Zevon Song of the Week #15
haro...@yahoo.ca
Category: Law and Order
I'm a little short of time this holiday weekend (in most of Canada,
not Quebec though), so I thought I'd discuss a song I haven't got
to much to say about. I'm actually watching the Bill Lee documentary
on NESN as I write but I'll save that song for another week. (It
isn't helping my recording efforts that my dish is kicking out every
few minutes-the satellite guy is coming later this week to raise it
high on a tripod and thus not get blocked by my neighbour's tree
whenever the wind blows). The Zevon contribution to the show is the
song Bill Lee played over the opening credits and a few other snippets
(EB, Browne and Raitt singing PPPM, Bill himself singing a line from
LG&M before the Wallflowers cover kicks in) overdubbed at various
points. I stumbled on this airing by pure chance-it's not even
supposed to be on now according to the DirecTV guide.
Back to WDOA, which was the first track on Warren's first album (with
his name on it) as well as the name of the album. Unlike the songs that
we got to hear a couple of years ago on The First Sessions disc, most
of which were recorded in '65 and '66 when Warren was still a
teenager, the songs on WDOA "sound like Zevon", which makes sense
since he was in his early twenties when the album was released by
Imperial in 1969. Treated by many as a throwaway, WDOA contains some
songs worth listening to more than once, and at least one or two that
could be included on someone's Zevon top twenty. On a given day, for
example, I might put Tule's Blues on that list. I also really like
She Quit Me. Warren did love-gone-wrong really well from the get-go.
WDOA is a pretty simple song, with a straightforward lyric and a
repeating guitar track, played by Warren. Perhaps there's more than a
little self-reflection going on, as Warren sings about the ultimate
outsider who cannot escape his destiny because he has "an outlaw
face". It's hard not to see some autobiographical leanings in
"(I'm) only trying to do the best I can, dig it?"
FWIW, the drummer on WDOA's title track and a few other songs on the
album is Drachen Theaker, one of the coolest musician's names I've
ever seen. But that's all I know about him. Skip Battyn is on bass.
That's it, three cats making music, although Warren makes it sound
like more by overdubbing his own harmony vocals.
I like the song. It's a pretty catchy tune, dig it?
P.S. The Bill Lee documentary just ended. It closed by announcing that
the DVD is available as a preorder (shipping next month) from
www.spacemanincuba.com. Order it-if you don't, they'll screw you!
Categories to date
--------------------------
Addiction and Recovery: 1
Family: 1
Geopolitical: 1
Law and Order: 1
Love-Gone-Wrong: 3
Mortality: 1
Satire: 2
Social Commentary: 4
Sports: 1
chrisp...@email.com
them even though I don't respond very often any more. Also, I'm
impressed that you're on schedule with it. I remember another "Zevon
____ of the Week" series that wasn't quite so punctual. (TOTW #21 is
scheduled to appear exactly two years after TOTW #20, by the way.)
I agree that WDOA the album is underrated. Tule's Blues would
definitely be on my desert island Zevon disc.
I'm not sure I feel so strongly about WDOA the song. It's not a bad
song, it just seems too lyrically simple to be standard Zevon. Still, I
enjoy listening to it.
And I do listen to it a lot-- my car CD player also plays MP3 discs,
and WDOA is the very first song on my Complete Zevon compilation. I'll
usually put the disc in with a certain song in mind, but I'll find
myself listening to WDOA before skipping ahead to DUTE or Genius, or
whatever I'm in the mood for that day. And like most Zevon songs, WDOA
sounds better played loud, with the windows down, and while wearing
sunglasses.
-ChrisPrender
Howard Roseman
> them even though I don't respond very often any more. Also, I'm
> impressed that you're on schedule with it. I remember another "Zevon
> ____ of the Week" series that wasn't quite so punctual. (TOTW #21 is
> scheduled to appear exactly two years after TOTW #20, by the way.)
>
Well Chris, in the best tradition of the Internet, I stole your idea! So
thank YOU. Looking forward to the next TOTW, whenever it comes.