Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his strange, sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes. Listening to Warren's lyrics make one wonder how much of the writing is dark humor or just truly dark. I've been a increasing fan of Warren Zevon since discovering he has far better songs then Werewolves of London. I think he did some of his best work lyrically with "Desperado Under the Eve" and musically his extremely dissonant song "Genius." Unfortunately, the only version of "Genius" on youtube is his last David Letterman performance which I feel does not do the song justice - the string quartet is all off.
Warren Zevon was an outstanding musician who let himself stand in the way of his own success all too often. I listened to an interview of his a few days ago and was struck by how he let his antisocial personality affect his career. At one point in the interview he remarked on how he was hesitant to record with a band because he knew he wouldn't be able to get himself to tour with anyone. With out the band behind him, he feared he would leave the fans disappointed when their was no big sax solo or drum accompaniment.
During interviews, Zevon described a lifelong phobia of doctors and said he seldom received medical assessment. Shortly before playing at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in 2002, he started feeling dizzy and developed a chronic cough. After a long period of untreated illness and pain, Zevon was encouraged by his dentist to see a physician; when he did so he was diagnosed with inoperable mesothelioma (a form of cancer associated with exposure to asbestos). Refusing treatments he believed might incapacitate him, Zevon instead began recording his final album. The album, The Wind, includes guest appearances by close friends including Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh, David Lindley, Billy Bob Thornton, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty, Dwight Yoakam, and others. It has been said that the decision to include "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" was his, much to the dismay of the others in the project, and his recording performance reduced the studio to tears. At the request of the music television channel VH1, documentarian Nick Read was given access to the sessions; his cameras documented a man who retained his mordant sense of humor, even as his health was deteriorating over time.
He was exceeding talented as a song writer and musician as you will hear in his songs. It's a shame to see him go.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Zevon
No comments:
Post a Comment