THE WARREN COMMISSION – Warren Zevon & ‘EXCITABLE BOY’……

[email protected] September 25, 2019

For the sake of argument and general accuracy, the singer-songwriter movement so identified with the music scene of Southern California in the 1970s – now looked upon as a defining musical genre of that decade – can be said to begin with ‘Sweet Baby James‘ by James Taylor in 1970.

It hit an incredibly high plateau twelve months later with ‘Blue‘ (Joni Mitchell) and ‘Tapestry‘ (Carole King), with the level of creative excellence maintained over the next few years by Jackson Browne and Randy Newman.

For the most part expressing introspective sentiments, Browne and Newman also viewed politics with interest, (Browne troubled but optimistic, Newman irascible or irreverent), but whether the point personal or political, it was made against the backdrop of soft-rock melodies with overtones of country or folk.

Ironically given the largely individual outlook of this brigade of artists, most successful in terms of record sales were a group.

With their denim-clad look and country pop sensibilities, the Eagles received constant radio airplay and sold millions of records, filling the void left by the frequently dysfunctional Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young aggregation.

Their massive selling 1970 ‘Deja Vu‘ album had been a forerunner of the scene to come – laden as it was with lush harmonies, sensitive country-tinged ballads and mid-tempo rockers.

Each of the four members, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young, thus became solo members of this growing movement, who taken as a whole, produced at least half a dozen outstanding albums by the midpoint of the decade (Browne and Young accounting for two each at least).

In terms of commercial success even the Eagles for a time were eclipsed by Linda Ronstadt, whose remarkable voice could make even the most lightweight material sound extraordinary, although in fairness there is little wastage on a run of excellent recordings through the early and mid-70s.

These albums encompassed Motown covers, country and western, updated versions of late 50s/early 60s hits, while showcasing songs from an emerging network of intuitive songwriters like Karla Bonhof – but most notably Warren Zevon.

Indeed, Ronstadt and to an even larger extent Browne, were the key figures in Zevon becoming a recording artist in his own right – she as a patron of his wonderful songs, Browne by almost single-handedly creating the opportunity for Zevon to have a second chance at stardom.

To the world at large the 1976 self-titled set, produced by Jackson Browne, was his debut outing – most people unaware of ‘Wanted Dead or Alive,’ a strange late 60s curio, which has a couple of parts greater than the sum.

In the seven-year absence between that and ‘Warren Zevon‘ he had written a batch of superb compositions, grown frustrated at having no outlet for them, decamped to Northern Spain playing guitar in cafes and bars while developing an unquenchable thirst for vodka. At the behest of Browne, Zevon finally returned to Los Angeles on the promise of a record deal with Asylum Records – the label owned by David Geffen and home to Browne, Ronstadt and the Eagles.

Undertaking valuable groundwork, Browne offered Ronstadt first refusal from the trove of great material Zevon had stockpiled (none of which she refused) – Browne then assembled virtually every name session player in Hollywood and sought out various Eagles, Bonnie Raitt, an Everly brother, along with Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac.

But this was no superstar gathering merely to launch a career. From the outset it was clear Zevon was a writer apart – tougher than Browne, sharper even than Newman, more astute than Don Henley and Glenn Frey of the Eagles.

Far removed from the decadence of ‘life in the fast lane‘ Zevon depicts a city of pitiful junkies, deluded starlets and loser bars – the sunshine and palm trees no consolation to lives heading for the drain or already there.

All through Zevon makes his observations with a keen eye and even if he had not been frequenting the worst dives Los Angeles had to offer, lines such as ‘When the lights came on at two, I caught a glimpse of you, and your face looked like something death brought with him in a suitcase,’ convinced you he had – this an LA closer to the novels of James Ellroy than songs of James Taylor.

Superior to ‘Hotel California‘ and better by a whisker than ‘The Pretender‘ (Jackson Browne), ‘Warren Zevon‘ is a masterful record and as such the most accomplished album to be made on Asylum – or anywhere else for that matter – in 1976.

