Contributors to this album included Nicks, Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, members of the Eagles, Carl Wilson, Linda Ronstadt, and Bonnie Raitt. There, he collaborated with Jackson Browne, who in 1976 produced and promoted Zevon's self-titled major-label debut. and major-label debutīy September 1975, Zevon had returned to Los Angeles, where he roomed with then-unknown Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Together they composed "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". His dissatisfaction with his career (and a lack of funds) led him to move to Spain in the summer of 1975, where he lived and played in The Dubliner Bar, a small tavern in Sitges near Barcelona owned by David Lindell, a former mercenary. Later during the same decade he toured and recorded with Don Everly and Phil Everly, separately, as they tried to launch solo careers after their break-up. Zevon's unreleased second effort, Leaf in the Wind, was called by his son, Jordan, "A bullshit money grab by the label".ĭuring the early 1970s, Zevon toured regularly with the Everly Brothers as keyboard player and band leader/musical coordinator. Flashes of Zevon's later writing preoccupations of romantic loss and noir-ish violence are present in songs like "Tule's Blues" and "A Bullet for Ramona". (To suit its place in the film, the song was re-recorded as the female-centric "He Quit Me".) Zevon's first attempt at a solo album, Wanted Dead or Alive (1969), was produced by 1960s cult figure Kim Fowley but did not sell well. Another early composition ("She Quit Me") was included in the soundtrack for the film Midnight Cowboy (1969). He wrote several songs for his White Whale label-mates the Turtles ("Like the Seasons" and "Outside Chance"), though his participation in their recording is unknown. He spent time as a session musician and jingle composer. Zevon turned to a musical career early, including a stretch with high school friend Violet Santangelo as a musical duo called lyme & cybelle (exercising artistic license, the band name eschewed capitalization). Zevon's parents divorced when he was 16 years old and he soon quit high school and moved from Los Angeles to New York to become a folk singer. By the age of 13, Zevon was an occasional visitor to the home of Igor Stravinsky where he, alongside Robert Craft, briefly studied modern classical music. His mother was from a Mormon family, and was of English descent. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Russia, and his original surname was "Zivotovsky". Zevon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Beverly Cope (née Simmons) and William Zevon. Letterman later performed guest vocals on "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" with Paul Shaffer and members of the CBS Orchestra on Warren Zevon's My Ride's Here album. He was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman. Other well-known songs written by Zevon have been recorded by other artists, including "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" (a top 40 hit by Linda Ronstadt), "Accidentally Like a Martyr", "Mohammed's Radio", "Carmelita", and "Hasten Down the Wind".Īlong with his own compositions, Zevon recorded or performed occasional covers, including Allen Toussaint's A Certain Girl, Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan".
His best-known compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money", "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Johnny Strikes Up the Band", all of which are featured on his third album, Excitable Boy (1978). Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known musicians, including Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. He was known for the dark and somewhat bizarre sense of humor in his lyrics. Warren William Zevon (/ˈziːvɒn/ Janu– September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.