Archive warren zevon biography

It's worth reading if you're a fan. But then, Zevon didn't exactly have fans, in the traditional sense. What he had were a set of admirers among professional pop artists basically including everyone who ever tried to write lyricsand another set of cult followers who bought his records and talked him up as an underrated genius at every occasion.

But he dissipated much of that fame through the s in bouts of alcoholism and self-destructive behavior. You know a man's living too large when even Hunter S. Thompson describes him as "a dangerous drinker. All this creates a problem for C. Kushins in Nothing's Bad Lucksince he can't quite decide for whom he is trying to write. The cult fans demand only new information, the mainstream audience need reminding of who Zevon was, and the music critics require analysis of Zevon's techniques.

The songwriter's final album, The Windwas recorded with the help of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and others, after Zevon was diagnosed in with inoperable lung cancer. Released only two weeks before his death, it received nothing but praise, including a pair of Grammy Awards. If Kushins had finished the book on that last tide of good will, the varying registers of the book might have passed unremarked.

Now, however, a decade and a half later, Nothing's Bad Luck feels a disappointment. Still, the book gives a reasonable survey of the artist's life and work. Of course, there is no such thing as objectivity when it comes to biography. Sounes has made subjective decisions regarding which records and anecdotes to spend more or less of his time with.

Insights from musicians who played with Zevon tend to provide more illumination than stories from friends and family members. After sharing some fine sinsemilla and listening to Zevon yammer on about werewolves, [songwriter and guitarist LeRoy] Marinell looked over at [session guitarist Waddy] Wachtel, who had happened on the scene merely looking to pick up a guitar for a scheduled studio session.

Zevon leapt on the piano and began to hammer along with a bouncing, roll-out-the-barrel revelry. Wachtel started howling a-wooooo! Zevon performed several songs and spoke at length about his illness. He noted, "I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years. 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 archive warren zevon biography, with a single request: "Here, I want you to have this, take good care of it. Zevon died of mesothelioma on September 7,aged 56, at his home in Los Angeles. Zevon's friend Stephen King says: "His albums are dense with stories and brilliant images.

Carl Hiaasen recalls Zevon's friendship with Hunter S. Thompson : "Warren was close to Thompson, and their work shared a certain twisted energy. But Warren was very much his own writer, and he was more disciplined than Hunter. Warren was meticulous. Even when he was young and high as a kite, he agonised over his lyrics. I always envied that part of his ability and talent.

He saw things with a jaundiced eye that still got the humanity of things.

Archive warren zevon biography

Zevon said that, with his last recordings, he wanted to remind people that "This was a nice deal: life. Zevon's son, Jordan Zevonwas the executive producer of the album and performed "Studebaker", a previously unfinished composition by his father. The video, titled "She's Too Good for Me", aired every hour on the archive warren zevon biography throughout the day.

Re-issues of the albums Stand in the Fire and The Envoy were released on March 27,by Rhino Records, alongside a re-issue of Excitable Boywith the three CDs having four unreleased bonus tracks each. Noteworthy rarities include the outtakes "Word of Mouth" and "The Risk" from the Envoy sessions and "Frozen Notes Strings Version ", a melancholy outtake from Excitable Boy performed on acoustic piano with a string quartet.

On May 1,Ammal released Preludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordingsa two-disc anthology of Zevon demos and alternate versions culled from pre recordings that had been kept in a suitcase. Selections from an interview of Zevon by the Austin -based radio personality Jody Denberg are blended with about 40 minutes of music on the collection's second disc.

These posthumous awards were the first Grammys of Zevon's thirty-plus year career. Zevon was married to Crystal, and their daughter Ariel Zevon was born in Jordan Zevon is a singer, musician, and songwriter. The book is largely an oral history that consists of interviews with Zevon's friends, relatives and associates, as well as excerpts from his diaries.

Crystal Zevon said Warren had given her permission to use the journal excerpts and instructed her to present an unvarnished portrayal of his life that did not sanitize his many struggles. InGeorge Gruel, a photographer who worked as Zevon's aide-de-camp from topublished a book of photos of Zevon. It is entitled Lawyers, Guns and Photos. Contents move to sidebar hide.

Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item. American singer and songwriter — Rock pop rock folk rock country rock blues rock hard rock psychedelic rock alternative rock comedy rock. Artemis Rykodisc Koch Entertainment. Musical artist. Early life [ edit ].

Career [ edit ]. Early years [ edit ]. Return to L. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. May Learn how and when to remove this message. Success [ edit ]. Personal crisis and first comeback [ edit ].

Later years and second comeback [ edit ]. After he quit school during his junior year, his father presented him with a sports car he had won in a card game. Zevon drove the Corvette cross—country to New York City to become part of the burgeoning folk—music scene there. He eventually wound up back in southern California in the late s, where he formed a duo called Lyme and Cybelle.

It had little success, but Zevon's songwriting talents were noticed by others, and one of his works was recorded by the Turtles and became the B—side to their hit "Happy Together. The record was produced by the legendary Kim Fowley, but was a commercial flop. Zevon turned to writing commercial jingles for clients that included the winemaker Gallo, and in the early s took a job as music director and keyboard player for the Everly Brothers.

At the time, the two brothers were still touring steadily but not speaking to one another. Zevon's own personal life was dis-integrating as well, and his penchant for vodka became debilitating. At one point, tired of the Los Angeles scene, he and his wife fled to Spain, where he played in bars there. He was convinced to come back to record another album by his friend, the singer and songwriter Jackson Brownewho had urged a budding record label mogul named David Geffen to sign Zevon to his Asylum Records label.

The record failed to make a dent on the charts, but four of its tracks were recorded by Linda Ronstadtincluding "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me. In an ocean of male sensitivity, as defined by Jackson BrowneJames Taylorand other gentle crooners, Zevon brought a room—wrecking sense of abandon, dissolution, and desperation to his songs…". That desperation was still spilling over into his personal life, and twice Zevon entered substance—abuse rehabilitation programs.

He eventually remarried—to an actress from the hit television series Knot's Landing named Kim Lankford—and after a five—year period of inactivity since his release, The Envoy, released Sentimental Hygiene in Some members of R. Zevon spent the rest of the s releasing albums of his songs that barely cracked the Billboard Topbut were favorites with critics, musicians, and longtime fans of his work.

Cigarettes were the one habit he had failed to kick, and in August of he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Doctors told him that it was in advanced stages and inoperable, but Zevon went ahead with plans to record his thirteenth studio record. Over the course of his career, Zevon's songs had been known for their morbid humor, including "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" and "Life'll Kill Ya," but he avoided dwelling on his fate when he wrote and recorded The Wind.

Hey, I feel like I've lived a couple of lives. He is survived by his two former wives, two children, and two grandchildren. Chicago Tribune, September 9,sec. B9; New York Times, September 9,p. A29; Times LondonSeptember 9,p. Zevon, Warren gale. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. Warren Zevon Singer, songwriter Warren Zevon 's career took almost as many strange twists and turns as the stories of the bizarre characters in his songs.

Warren Zevon, Asylum, ; reissued, Elektra, Excitable Boy, Asylum, Stand in the Fire, Asylum, The Envoy, Asylum, Transverse City, Virgin, ; rereleased with bonus track, Virgin Bad Example, Giant, Learning to Flinch, Giant, ; rereleased limited edition, Warner, Mutineer, Giant, My Ride's Here, Artemis The First Sessions, Varese, The Wind, Artemis, Martin's, Periodicals Billboard, April 22, ; September 6, ; September 20, Business Week, September 1, Detroit Free Press, January 3, Entertainment Weekly, September 5, ; September 19, GQ, January Interview, April Keyboard, November 1, People, January 20, ; June 5, ; October 28, In an archive warren zevon biography of male sensitivity, as defined by Jackson BrowneJames Taylorand other gentle crooners, Zevon brought a room—wrecking sense of abandon, dissolution, and desperation to his songs…" That desperation was still spilling over into his personal life, and twice Zevon entered substance—abuse rehabilitation programs.

Sources: Chicago Tribune, September 9,sec. More From encyclopedia. About this article Warren Zevon All Sources. Updated Aug 18 About encyclopedia. Warren Wilson College: Narrative Description. Warren Report. Warren or White Horse Tavern, Pennsylvania. Warren De la Rue. Warren Court. Warren County, North Carolina. Warren Commission Report. Warrell Corporation.

Warrantless Search.