warren

In the last few years, I have become something of a jazz snob. I have all but stopped listening to anything non-jazz. Even old Beatle tunes - some of which, such as "Here, There and Everywhere" used to make me quiver with excitement - hold no special allure today. Now and again I try to go back to an Elton John CD, or an Elvis Costello favourite from the late 70's - nada! I listen for a few seconds, then slide the CD out and either listen to talk radio or some Jack Teagarden selection. What jazz does for me is different from what the Beatle tunes used to do: I get a sense of depth from it, a sense of understanding of life, of mastery and smoothenss that was lacking in the pop tunes. I may not get as immediate a tingle but the pleasure is longer lasting.

A few days ago I decided to take a few old pop favourites with me to the car and give them a spin, just for old times' sake and to see if they would do anything for my jaded ear. One of the discs I took with me was Warren Zevon's late seventies classic, "Excitable Boy". I popped that baby into my car player and right from the first bar of the first tune ("Johnny Strikes Up the Band") - WHOA!!! I hadn't listend to Zevon for more than a decade and had forgotten what an emotional punch the guy can serve up. Lyrics on par with Tom Waits or Dylan and straight up, melodic rock on par with....well, anyone. All that plus that fabulous, powerful baritone voice which seems out of sync with the cover pic of an angelic looking, bespectacled college student. And I love the 70's production values, too. I had forgotten how clear and bright everything sounded back then. The drums are punchy, the reverb clear as a mountain brook, the guitars overdriven but not screeching. Above all, the songwriting is simply brilliant and without par. "Accidentally, Like a Martyr" is an absolute gem of a ballad about hurt and loss. The title track, "Excitable Boy" and tunes like "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland, the Headless Thompson Gunner" serve up the usual cast of sicko Zevon characters - with humour and melodies that will stay in your head for days. Warren Zevon's music would be the perfect soundtrack for a Tarrantino or a Coen brothers' movie: it's very intelligent, very funny, alarming even - yet so eminently hummable!

Here is what critic Steven Stolder wrote about Zevon's music: Zevon achieved some fame, albeit not what his talent would have earned him had he written songs more like his mellower pal Jackson Browne and a little less like Jack the Ripper in a convertible. Amen to that!

Run, don't walk, to your nearest record store and get a couple of Warren Zevon discs. Warren is sadly no longer with us, having succumbed to cancer a few years ago. But his spirit lives on, humming, whistling, crying and howling: "Ahhhh....ooooohhhh, the werewolves of London"