Post by tcb on Sept 8, 2003 9:25:00 GMT -5
Singer-songwriter Warren Zevon dies
Artist best known for 'Werewolves of London' died at 56 of cancer
02:07 AM CDT on Monday, September 8, 2003
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES – Warren Zevon, a restless, sardonic bard who embodied the
dark edge and excess of the famed singer-songwriter scene in 1970s
Southern California, died after a battle with lung cancer. He was
56.
Mr. Zevon died Sunday afternoon at his home in Los Angeles, according
to his manager, Irving Azoff, who said that the singer had been
"very upbeat" in the last week because of the success of his new
album and the recent birth of twin grandchildren.
While casual pop fans might recognize only his 1978 horror-show hit
"Werewolves of London," Mr. Zevon for years enjoyed a cult following
and the acclaim of his peers.
In a macabre songbook that includes "Excitable Boy," "Lawyers, Guns and
Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner," Mr. Zevon
presented a world of the undead and the unethical on the rampage
in a mercenary world.
The singer, a longtime smoker, learned in August 2002 that he was
suffering from inoperable lung cancer.
Mr. Zevon spent much of his time during his illness doting on family
and working in a home studio on a new album, The Wind .
The tracks also include some wry, unsentimental songs, in Mr. Zevon's
familiar mode, and a version of the Bob Dylan classic "Knockin' on
Heaven's Door," a selection that speaks to Mr. Zevon's candor
and sense of grim theater. Mr. Dylan has recently paid tribute
to Mr. Zevon by singing several of his songs, including
"Accidentally Like a Martyr," in his concert sets. That same
month, David Letterman devoted an entire episode on his late
night CBS show to his old friend, an unprecedented time
commitment by the long-running program.
Warren William Zevon was born Jan. 24, 1947, in Chicago and spent much
of his youth shuttling between different cities in California,
among them Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The classically trained young pianist quit high school and traveled
from Los Angeles to New York to become a folk singer. That dream
fizzled and Mr. Zevon bounced around the country, eventually
returning to Southern California by the late 1960s. He made a
living composing commercial jingles and playing on recording
sessions. He also wrote some songs for the Turtles ("Like the
Seasons" and "Outside Chance"), and by the early 1970s was a
keyboard player and music director for the Everly Brothers.
In 1969, he had put out his first album, Wanted: Dead or Alive ,
on One Way Records, but it was largely ignored. Jackson Browne, Mr.
Zevon's close friend, had championed his cause to music mogul David
Geffen and the result would be Warren Zevon , a 1976 release from
Asylum Records that would make the singer a darling of the
critics. Mr. Browne produced the album, which included "Poor,
Poor Pitiful Me," a major hit a year later for Linda Ronstadt.
He did have one song cut through in a big way – "Werewolves of London"
from 1978 became an ominous novelty with its lyrics about a
werewolf who enjoyed socializing but also mutilated little old
ladies.
By the early 1980s, Mr. Zevon's notoriously wild ways had wrecked much
of his personal life, and he went into a rehab program, which he
would later memorably mock in "Detox Mansion."
His 1982 album, The Envoy , was a product of his cleaner living
and was hailed as a return to his early form. Sentimental Hygiene from
1987 and the 1991 collection Mr. Bad Example again won him
effusive reviews. Still, major commercial success eluded him. By last
year, after learning of his health issues, he was sanguine about
his flirtations with major stardom.
"It was a little more interesting this way, maybe," he said. "Maybe
more aggravating, too. At least I've had one foot in a very
normal kind of life."
Artist best known for 'Werewolves of London' died at 56 of cancer
02:07 AM CDT on Monday, September 8, 2003
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES – Warren Zevon, a restless, sardonic bard who embodied the
dark edge and excess of the famed singer-songwriter scene in 1970s
Southern California, died after a battle with lung cancer. He was
56.
Mr. Zevon died Sunday afternoon at his home in Los Angeles, according
to his manager, Irving Azoff, who said that the singer had been
"very upbeat" in the last week because of the success of his new
album and the recent birth of twin grandchildren.
While casual pop fans might recognize only his 1978 horror-show hit
"Werewolves of London," Mr. Zevon for years enjoyed a cult following
and the acclaim of his peers.
In a macabre songbook that includes "Excitable Boy," "Lawyers, Guns and
Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner," Mr. Zevon
presented a world of the undead and the unethical on the rampage
in a mercenary world.
The singer, a longtime smoker, learned in August 2002 that he was
suffering from inoperable lung cancer.
Mr. Zevon spent much of his time during his illness doting on family
and working in a home studio on a new album, The Wind .
The tracks also include some wry, unsentimental songs, in Mr. Zevon's
familiar mode, and a version of the Bob Dylan classic "Knockin' on
Heaven's Door," a selection that speaks to Mr. Zevon's candor
and sense of grim theater. Mr. Dylan has recently paid tribute
to Mr. Zevon by singing several of his songs, including
"Accidentally Like a Martyr," in his concert sets. That same
month, David Letterman devoted an entire episode on his late
night CBS show to his old friend, an unprecedented time
commitment by the long-running program.
Warren William Zevon was born Jan. 24, 1947, in Chicago and spent much
of his youth shuttling between different cities in California,
among them Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The classically trained young pianist quit high school and traveled
from Los Angeles to New York to become a folk singer. That dream
fizzled and Mr. Zevon bounced around the country, eventually
returning to Southern California by the late 1960s. He made a
living composing commercial jingles and playing on recording
sessions. He also wrote some songs for the Turtles ("Like the
Seasons" and "Outside Chance"), and by the early 1970s was a
keyboard player and music director for the Everly Brothers.
In 1969, he had put out his first album, Wanted: Dead or Alive ,
on One Way Records, but it was largely ignored. Jackson Browne, Mr.
Zevon's close friend, had championed his cause to music mogul David
Geffen and the result would be Warren Zevon , a 1976 release from
Asylum Records that would make the singer a darling of the
critics. Mr. Browne produced the album, which included "Poor,
Poor Pitiful Me," a major hit a year later for Linda Ronstadt.
He did have one song cut through in a big way – "Werewolves of London"
from 1978 became an ominous novelty with its lyrics about a
werewolf who enjoyed socializing but also mutilated little old
ladies.
By the early 1980s, Mr. Zevon's notoriously wild ways had wrecked much
of his personal life, and he went into a rehab program, which he
would later memorably mock in "Detox Mansion."
His 1982 album, The Envoy , was a product of his cleaner living
and was hailed as a return to his early form. Sentimental Hygiene from
1987 and the 1991 collection Mr. Bad Example again won him
effusive reviews. Still, major commercial success eluded him. By last
year, after learning of his health issues, he was sanguine about
his flirtations with major stardom.
"It was a little more interesting this way, maybe," he said. "Maybe
more aggravating, too. At least I've had one foot in a very
normal kind of life."
