo or two and is quoted in the book, was my Dad's boss when he worked for Elektra/Asylum records. My dad was pretty blown away upon seeing the photos and reading Stein's quotes.

I remember my dad bringing home free records* all the time, and Warren got a ton of play in our house. Of course, being a kid, I liked "Werewolves of London" the best, with "Excitable Boy" coming in a close second. (Apparently my absolute favorite song from this period was Frank Zappa's "Stinkfoot". Ah, the simple pleasures of youth.)

Anyway, as a Zevon fan, as someone who met the guy once, and as someone who promoted his records in the late 70's and was steeped in the rock culture of the day, my dad loved the book.

*I was unbelievably upset with my dad when he sold probably 1000 or more LP's (including, I think, the Zevon records) at a record convention back in the early 90's. He didn't have room to store them anymore, but shit, man!

Read it, liked it well enough. I agree there should probably have been a bit more about the music - the book makes it sound like many/most of his songs were spontaneously generated.

Plus while it's fairly compelling while reading it, and no specific parts stick out like a sore thumb, I think some of the "Crystal Zevon still loves Warren" and "Warren behaves like a fucked-up bastard" stuff could have been culled and stilll gotten the point across.

I just moved and in the process of packing I found what I thought was my missing copy of Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School. I was very happy when that happened.

Had my iPod on shuffle today, and it played "Eye of the Tiger" and "Boom Boom Mancini" back to back.

Look, I thought it was neat. Kiss my ass.

Four years ago today, folks.

Wow. Time flies when popular music is undergoing a period of suck.