Here he sounds like Zevon of old: an overeducated crusty riddled by dissolution that's taken to verbal sparring in a local bar, where all his bravado and insight find home in unbroken haste of dialogue that grows increasingly more vicious as the drinks ensue. Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade were brought in to produce based on the work they did with Radiohead, a Zevon fave. Spare arrangements (guitar, bass, drums, pennywhistle, etc.) allow his lumbering baritone leeway to bully the melodies that are as classic as the Brill building. Zevon's just-released record, Life'll Kill Ya, is threaded with his patented cynicism and irked wit. The short list hosts Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Dwight Yokam, Dylan, Springsteen and an Eagle or two. Chart-powered hippies, croaky cowpokes and honest-to-God rock messiahs have, at one time or another, recorded Zevon's work.
#Warren zevon archivs hasten down the wind pro
The self-educated son of a pro gambler, and a classical composition prodigy befriended during high school by Igor Stravinsky, 53-year-old Zevon has been pedestalized by songwriters everywhere since his debut album, Wanted Dead or Alive, saw light of day three decades ago.
But even during his most unlistenable moments - 1989's Transverse City and 1990's R.E.M.-debacle Hindu Love Gods - a turn of phrase charged on loss reminds you that everyone has midnights they regret. Using fiction to absolve oneself of personal responsibility is a trick as old as bad breath. Influenced by virile fiction writers like Updike and Mailer, Zevon in the past oftentimes lampooned himself in the role of the stern-faced philosophic, one who sees autobiographical takes perhaps too revealing and emasculating. And his songsmithing has continued to be dominated by the same sense of things well into middle age - topical rants, trivial sexploits, detoxing with Liza and noirish L.A. Zevon's flaws surface when he's slumped in self-pity or the repetitiveness of an uninspired writer. It says it's more about the need to write songs unreservedly, using trusty black- humor devices to conceal self-loathing, or, as demonstrated in the lovely "Hasten Down the Wind," writing in third-person to mask personal disclosure. The glimmer belies an insistence that says songwriting is inherently bound by rules and restraint. The songs always offer a glimmer of something else. He has the ability to make images both believable and creepy. The appeal of his songs centers on the welding of narrative with melody and the narrative itself centers on violence - physical, emotional and sexual love, or its approximation and incident. And despite the deceptive title, that song demonstrated that Zevon didn't write rock 'n' roll songs out of the rage and frustration of adolescence - the old I'll-never-get-over-high-school-long-live-rock-'n'-roll junk - but from an impetus of chaos that spurs great fiction writers. Some may recall the 160-second hook-heavy bliss of "Excitable Boy," which had to be the first song ever to make it to radio whose premise involved a boy who rapes and murders a girl. So not counting sporadic fill-ins for Paul Shaffer on Letterman, it seems ages since Zevon was a component of pop mainstream.
#Warren zevon archivs hasten down the wind mac
canyon bohos Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles, among others.Īnd that, of course, was in the 1970s. Zevon steered clear of bong-rocker tags bestowed upon other L.A. That tells you he's in the game for all the right reasons.Īnd Zevon's rep is grounded in such non- American Bandstand gems as "Carmelita" and "Excitable Boy" and a Tough Guys Don't Dance posture maintained by booze and Smith & Wesson. I can respect a songwriter who shuns interviews because he doesn't feel like it. It just depends on what kind of mood he's in." More information these issues, cookies and privacy can be read on the Privacy page.A call to his new label, Artimus records in New York, informed me that Warren Zevon "is on the road but he's on the list to call you. All data on this site is presented as is and visitors use it at their own risk. As such Niall O'Leary Services accepts no liability in respect of the accuracy of data on this website. Waltz on Gibraltar (with The Other One tease)Īll data on this site is derived from external sources, principally Europeana, but also Wikipedia. Track from O'Death Live at The Red Door on Track from Kris Kehr Live at Kempton Community Center on Jam->Jameson->Chariots of Fire->Chimney Sweep Handcuff Shake->Caucasian Thunderbang->Salsa Dance on the Green Riptide Backyard Tire Fire Live at Summer Camp - Sunshine Stage on Įverybody's Trying to be my baby (Carl Perkins)įrozen in the Rim->Eight->Driving in the Dark
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