Preludes
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After Warren Zevon's death in 2003, his son Jordan was clearing out a storage space when he found a large stash of demos and home recordings Zevon had made before 1976. Winnowed down from many hours of tape, this selection is so satisfying you're left awaiting another volume almost instantly. Preludes has been generously packaged with a booklet overflowing with reminiscences and insight from peers and family, as well as a bonus disc with recent interview extracts and choice selections from 2000's Life'll Kill Ya. The rough sound quality is more than made up for by the performances. Highlights include a speedier, country-punk garage take on "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" and the original demo of "Werewolves of London," here presented in a slowed-down reggae-ish (and campier) take. Only two of these 16 takes fall flat: the vocals on "Accidentally Like a Martyr" are just too bleak even for Zevon, while the faux-sunshine Eagles-y production on "Ride So High" is interesting but just too anachronistic. The versions of "French Inhaler" and "Carmelita" show Zevon in his angry, post-Dylan singer-songwriter style. It's reminiscent of the best John Cale solo recordings. Poignant, beautiful and bitter, it's no wonder the guy didn't fit in with his California contemporaries. As with Townes Van Zandt, there's something of a great short story in Zevon's songs; confronted with them in all their ragged, stripped-down glory, it's clear what a major talent he was. --Mike McGonigal More from Warren Zevon
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Tracks
| 1 | Empty Hearted Town (3:05) (solo piano) |
| 2 | Steady Rain (4:23) (full band) |
| 3 | Join Me In L.A. (2:33) (solo guitar) |
| 4 | Hasten Down The Wind (2:34) (solo piano) |
| 5 | Werewolves Of London (3:36) (full band) |
| 6 | Tule's Blues (3:08) (solo piano) |
| 7 | The French Inhaler (3:34) (solo guitar) |
| 8 | Going All The Way (2:19) (full band) |
| 9 | Poor Poor Pitiful Me (3:12) (full band) |
| 10 | Studebaker (2:23) (solo piano) |
| 11 | Accidentally Like A Martyr (3:02) (full band) |
| 12 | Carmelita (4:01) (solo guitar) |
| 13 | I Used To Ride So High (2:54) (full band) |
| 14 | Stop Rainin' Lord (2:13) (solo guitar) |
| 15 | The Rosarita Beach Cafi (4:12) (solo piano with backing vocals) |
| 16 | Desperados Under The Eaves (3:49) (full band) |
| 17 | I WAS IN THE HOUSE WHEN THE HOUSE BURNED DOWN (3:02) |
| 18 | Warren speaks on songwriting and the early days of his career (7:14) |
| 19 | Musings on mortality, song noir and The King of Rock n' Roll (5:07) |
| 20 | A chat about producers and the stark sounds on the album Life'll Kill Ya (5:09) |
| 21 | BACK IN THE HIGH LIFE (3:11) |
| 22 | Warren's take on Winwood's classic and Warren's inspirations (3:58) |
| 23 | Talk of TV, movies, acting and performing (5:14) |
| 24 | DON'T LET US GET SICK (3:10) (solo acoustic) Recorded live 12/3/99 at Austin City Limits Studios for 107.1 KGSR Radio Austin 9th Anniversary Concert |
