Besides, I donвЂ™t see why a greatest hits package isnвЂ™t every bit as valid an artistic statement as any other LP. I planned to review Excitable Boy, ZevonвЂ™s strongest LP, but I simply couldnвЂ™t live without вЂњPlay It All Night Long,вЂќ вЂњAinвЂ™t That Pretty At All,вЂќ вЂњPoor Poor Pitiful Me,вЂќ and вЂњDesperadoes Under The Eaves.вЂќ So I elected to review The Best of Warren Zevon, even though reviewing greatest hits packages is often seen as a critical cheap shot and the equivalent of shooting Stevie Nicks in a barrel.Д«ut fuck it.

Zevon then embarked on a solo career, and released 12 studio LPs between 1969-his obscure debut album was produced by that legendary urine-stained rock opportunist Kim вЂњRunawaysвЂќ Fowley-and his untimely death in 2003. But Zevon gave up a cool career in crime for the music biz, playing in a duo called lyme and cymbelle, writing advertising jingles and songs for the likes of The Turtles, and touring with The Everly Brothers as their keyboardist and band leader/musical coordinator. Zevon was born in Chicago, and his old man was a bookie and best man at infamous mobster Mickey CohenвЂ™s wedding. Souther singing harmony on the great вЂњDesperadoes Under The EavesвЂќ-when making his albums. As great as his songs are, they lack the rough edges that would have given them the raw immediacy to match his insane lyrics, and this has everything to do with his reliance on slick studio musicians and his equally slick rock star chums-themвЂ™s Don Henley and Glenn Frey singing harmony on вЂњThe French Inhaler,вЂќ and Jackson Browne and the loathsome J.D. Zevon may have kept bad company-one wonders what drew such a rabid wildebeest to the insipid likes of Jackson Browne and The Eagles-but their deleterious habits (like writing really shitty songs) fortunately didnвЂ™t rub off on him. His second and third LPs (1976вЂ™s Warren Zevon and 1978вЂ™s Excitable Boy) established him as the only lyricist of the era who could hold a candle to Randy Newman, and the sheer insanity of his songs-itвЂ™s impossible to imagine anyone else writing about a walking headless mercenary seeking revenge on his killer, or a kid who builds a cage for himself from his girlfriendвЂ™s bones-left the competition in the dust. IвЂ™ve blown chunks at inappropriate moments and fired off guns in the house while drunk too, but IвЂ™m no Warren Zevon, who was a bona fide lyrical and songwriting genius. 357 magnum, as Jerry Lee did at his own 41st birthday party. While Zevon shared The KillerвЂ™s love for guns, at least he never managed to shoot one of his own musicians in the chest with a.

Bad Example,вЂќ which included the lines, вЂњI like to have a good time/And I donвЂ™t care who gets hurt.вЂќ In short, he was a latter day Jerry Lee Lewis, only 500 times more literate.

Meanwhile Zevon was writing songs like вЂњMr. Call it suicide by proxy-and a cry for help-but all Zevon had to say was, вЂњItвЂ™s funny, isnвЂ™t it?вЂќ He never went to the Troubadour with a Kotex affixed to his forehead like that idiot John Lennon, but his wife was once awakened by gunshots to discover Zevon had put three bullet holes in his head-on the cover of his Excitable Boy LP. When drinking-and in general pursuing oblivion the way Ahab did a certain white whale-Zevon was notorious for vomiting off interior balconies at staid record company meet-and-greets and much, much, worse. Warren Zevon was one of rockвЂ™s great crazy men.

Play it all night long warren zevon