I came late to Warren Zevon. Of course I knew all the words to his most commercial songs, 'Excitable Boy' and 'Werewolves of London' both from 1978, but his first album was released in 1969 and it was over 20 years later before I bought into his music.
This was the first one I got around 1990. It had the aforementioned couple of hits but in amongst the album tracks were songs such as 'Accidentally Like a Martyr', which is one of my all-time favourites, 'Lawyers, Guns and Money' and the almost cinematographic 'Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner'.
In the song, Roland is a mercenary who is murdered by another mercenary, Van Owen.
David Koepp, screenwriter of the second Jurassic Park movie, named the big-game hunter in the film 'Roland Tembo' and his nemesis 'Van Owen' as a reference to this song.
In the early 90s I was managing a computer retail outlet in Auckland. One of the technicians played the Warren Zevon compilation album 'A Quiet Normal Life' constantly. I soon learned to love other tracks from his back catalogue that were, until then, new to me. If you want to get an instant Warren collection, look for this release from 1986. Apart from the well-known, you also get the almost famous 'Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me' the enigmatic 'Mohammed's Radio' featuring Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, and the self explanatory 'I'll Sleep When I'm Dead'.
Some cover versions he did became as strong for me as the originals.
Way back in '69 on his first album he did 'Iko Iko'. In 1990 along with some members of R.E.M. he released an eponymous album under the group name 'Hindu Love Gods' with blues classics such as 'Mannish Boy', 'Wang Dang Doodle' and curiously, Prince's 'Rasberry Beret'.
In 2000 he released a single from the album 'Life'll Kill Ya' which again is one of my favourites .. a cover of Steve Winwoods 'Back in the High Life Again'.
Warren pretty much refused to visit doctors for many years but in 2002 at the insistence of his dentist he went along and was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. He passed away in September 2003 aged 56, but not before releasing a last album, 'The Wind' with a host of friends backing him up - Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Springsteen, T-Bone Burnett, Tom Petty, Emmylou Harris and Jackson Browne.
Jackson Browne joined Warren on Dylan's 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door'.
One verse in Warren's song 'Accidentally Like a Martyr' is
' ... Never thought I'd ever be so lonely
After such a long, long time
Time out of mind"
In 1997 Dylan released an album called 'Time Out of Mind' and in 2002 he included "Accidentally Like a Martyr' into his live show setlist.
Respect between a couple of great artists.
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