In a highly readable biography of her ex-husband (published in 2007, four years after his death), Crystal Zevon reveals how badly he dealt with his first brush with success (‘Warren Zevon‘ returned modest sales but gained rave notices), Zevon becoming prone to all manner of erratic behaviour. His alcohol fueled outbursts, both verbal and physical, eventually resulted in divorce from Crystal – the two, however, would remain close friends until he succumbed to cancer at the age of 56 in September 2003.

Back in 1978 Browne once more emerged through the chaos to take control of sessions that would result in the next Zevon LP (Browne co-producing with guitarist Waddy Wachtel). The resultant ‘EXCITABLE BOY‘ (January 1978), containing his best-known song while proving the most commercially successful album of his career – although the dip in quality on side two makes its predecessor the overall career high of Warren Zevon.

In the context of what follows on side one, the opening ‘When Johnny Strikes Up the Band‘ comes across as slight but serves its purpose as an overture. Warren leads his troupe (that throughout consist largely of Zevon (keyboards), Wachtel (guitars), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Kenny Edwards (bass), through a mid-paced rocker that does exactly what the title states – Warren striking up the band who he assures us are ‘ready‘ and ‘rock steady‘.

But if ‘Johnny’ is a touch shallow then ‘Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner‘ goes deep – deep into the world of a killer for hire, this soldier of fortune heading to Biafra to help the Congolese in the 1966/67 Congo War.

Based on the experiences of his friend David Lindell, a former mercenary (who receives a co-write credit), Zevon gives the tale a twist by having the CIA put a contract on Roland – who employ the double-crossing Van Owen, a former comrade in arms to carry out the slaying, who we are informed, ‘blew off Roland’s head.’

But not only does Roland rise from the dead as a phantom, he takes revenge on his assailant – the notion of mercenaries fighting on behalf of the highest bidder brought to bear in the closing lines, the spirit of Roland ‘wandering through the night‘ to haunt latter-day conflicts, ‘in Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley.’

The climax, created primarily by piano and drums, reaches a crescendo akin to staccato blasts from a Thompson machine gun, Zevon emphasising his point by stating:

‘Patty Hurst, heard the burst of Roland’s Thompson Gun – and bought it.’

On a number of levels, it is a remarkable rock song, the detail, deadpan humour and sense of macabre placing it in a unique category. Suffice to say Linda Ronstadt has never done a cover version, although she does appear singing harmony on the next up title track – which in many ways is equally chilling, the ‘Excitable Boy‘ in question an abominable child whose psychotic behaviour eventually leads him to murder and rape.

This litany of disgrace is played out over a ragtime piano melody and easy flowing saxophone solo to create a bizarre juxtaposition in the words and tune – as if a Stephen King story had been set to music by Scott Joplin.

There remains no end in sight to the violence as ‘Werewolves of London,’ his only hit single and most famous song then follows. Sometimes described, wrongly, as a novelty – such songs do not as a rule contain words like ‘amuck‘ – it is far too witty and clever for that, the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde connotations given full range with references to ‘Soho‘, ‘Mayfair‘ and a hairy-handed gent with impeccable dress sense.

The song shifts location to Los Angeles at the end as the werewolf is seen drinking a ‘Pina Colada at Trader Vic’s‘ – but by the time of his incendiary live album ‘Stand in the Fire‘ (1980), Zevon affirms his newfound sobriety by replacing the cocktail with ‘Perrier.’

From the excellent, posthumously released collection of unreleased songs and alternate versions entitled ‘Preludes‘ (2007), it is clear ‘Werewolves‘ was available to use on ‘Warren Zevon‘ in a slightly different form – but rightly omitted from the final selection as Browne, correctly, decided it did not fit the overall theme. Also kicking about was an under-developed reading of ‘Accidentally Like a Martyr,’ the song that closes side one.

Two melancholy verses reflect on a relationship sliding toward oblivion (‘never thought I’d have to pay so dearly for what was already mine’), as Zevon takes an unflinching approach to matters of the heart. All this time later it is still hard to fathom what he actually means by the title, although that has not prevented Bob Dylan, among others, from performing a rendition.

