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Member Number: 10506
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. 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.
On October 30, 2002, Zevon was featured on the Late Show with David Letterman as the only guest for the entire hour. The band played "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" as his introduction. Zevon performed several songs and spoke at length about his illness. Zevon was a frequent guest and occasional substitute bandleader on Letterman's television shows since Late Night first broadcasted during 1982. He noted, "I may have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years." It was during this broadcast that, when asked by Letterman if he knew something more about life and death now, he first offered his oft-quoted insight on dying: "Enjoy every sandwich." He also took time to thank Letterman for his years of help, calling him "the best friend my music's ever had". For his final song of the evening, and his final public performance, Zevon performed "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" at Letterman's request. In the green room after the show, Zevon presented Letterman with the guitar that he always used on the show, with a single request: "Here, I want you to have this, take good care of it."
Zevon stated previously that his illness was expected to be terminal within months after the diagnosis in the fall of 2002; however, he lived to see the birth of twin grandsons in June 2003 and the release of The Wind on August 26, 2003. Owing in part to the first VH1 broadcasts of Nick Read's documentary Warren Zevon: Keep Me In Your Heart, the album reached number 16 of the US charts, Zevon's highest since Excitable Boy. When his diagnosis became public, Zevon told the media that he just hoped to live long enough to see the next James Bond movie, a goal he accomplished. Coincidentally, the film was titled Die Another Day.
Warren Zevon died on September 7, 2003, aged 56, at his home in Los Angeles, California. The Wind was certified gold by the RIAA during December 2003 and Zevon received five posthumous Grammy nominations, including Song Of The Year for the ballad "Keep Me In Your Heart". The Wind won two Grammys, with the album itself receiving the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, while "Disorder in the House", Zevon's duet with Bruce Springsteen, was awarded Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. These posthumous awards were the first Grammys of Zevon's more than 30-year career.
* He was cremated and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles.
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.
Although his was a cult success, Zevon's work has often been complimented by well-known musicians. His best-known compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money", "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Johnny Strikes Up The Band", all of which are featured on his 1978 release, Excitable Boy. Other well known Zevon songs include "Accidentally Like a Martyr", "Mr. Bad Example", "Mutineer" and "Mohammed's Radio".
Along with his own compositions Zevon recorded or performed occasional covers, including Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan". He was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman later performed guest vocals on "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)".
Early life and times
Zevon was born in Chicago, Illinois to William "Stumpy" Zevon (formerly "Zivotovsky") and Beverly Cope Simmons, a Mormon from Salt Lake City, Utah. "Stumpy" Zevon was a boxer, small-time criminal and Mickey Cohen associate of Russian Jewish origin and a relative of folk/blues-singer, Jedaiah Zivotovsky, They soon moved to California. By the age of 13, Zevon was an occasional visitor to the home of Igor Stravinsky where he, alongside Robert Craft, briefly studied modern classical music. Zevon's parents divorced when he was 16 years old and he soon quit high school and moved from Los Angeles to New York to become a folk singer.
Zevon turned to a musical career early, including a stretch with high school friend Violet Santangelo as part of a Sonny and Cher-type male/female duo called lyme & cybelle (exercising artistic license, the band name eschewed capitalization). He spent time as a session musician and jingle composer. He wrote several songs for his White Whale label-mates the Turtles ("Like the Seasons" and "Outside Chance"), though his participation in their recording is unknown. Another early composition ("She Quit Me") was included in the soundtrack for the film Midnight Cowboy (1969). Zevon's first attempt at a solo album, Wanted Dead or Alive (1969), was produced by 1960s cult figure Kim Fowley but did not sell well. Flashes of Zevon's later writing preoccupations of romantic loss and noir-ish violence are present in songs like "Tule's Blues" and "A Bullet for Ramona". Zevon's second effort, Leaf in the Wind, was scrapped (though a belated release was contemplated just prior to his death). During the early 1970s, Zevon toured regularly with the Everly Brothers as keyboard player and band leader/musical coordinator. Later during the same decade he toured and recorded with Don Everly and Phil Everly, separately, as they tried to launch solo careers after their break-up. His dissatisfaction with his career (and a lack of funds) led him to move to Spain during the summer of 1975, where he lived and played in a small tavern in Sitges near Barcelona owned by David Lindell, a former mercenary. Together they composed Zevon's classic "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner".
