During the previous four years and across a pair of compelling albums, Warren Zevon (born Chicago 24/1/47) had largely redefined the recognized form of the California-based, singer-songwriter album.
His sharply honed, often witty lyrics explored the dark recesses not only of L.A. but the human condition as a whole, Zevon songs the domain of mercurial mercenaries, homicidal maniacs, werewolves and rung-out lovers – and that was just the first side of ‘Excitable Boy‘, the 1978 L.P. that brought him significant U.S. chart success.
Such a triumph had been due in no small way to at least half a dozen unforgettable tracks being spread across the two sides. One of which, the gloriously sardonic ‘Werewolves of London‘, brought Zevon recognition when issued as a single (attaining a high-placing of 21), while at the same time propelling the parent album to number 8 on the Billboard listings.
His second effort for Asylum Records, Zevon was a stablemate of Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles, two acts who had come to epitomize the country-rock sound of mid-70s Los Angeles.
The third element of this major triumvirate was Jackson Browne. Beside his abundant talents as a songwriter, he had championed songs composed by Zevon through some lean times for the writer, bringing first rate piano-based material such as ‘Carmelita‘ and ‘Hasten Down the Wind‘ to the attention of Ronstadt who covered them in her own inimitable fashion.
Both of these songs had featured on ‘Warren Zevon‘ his 1976 self-titled debut for Asylum, Browne not only bringing influence to bear in securing Zevon a recording contract, but overseeing production duties on a magnificent album that revealed while he and the producer shared the same melodic inclinations, Zevon’s lyricism was of a more acerbic nature.
Following the widespread exposure that occurred with ‘Excitable Boy‘ becoming a hit, Browne this time co-producing with seasoned session guitarist Waddy Wachtel, Zevon was now in the position of having to sustain a high profile (‘Warren Zevon‘ for all its undoubted excellence had failed to chart), rather than attain one.
Due to an ongoing alcohol problem, (which had plagued him for a number of years) and the breakdown of his marriage, a two year wait ensued before Zevon released his next album – BAD LUCK STREAK IN DANCING SCHOOL (February 1980) finding him sober, reflective, but still with ready wit to call upon. It was also the most creatively ambitious record he had yet made.
While overall his latest songwriting submissions lack the collective accomplishment of ‘Warren Zevon‘ (something that at a pinch could also be said of ‘Excitable Boy‘), the record remains an impressive effort – the lyrical subject matter, musical innovation and intriguing structure taking it beyond recognized territory for a West Coast studio creation of the day.
Despite Browne no longer being at the controls, (Zevon and rising star among L.A. producers Greg Ladanyi doing the honours), he still features among one of the most stellar line-ups, even by ’70s Los Angeles standards, of supporting players ever assembled.
This veritable list of hit-making Hollywood hoi polloi includes Browne, Ronstadt, four Eagles (Henley, Frey, Felder and Walsh), JD Souther, Neil Young sideman Ben Keith, along with session stalwarts Wachtel, David Lindley (guitars), Leland Sklar (bass) and Rick Marotta (drums) – then just when it appears the roster of guest contributors could not become any more auspicious, Bruce Springsteen and T-Bone Burnett have their name attached to that of Zevon on different songs that appear on side two.
Given the dazzling array of talent stopping by to make their presence felt it seems ironic, yet somehow appropriate for an artist renowned for being unorthodox, the first sounds heard are that of a baroque string quartet – and to show just how unconventional he could be, Zevon is then recorded firing a .44 Magnum revolver into a bucket of gravel, these gunshots prelude to the opening title-track.
Performed by a core unit of Sklar, Marotta and Zevon (guitar), Lindley adding further ballast on lap steel guitar, this upbeat, introductory piece (dancing school an old euphemism for brothel), finds the creator already putting distance between himself and his Asylum labelmates, while at the same time pledging to rectify his errant ways:
‘Bad luck streak in dancing school/Down on my knees in pain/I’ve been breaking all the rules/Swear to God I’ll change.’
If there is continuation of sorts from his previous album it is apparent in the artwork, the inner sleeve of ‘Excitable Boy‘ presenting the image of a plated meal of vegetables only for a Smith & Wesson handgun to be placed where the meat should be. This latest record, in more ways than one as it transpires, continues his firearm fascination with an Uzi machine pistol, complete with spent shells, pictured along side a pair of ballet shoes on the rear sleeve, the front cover depicting the artist standing among young ballerinas in a dance studio.
Possibly included to enhance the chances of the album generating a hit single, a cover of ‘A Certain Girl‘ (written by New Orleans tunesmith Allen Toussaint under the pen name Naomi Neville), is undeniably catchy if lacking anything like the substance of his own material.
