Warren Zevon fans?

[Mike]

Anyone else a fan of the great Warren Zevon? :notworthy

I have most of his studio albums and a couple of live ones. I saw him play in the USA twice some years ago. He seems to be inexplicably underrated in the UK but I'm currently listening to the guitar solo on "The French Inhaler" and wondering if life gets any better than this. His final album "The Wind" is a thing of beauty and wonder, as poignant and memorable as his early work is sardonic.

Favourite cuts:

"Exciteable Boy" - "He dug up her grave, built a cage with her bones", a great line made even better by the bizarre presence of Linda Ronstadt and Jennifer Warnes harmonising in the background.
"The French Inhaler"
"Renegade"
and of course, "Werewolves of London" and "Lawyers, Guns and Money" - the latter may well be the greatest singalong number ever written.

[Radiohead]

A fabulous talent and sadly missed - he brought a whole new meaning to Knockin' On Heaven's Door, on The Wind.

[Cockeye]

I have never heard anything by him apart from the Life Will Kill Ya album - which Peter Buck got me to buy. Thought it was an absolute classic.

Is there any greatest hits compilation (spit) that will give me a good primer into his work?

[tinder]

For an interesting slant on some of his work try Enjoy Every Sandwich : The Songs of Warren Zevon....Adam Sandler does a good Werewolves of London and Billy Bob Thornton does The Wind, also very well....the highlight for me though is Steve Earle and Reckless Kelly doing Reconsider Me.

[Mike]

There's a good compilation called "Genius" on Artemis Records which covers most of the bases up to 2002.

His first 'proper' album, "Warren Zevon" is worth getting too.

[stewboss]

So far I've only heard Excitable Boy and The Wind. Both brilliant records.

Must investigate more in 2005!

[dan13l]

My uncle played me Werewolves of London years ago, and I've been hooked since then.
The first album I bought was Transverse City (which was actually the second CD I ever bought). The Wind really is a wonderful album, as is Life'll Kill Ya. Despite buying Enjoy Every Sandwich as a christmas present for someone, I've not got it yet.

I went to see Jackson Browne in Nottingham a couple of months back, and he did a very audience-centric gig, asking people to shout out for songs that they wanted. Someone shouted "Do Werewolves of London!", which got his attention. He didn't play that song, but had a (very good) go at "Desperados Under The Eaves". After playing that, he said it hadn't done Warren justice, and that he needed to sing something right for Warren, so he played Poor, Poor Pitiful Me, and nailed it!

Its times like this I'm glad I've got an iPod - because now I really feel the need to play some Zevon while I work :) God bless him.

[Flimber]

Is he the fella who had a mural which he painted preserved on the side of a restaurant ???

Mike.