He also growled his way through the autobiographical song I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, before the album ended with a cover of Bo Diddley’s A Gunslinger, which had been a R&B hit in 1960 for an artist that Zevon admired deeply. Zevon also performed a slowed down version of Lawyers, Guns And Money along with high-energy versions of Excitable Boy and The Sin. Zevon’s version of his perennially popular Werewolves Of London is peppered with witty ad libs about the musicians Jackson Browne and James Taylor, and director Brian De Palma, whose violent film Dressed To Kill had been one of the most talked about releases that summer. Gruel grabbed the microphone and gleefully announced, “Get up and dance, or I’ll kill ya. During the rocking performance of Poor Poor Pitiful Me, one of the stand-out songs from Zevon’s self-titled debut album, Zevon halts midway through the track and drags George Gruel, his then “road manager and best friend”, on stage to fire up the crowd. The shows were produced by Zevon and Greg Ladanyi. The band, who called themselves Boulder, comprised Zevon on vocals, piano and 12-string guitar, Roberto Piñón on bass and backing vocals, Marty Stinger on drums, Zeke Zirngiebel on rhythm, lead, and slide guitar, Bob Harris on synthesiser and piano, and David Landau on lead guitar. For the live version of On Mohammed’s Radio, Zevon altered the original lyrics from “You know the sheriff’s got his problems, too/He will surely take them out on you” to “Ayatollah’s got his problems, too/Even Jimmy Carter’s got the highway blues”, in a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Iran hostage crisis that was dominating the news at the time.ĭespite being harvested from multiple performances, Stand In The Fire feels cohesive, which is partly down to the excellence and consistency of the terrific backing musicians, who were largely unknown at the time. Though Zevon was taking prescription painkillers and steroids for a strained nerve in his back, the singer-songwriter was remarkably full of energy for the gigs, in which he displayed his usual mordant wit. The album opened with the previously unreleased title track, which was immediately followed by Jenny Needs A Shooter, a song co-written with Zevon’s friend Bruce Springsteen. Stand In The Fire, which was released by Asylum Records on 26 December 1980, carried the dedication “For Marty”, in tribute to Zevon’s friend, the film director Martin Scorsese. It includes a 44-page booklet with previously unpublished family photos, integrated with excerpts from the memoir Ill Sleep When Im Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon. Rescuing him while the whole world was watching.” Listen to Stand In The Fire Asked by Rolling Stone magazine how it felt to be on stage in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, Zevon replied, “Let’s just say that it was like rescuing the little boy who’d fallen through the ice. Warren William Zevon (JanuSeptember 7, 2003) was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his unique and sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes. He was in jocular form, joking that the concerts should be called “The Dog Ate The Part We Didn’t Like Tour”, and said he was happy to be back performing in Los Angeles, the city where he had grown up. Gorilla, You're a Desperado - Warren ZevonĦ.Warren Zevon’s Stand In The Fire, recorded over a five-night period at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood in August 1980, is not only one of Zevon’s best albums, it is also one of the most affecting live albums of the decade.Īfter more than ten years of drink and drugs excesses, the newly-sober Zevon, then 33, was in a better place when it came to this run of summer gigs. Nighttime in the Switching Yard - Warren Zevonĥ. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner - Warren ZevonĤ. Johnny Strikes Up the Band - Warren ZevonĢ. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead - Warren Zevonġ. She tells him she thinks she needs to be freeHe tells her he doesn't understandShe takes his handShe tells him nothing's working out the way. Jeannie Needs and Shooter - Warren ZevonĦ. Released on Run Out Groove, the company that lets music lovers decide which discs to be DeLuxes up in superior versions.Ģ. The live album Stand In the Fire is ranked as one of rock's best concert albums, and is now available in a limited edition, as a double album with ten extra cuts compared to the original from 1980.
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