The lead guitar work of Eagle Don Felder has plenty to commend it while the call and response interplay with backing vocalists Browne and Marotta is also an effective touch. That said, it cannot dispel the notion of occupying space that would have been better served by a Zevon original, especially in light of only reaching 57 on the U.S. singles chart.
Boasting the profuse imagery listeners’ had come to expect, ‘Jungle Work‘ heads straight into the realm of geo-politics. Co-written with Jorge Calderon, the tough-rocking framework incorporates scenes of violent mayhem as heavily armed raiders descend from the sky to cause carnage:
‘Lear jet S.W.A.T team/On a midnight run/With the M16/And the Ingram gun/We parachute in/We parachute out/Death from above/We’re screaming now.’
Amidst the swirling synthesizer patterns crafted by Zevon, the fierce guitar lines of Eagle Joe Walsh and recurring chant of ‘Strength and muscle and jungle work‘, the tension is never less than immediate, risk and danger a means to an end:
‘Three young men/In a Russian truck/With a little MAC-10/Sent ’em running to the huts/These few young men/The few who dare/To battle in hell/Le Mercenaire‘.
Another dimension of his songwriting prowess, that of poignant balladeer, comes to the fore on the deeply affecting ‘Empty-Handed Heart.’
Leading an ensemble of Marotta, Sklar and Wachtel (guitar) from the piano, an understated string arrangement adds to the air of despondency in surveying a relationship (presumably with his ex-wife) in ruins, the lyrics while sensitive never giving way to sentimentality:
‘All these empty places/I try so hard to fill/Will I find another love?/I pray to God I will/Girl, we had some good times/But time does not stand still/It’s rolling like a rockslide down a hill.’
While other songsmiths would need far more words to create similar emotional impact, Zevon as he had done through previous songs depicting personal despair (‘Hasten Down the Wind‘/’Accidentally Like a Martyr’) never wastes a line. The resonance duly increases when Ronstadt adds her luscious tones to lines sung in counterpoint to those of the writer and from the perspective of his now estranged partner, ‘Remember when we used to watch the sun set in the sea/You said you’d always be in love with me‘.
The final words are then delivered by Zevon who offers bleak summation of where life has brought him, ‘Leave the fire behind you and start/I’ll be playing it by ear/Left here with an empty-handed heart.’
Following the first of two brief orchestral interludes (the other appearing on side two between the first and second tracks, each taken from a symphony Zevon had intermittently been composing), the emphasis makes another sudden shift, side one closer ‘Play It All Night Along‘, a darkly drawn portrait of life in the rural South.
Set to a surging melody featuring strident guitar from Lindley which Zevon supports with robust synthesizer lines, the force of the music is matched by some savage couplets that never relent from the opening gambit:
‘Grandpa pissed his pants again/He don’t give a damn/Brother Billy has both guns drawn/He ain’t been right since Vietnam.’
There are times when his imagery walks a fine line between satire and the grotesque. The chorus evokes Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd in referencing their most famous song, Browne joining him to deliver the lines, ‘Sweet home Alabama/Play that dead band’s song/Turn those speakers up full blast/Play it all night long‘, loudly played rock music used as an antidote to family dysfunction.
For those only aware of Zevon from ‘Werewolves of London‘, that due to its ‘Ahhoo‘ line in the chorus is regarded as something of a throwaway (novelty songs as rule do not contain words such as ‘amuck‘), ‘Play It All Night Long‘ would come as a shock, being such raw evocation of country living. This track once moved David Letterman, a renowned Zevon devotee, to comment:
‘I’m no linguist, but I believe Warren Zevon may be the only man in the history of human communication to use the word brucellosis in a song.’
For side two opener ‘Jeannie Needs A Shooter‘ he takes the outline of a song that came his way through Springsteen manager Jon Landau, Zevon making changes and applying the finishing touch to a piece the Boss had so far been unable to complete.
An instantly engaging mid-tempo melody, fattened up with chiming tubular bells (Marotta) and the crisp guitar breaks of Walsh, it boasts all the big scene vista of a Springsteen drama, Jeannie and the protagonist soon to embark on a daring, if doomed romance:
‘She came down from Knightstown with her hands hard from the line/From the first time I laid eyes on her/I knew that she’d be mine/Her father was a lawman, he swore he’d shoot me dead/’Cause he knew I wanted Jeannie and I’d have her like I said.’
What plans they have revolve around an impending dash toward freedom and a future together (‘I drew out all my money and together we did vow/To leave that very evening and get away somehow‘), only for best laid intentions to fail when the barrier to their togetherness makes a dramatic reappearance, ‘As I lay there in the darkness with a pistol by my side/Jeannie and her father rode off into the night‘ – Zevon adding to the aura of this resonant piece by including a memorable rendition on his exhilarating December 1980 live set ‘Stand in the Fire.’
