I never was a Warren Zevon fan until I heard that Bob Dylan was covering his songs -- and that was when Zevon was terminally ill. I feel a bit guilty about that. I just always associated him with Jackson Browne and The Eagles and other west coast millionaries. I did enjoy his collaboration with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry as The Hindu Love Gods, but that was about it. Turns out he was an incredible songwriter, and I didn't appreciate him until it was too late. His final album, The Wind, is just so moving but also funny in parts. Anyway, Rolling Stone reports that there's some Zevon stuff going on: there's a database of live songs, the possibility of a broadway show based on his life (hard to imagine that getting funded) and Kevin Smith may do a movie based on Warren's song (featuring David Letterman on guest vocals!) "Hit Somebody."Monday, June 8, 2009
FOR WARREN ZEVON FANS
I never was a Warren Zevon fan until I heard that Bob Dylan was covering his songs -- and that was when Zevon was terminally ill. I feel a bit guilty about that. I just always associated him with Jackson Browne and The Eagles and other west coast millionaries. I did enjoy his collaboration with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry as The Hindu Love Gods, but that was about it. Turns out he was an incredible songwriter, and I didn't appreciate him until it was too late. His final album, The Wind, is just so moving but also funny in parts. Anyway, Rolling Stone reports that there's some Zevon stuff going on: there's a database of live songs, the possibility of a broadway show based on his life (hard to imagine that getting funded) and Kevin Smith may do a movie based on Warren's song (featuring David Letterman on guest vocals!) "Hit Somebody."
Warren's album, "Stand in the Fire," is one of the best live performances from its era. Its relentlessly hard and driving sound belies the artist's "California rock" roots. Give it a listen - truly a gem.
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