Discography
* Wanted Dead or Alive - 1969
* Warren Zevon - 1976
* Excitable Boy - 1978
* Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School - 1980
* Stand in the Fire - 1980
* The Envoy - 1982
* A Quiet Normal Life: The Best of Warren Zevon - 1986
* Sentimental Hygiene - 1987
* Transverse City - 1989
* Hindu Love Gods - 1990
* Mr. Bad Example - 1991
* Learning to Flinch - 1993
* Mutineer - 1995
* I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (An Anthology) - 1996
* Life'll Kill Ya - 2000
* My Ride's Here - 2002
* Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon - 2002
* The First Sessions - 2003
* The Wind - 2003
* Reconsider Me: The Love Songs - 2006
* Preludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordings - 2007
* Warren Zevon (Collector's Edition; Remastered) - 2008
Lawyers, Guns and Money - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5puAN1PGQw
Warren Zevon official site
Warren Zevon official MySpace site
Warren Zevon Wiki
"Life and Death on The Late Show", American Spectator November 22, 2002
"Warren Zevon On the Loose in Los Angeles" by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, March 9, 1978
"Warren Zevon's Resurrection: How He Saved Himself From a Coward's Death" by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, March 19, 1981
"Warren Zevon Takes Control" by Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone, September 16, 1982
"An Excitable Boy, They All Said" by Jonathan Valania, Philadelphia Weekly, November 20, 2002
"Interview: Jackson Browne Remembers Warren Zevon" by David Fricke, Rolling Stone, September 19, 2003
"Warren Zevon’s Traveling Circus - June 1978" by Dinky Dawson, Crawdaddy!, December 5, 2007
Warren Zevon live audio recordings at Archive.org
Jordan Zevon's Official Site
Warren Zevon at Rolling Stone
"Sillyhow Stride": a poem by Paul Muldoon in memory of Warren Zevon from TLS, May 31, 2006.
Review of Preludes
Gervison, Anita and Jonathan Valania, "Rock 'n' Roll: Rittenhouse Square's Excitable Boy". Philadelphia Magazine. December 2005.
References in popular culture
The film The Lost World: Jurassic Park has characters named Nick Van Owen and Roland Tembo, as a tribute to Zevon's "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner".
In 2006, Zevon's song "Lawyers, Guns and Money" was used as the theme song for producer Jerry Bruckheimer's short-lived Fox network TV series Justice. The series ended after only 13 episodes. Seven years earlier Zevon's song "Even A Dog Can Shake Hands" was used as the theme song for the show Action, which also ran for 13 episodes.
"Lawyers, Guns and Money" was also included in the closing credits of Alex Gibney's documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
An episode of the science-fiction TV show Farscape was entitled "Liars, Guns, and Money".
In 2006, Zevon's song "Keep Me In Your Heart" (The Wind, 2003) was included in the Boston Legal season 2 episode "Too Much Information", which features Michael J. Fox portraying a man dying of lung cancer. "Lawyers, Guns and Money" was also featured in the Boston Legal episode "...There's Fire."
In October 2007, Kid Rock released "Rock and Roll Jesus" which featured the hit song All Summer Long, a track that featured Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" as the main melody. Also, in the video for All Summer Long, a vinyl copy of Excitable Boy can be seen being manipulated by a DJ
In the 2009 Judd Apatow film, Funny People, "Keep Me In Your Heart" is featured on an iTunes playlist made by Seth Rogen's character, which nearly brings Adam Sandler's character to tears.
The Irish poet Paul Muldoon has written a long poem called 'Sillyhow Stride (in memory of Warren Zevon)', published in his 2006 book Horse Latitudes.
References to Zevon and his music abound in the Showtime television series Californication
Humanarchives.org provides the Warren Zevon archive to help educate and promote humanity.
Warren Zevon Archive References
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