After such a thought-provoking and altogether memorable first side things take a distinct step back when the LP is flipped over – ‘Nighttime in the Switching Yard,’ little more than a workout for the band and opportunity for Zevon to show he can utilize a synthesizer, this observation of moving trains the most nondescript lyric he ever put his name to.

Commenting on the United States occupation of a Mexican province in 1914, ‘Veracruz‘ is not without merit, the background harp a nice atmospheric touch, but it finishes with the sense a better song should have emerged. ‘Tenderness on the Block‘ (co-written with Browne), also lacks depth with little to distinguish it from many other LA soft rock songs of the period – Zevon looked upon with great admiration because his writing was normally so far removed from such.

It is also highly unlikely Browne would have used such a pedestrian piece.

As these were three relatively short songs, there should have been room for another before the closer – with ‘Preludes‘ again revealing what could have been used. Why he failed to re-record the outstanding ‘Empty Hearted Town‘ for the project will remain a mystery – and just as mystifying is how this brilliant piano ballad never found its way to Sinatra, (imagine the Quincy Jones arrangement for Ol’ Blue Eyes singing lines such as: ‘Cigarettes make the sun come up, whisky makes the sun go down and in between you do a lot of hanging around‘).

But even without the fifth song it warrants, side two is redeemed by the tough-rocking work of genius that is ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money.’

Up to this point we could be forgiven in thinking that in ‘Werewolves of London‘ (‘I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand, walking through the streets of Soho in the rain‘), Zevon had come up with the greatest opening line of all time – but with ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money‘ he usurps himself with:

‘I went home with the waitress the way I always do, how was I to know she was with the Russians, too?’

Author Lee Child would kill to put a line that good into the mouth of his fictional hero Jack Reacher. He would be hard pressed as well to come up with a better story, Warren placing his protagonist in sticky situations first in Havana and then Honduras. In between gambling and hiding, the naïve American abroad claims:

‘I’m the innocent bystander, somehow I got stuck, between a rock and hard place and I’m down on my luck.’

The song is another masterpiece of sharp-eyed, humorous storytelling that rightly drew comparisons with legendary crime writer Raymond Chandler. As exciting as this version is, it actually pales in comparison to the one recorded for ‘Stand in the Fire.’ Given full rein to cut loose, Warren leads his touring band over the top as they blast out four minutes of unrelenting flak.

On the back of ‘Werewolves of London‘ becoming a hit single, ‘Excitable Boy‘ rose steadily up the US album charts and despite never threatening to surpass what the Eagles were selling, peaked at number eight – his one and only top ten listing.

The downside of such a successful album was that it triggered another round of wanton self-destruction, Zevon in and out of rehab until reappearing with the self-reflective, slightly disjointed ‘Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School‘ (1980).

After the live set and generally impressive ‘The Envoy‘ (1982) he was dropped by Asylum (who by now had been absorbed into Warner Bros), Zevon spending the rest of his career flitting from label to label.

Making a succession of excellent albums for a dwindling audience, those who remained devoted greeted each one joyously – knowing full well nobody else was writing songs about idiosyncratic characters populating the worlds of boxing, ice hockey, finance, the factory floor and suburbia; each of them to a man (himself included) bad examples of the human condition.

Revered by Dylan, Springsteen, Browne, Neil Young and REM, none of them wrote from the same perspective as him, which is probably just as well – someone else with the same worldview of Warren Zevon would have made the planet seem an even more disconcerting place.

All we needed was Warren pointing out the absurdities and anomalies of it all, the world of songwriting diminished without him – imagine the delight he would have provided with his perceptions of fake news, social media, the Kardashians and their like.

An ‘Excitable Boy‘ he might have been, but in a world where lawyers, guns and money are rarely from the headlines, how we could do with Warren Zevon to get us out of this.

WARREN ZEVON – ‘EXCITABLE BOY‘ (Released January 18 1978):

When Johnny Strikes Up the Band/Roland the Headless Thomson Gunner/Excitable Boy/Accidentally Like a Martyr/Nighttime in the Switching Yard/Veracruz/Tenderness on the Block/Lawyers, Guns and Money;

This article was first published on 25/9/2019.

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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available as an Amazon Kindle book.