The second instrumental interlude segues into ‘Bill Lee‘ a 90 second piano ballad whose title namechecks the outspoken Boston Red Sox baseball player.
Known for his forthright views on the sport and popular culture as a whole, the brief narrative serves to underline a winning mentality, (‘I always play to win/When it comes to skin and bone‘), while also resisting temptation not to answer (Lee sometimes unable to do so), banal questions from the media in brusque fashion. Glenn Frey of the Eagles sings harmony before the closing harmonica riff leaves to the imagination of the listener what controversial quote the pitcher has just imparted, ‘And sometimes I say things I shouldn’t/Like…‘
Initially ‘Gorilla You’re A Desperado‘ with its breezy synthesizer ambience appears to embrace more humerous overtones, Zevon conjuring the amusing notion of involuntarily swopping places with a caged primate:
‘Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo/Snatched the glasses right off my face/Took the keys to my BMW/Left me here to take his place/I wish the ape a lot of success/I’m sorry my apartment’s a mess/Most of all I’m sorry if I made you blue/I’m betting the gorilla will, too.’
With Browne, Souther and Eagle drummer Don Henley providing background vocals, (Browne also weighing in with a smart slide guitar solo), the track rolls along in apparently carefree fashion only for personal strife to befall the ape, ‘He built a house on an acre of land/He called it Villa Gorilla/Now I hear he’s getting divorced‘.
Things do not turn out well for the gorilla on adopting Zevon’s life, his existence going on to involve depression, Transactional Analysis and being ‘shackled to a platinum chain‘ the wry portents of the song by now all but vanished.
The outlook turns bleaker still through the slow country waltz that is ‘Bed of Coals‘. Co-written with Burnett and featuring emotive pedal steel incursions from Keith, Zevon reveals himself anguished and despairing of his self-destructive ways, ‘I’ve been lying in a bed of coals/I’ve been crying out of control/I roll and I tumble/Every time I come down’.
The combination of Ronstadt and Souther add vocal niceties at the chorus, although the narrator is left alone to make the stark observation of ‘I’m too old to die young/And too young to die now.‘
Finishing with the core troupe of Zevon, Marotta, Sklar and Lindley in attendance, alongside whom Henley and Frey add vocal support, the fast paced ‘Wild Age‘ bring matters to a combative, if cautionary conclusion. Energized by his purposeful piano playing, Zevon forges the image of young man determined to blaze a rampaging trail, irrespective of well-meaning advice from those around him:
‘You’ve seen him leaning on the streetlight/Listening to some song inside/You’ve seen him standing by the highway/Trying to hitch a ride/Well, they tried so hard to hold him/Heaven knows how hard they tried/But he’s made up his mind/He’s the restless kind.’
While the character is intent on reveling in his independence, Zevon has observed some (himself perhaps included) who applied the brakes in time. Others, however, have gone headlong into abyss, ‘Mostly when the reckless years end/Something’s left to save/Some of them keep running/’Til they run straight in their graves,’ the album ending with the contrasting facets of its creator singing the ‘Wild Age‘ refrain almost to the point of screeching, while all the time backed by pristine Eagle harmonies.
Released to largely positive reviews, ‘Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School‘ quickly reached the upper echelons of the U.S. charts but stalled at number 20, in the process becoming the last Zevon album to crack the top 50 for 23 years.
After being dropped by Asylum following ‘The Envoy‘ (July 1982), the albums he proceeded to make were embraced warmly by a small, captive audience but issued to ever decreasing commercial returns. The final irony in the career of an artist whose songs were often skilled exercises in such, came with what proved his final offering, ‘The Wind‘ (August 2003). Recorded through a period after Zevon had been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer (that would take his life at the age of 56 a month after the album was released), ‘The Wind‘ reached number 12 and subsequently won two Grammy awards.
Somewhere out in the cosmos Zevon, for whom gallows humour was a fundamental element of his work, would have been relishing the twisted fate of at all – commercial success and overdue critical attention returning just at the moment he made his mortal exit.
Browne once described him as ‘The first and foremost proponent of song noir‘ a statement readily endorsed by ‘Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School‘.
Warren Zevon, maverick, maestro – and missed.
WARREN ZEVON – BAD LUCK STREAK IN DANCING SCHOOL (Released February 15 1980):
Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School/A Certain Girl/Jungle Work/Empty-Handed Heart/Interlude No 1/Play It All Night Long/Jeannie Needs a Shooter/Interlude No 2/Bill Lee/Gorilla You’re a Desperado/Bed of Coals/Wild Age;
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