Zevon has always reminded me of the sort of guys that would hang around the mini mart by my house; kinda sketchy, but always had a good story to tell. They'd "seen some things" and were all too happy to tell you about it over a hand rolled cigarette and sh*tty coffee. I say this as a compliment, not a pejorative.
And for a guy who's "biggest" song is often labeled as a novelty and played alongside Monster Mash and Thriller, Zevon still has a pretty outsize influence. He's been gone 18 years, and yet everyone wrote about him in the present tense. Where ever he is, I'd like to think he took a long drag and chuckled at that.
Oh, and "Excitable Boy" is fantastic, but "Roland..." has always struck me as a bit of a dirge.
I agree that Warren looks like a "character" in an 80s coming-of-age movie. He could have been anything from the convenient store derelict that you described to the ruler of a small island nation. All was possible with Warren. He certainly lived like a maniac and did everything he could to destroy himself and the people close to him. But, his music has always had this weird hold on me. I actually considered pitching the self-titled album that he released a couple of years before "Excitable Boy" just so I could spend a few hundred words talking about "Desperados Under the Eaves". By the way, interesting observation about us all using the present tense. I think I always write about music in the present even if the artist is no longer with us. It's the music that lives in the now, if not the musician. As always, thanks for reading and commenting.
I enjoyed reading all three of your responses...more than the album. Like Steely Dan, I re-listened to the album most of the afternoon to see if there was anything I missed when it first came out. I didn't. I came across Warren by accident when listening to Linda Ronstadt sing Pitiful Me back in the 70's and read Warren wrote it. This must have been about Excitable Boy time so I bought the album. I grew weary of Warren's voice early on in the album, with the exception of Lawyers. (I loved those lyrics to that song too. Having said that, lyrics was something I learned to appreciate about the 90's, so I missed much of that on earlier albums) He does remind one of Tom Waits, and after awhile it seems the voice just blends the songs together. His song writing is clever, and his ballads, particularly Martyr, are beautiful, so I guess this deserves a spot on Newberry, now that I know the criteria. Might I suggest throwing Uriah Heep's "Demons & Wizards" up for the Newberry Street hitching post soon.
I can't see slipping Uriah Heep past Mitch and Ken, but I do have a few entries in this genre that may surprise my space/soft rock friends. If you like "Demons & Wizards" I'm guessing you hate "Abominog" which was the Uriah Heep I knew growing up
Yeah, Abominog was a big let down after Demons which I consider to be one of my top 5 greatest ever, up there with Floyd's DSOM and Allman Bros Live at Fillmore.
Try running Arlo Gurthrie's "Runnin' Down the Road" album by them - I'd be interested in what they have to say about that one. Arlo seemed to hit a lot of genre's in that one album from a long time ago.
Zevon has always reminded me of the sort of guys that would hang around the mini mart by my house; kinda sketchy, but always had a good story to tell. They'd "seen some things" and were all too happy to tell you about it over a hand rolled cigarette and sh*tty coffee. I say this as a compliment, not a pejorative.
And for a guy who's "biggest" song is often labeled as a novelty and played alongside Monster Mash and Thriller, Zevon still has a pretty outsize influence. He's been gone 18 years, and yet everyone wrote about him in the present tense. Where ever he is, I'd like to think he took a long drag and chuckled at that.
Oh, and "Excitable Boy" is fantastic, but "Roland..." has always struck me as a bit of a dirge.
I agree that Warren looks like a "character" in an 80s coming-of-age movie. He could have been anything from the convenient store derelict that you described to the ruler of a small island nation. All was possible with Warren. He certainly lived like a maniac and did everything he could to destroy himself and the people close to him. But, his music has always had this weird hold on me. I actually considered pitching the self-titled album that he released a couple of years before "Excitable Boy" just so I could spend a few hundred words talking about "Desperados Under the Eaves". By the way, interesting observation about us all using the present tense. I think I always write about music in the present even if the artist is no longer with us. It's the music that lives in the now, if not the musician. As always, thanks for reading and commenting.
I enjoyed reading all three of your responses...more than the album. Like Steely Dan, I re-listened to the album most of the afternoon to see if there was anything I missed when it first came out. I didn't. I came across Warren by accident when listening to Linda Ronstadt sing Pitiful Me back in the 70's and read Warren wrote it. This must have been about Excitable Boy time so I bought the album. I grew weary of Warren's voice early on in the album, with the exception of Lawyers. (I loved those lyrics to that song too. Having said that, lyrics was something I learned to appreciate about the 90's, so I missed much of that on earlier albums) He does remind one of Tom Waits, and after awhile it seems the voice just blends the songs together. His song writing is clever, and his ballads, particularly Martyr, are beautiful, so I guess this deserves a spot on Newberry, now that I know the criteria. Might I suggest throwing Uriah Heep's "Demons & Wizards" up for the Newberry Street hitching post soon.
I can't see slipping Uriah Heep past Mitch and Ken, but I do have a few entries in this genre that may surprise my space/soft rock friends. If you like "Demons & Wizards" I'm guessing you hate "Abominog" which was the Uriah Heep I knew growing up
Yeah, Abominog was a big let down after Demons which I consider to be one of my top 5 greatest ever, up there with Floyd's DSOM and Allman Bros Live at Fillmore.
Try running Arlo Gurthrie's "Runnin' Down the Road" album by them - I'd be interested in what they have to say about that one. Arlo seemed to hit a lot of genre's in that one album from a long time ago.