Zevon Song of the Week #38
haro...@yahoo.ca
Category: History
Man, what a week. We had the diaper-clad, love-crazed, homicidal
female astronaut, then the wall-to-wall coverage on cable news of the
death of a blonde gold-digger most famous for, hmm, two notable
attributes, and, finally, I just tuned in to the east coast Grammy
feed and the performer was, of all people, James Blunt, and yes, he
was singing You're Beautiful. They do say it comes in threes.
This week's Zevon song, however, has nothing to do with any of this. I
chose F&JJ to honour a truly great man, born Francesco Paolo
LoVecchio, known to us as Frankie Laine, who died this past week just
short of his 94th birthday. Sometimes the good don't die young.
I first encountered Laine's vocal genius as a youth, in conjunction
with the show Rawhide (best known as Clint Eastwood's training
ground). The theme music for that show ("Keep a rollin', rollin',
rollin', ....") is all you need to hear to appreciate Laine's uncanny
ability. I can't imagine anyone who could summon the equivalent power
and melodic gifts to a Western ballad.
In time, I ended up with a couple of Laine LPs, On the Trail and On
the Trail Again. His scope was much broader than simply songs of the
Old West ("I Believe" is a stunner), but those were the ones I was
interested in. I bought into the John Wayne mythos hook and line.
And how grandly that era was interpreted by Frankie Laine-High Noon,
Gunfight at O.K. Corral, the aforementioned Rawhide, Wanted Man, Bowie
Knife, Mule Train, The Hanging Tree, Along the Navajo Trail, City Boy,
Cry of the Wild Goose (written for Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, which
Laine never knew was a comedy and never actually saw), and, one of his
best and a Zevon connection to boot, The 3:10 to Yuma (I'm listening
to it, and reveling in it, right now).
R.I.P., Francesco. You left us with so many great songs.
Which brings us to Warren's classic western song, Frank And Jesse
James, which I'm also now listening to and reveling in. I hope that
Frankie Laine heard it and appreciated it, because even though it's an
homage to the Everly Brothers, it's also a testament to Laine's
legacy. Warren summons the spirits of that era in a different, but no
less effective, fashion. He also establishes his ongoing fascination
with the twin themes of outlaws and violence.
Sure, he mythologizes the lawbreaking brothers, but that's the name of
this particular game, isn't it? It doesn't really matter what actually
happened. What matters, other than to actual historians, is our
perception of those characters as romantic and heroic. Just like
Frankie, Warren captures our imaginations, and our hearts.
It all begins with his piano playing. The opening chords of F&JJ are
as memorable as any music Warren ever composed. Considering it was his
first "real" album, and this was the first track, the saga of the
James brothers provided a wonderful introduction to the world of
Zevon.
I bought the WZ album on LP in 1978, shortly after being exposed to
Warren for the first time with EB. I still have the LP, but don't play
it that much any more, because its grooves are essentially worn out
from overplaying. We all know so well the amazing tracks on WZ, from
Carmelita to PPPM, but I always felt a little let down after track
one, because I loved it so much and hated that it was over. Warren had
some stellar support-Waddy on guitar, David Lindley on both banjo and
fiddle, and the incomparable Phil Everly singing harmony. It just
doesn't get better than that.
The trademark Zevon wit is there as well: "They rode against the
railroads, and they rode against the banks, and they rode against the
governor, never did they ask for a word of thanks."
It appears Warren liked the song pretty well himself. He performed it
in concert throughout his career. It's also the first track on the
1996 ISWID anthology. In the liner notes, Warren had this to say: "I
got my first road gig playing piano behind The Everly Brothers. Waddy
Wachtel played guitar. Don and Phil invited us both to perform songs
of our own with them, so I wrote this one in their honour."
Keep on riding, Warren.
Categories to date
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Addiction and Recovery: 3
Cover: 5
Family: 2
Geopolitical: 1
History: 2
Law and Order: 1
Love-Gone-Wrong: 6
Mortality: 3
Party: 1
Satire: 4
Social Commentary: 8
Sports: 1
Unreleased: 1