| Author | Message | ||
     Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1796 Registered: 03-2006 |
I was contemplating picking up one or two of the new Zevon reissues. Unfortunately, they've done something that really gives me the red-ass: they're charging $18.98 list for "Excitable Boy", the one they know everybody will buy. So it makes me turn to the others, that are significantly cheaper. Anybody know much about "The Envoy" and "Stand In the Fire"? Are they worth having? | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 518 Registered: 08-2006 |
I love 'em both, LK. "Stand in the Fire" is the better of the two, and one of the best live albums ever, I daresay. But "The Envoy" is excellent, too, although it's somewhat marred by '80s production. It contains Zevon classics like "Hula Hula Boys," "Not that Pretty at All," "Let Nothing Come Between You." Worth the investment, IMO. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 519 Registered: 08-2006 |
By the way, LK, Amazon's selling the remaster of "Excitable Boy" for 12.99, which isn't bad. What's weird is that "Stand in Fire" is 11.99 and "The Envoy" is 10.99. And they're all on Rhino. Wha? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1797 Registered: 03-2006 |
It's abuse, I tell ya, abuse...they know they're gonna sell twice as many Excitable Boys as Envoys...at least the Amazon price reflects its "hotter status" by giving it a bigger markdown...And despite my kvetching, I'll still probably get EB in spite of it all. They're giving it the deluxe fanboy treatment, with liners by Carl Hiassen, extra cuts, etc.... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 377 Registered: 09-2006 |
Seconded on the two Zevons..."Ain't That Pretty at All" is perhaps his greatest mock anthem of self-destruction (ok, semi-mock) and the love songs are great ones too. And on the live album he's a right rock n roll animal...I like how he changes the lyric, snarling/roaring that the werewolf of London is "looking for James Taylor!" | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 40 Registered: 02-2007 |
Only just heard Zevon tribute album. Springsteen does song I think is called "My Ride Is Here". Unbelievably brilliant song. What Zevon album is this off? Anyone help. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 522 Registered: 08-2006 |
It's the title track of, I believe, his second-to-last album. Another highlight of that one is "Hit Sombody (The Hockey Song)" which features guest vocals by none other than David Letterman (who basically interjects "hit someone!" at the appropriate interval). It's a really good album, David. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 41 Registered: 02-2007 |
I am only just discovering what a great songwriter (and singer!) Zevon was. How remiss of me that only now I am discovering him. Funny how music is like that. You have to be ready to hear it. Thanks Rob, I'll try and track the album down. I agree the tribute album is great. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 527 Registered: 08-2006 |
David, Rhino Records put out a good two-CD comp a few years back called "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead." It's a pretty nice overview of his career, although it doesn't include anything from the last three records, all of which are worth owning if you get yourself a real Zevon jones. If you're just getting into him, however, the comp might be a good place to start. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1805 Registered: 03-2006 |
Not sure why some schmuck traded them in, but I was lucky enough to find all three new reissues used this weekend, for mere pennies...I exaggerate, but only a little. EB was $10 and the other two were $7. They don't appear to be promo copies, either. Great stuff and nice repackaging... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 529 Registered: 08-2006 |
LK, dude, you lead a charmed life. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1810 Registered: 03-2006 |
Sometimes... You need them, Rob, btw. They're worth the price of admission for the liners alone. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 530 Registered: 08-2006 |
I'm gettin' 'em for sure. I was going to order them last week but I'm heading to my mom's in FLA this morning so I figured I'd wait 'til I get back over the weekend. Who did the liner notes? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1811 Registered: 03-2006 |
Oh, the usual suspects - Hiassen, David Fricke, et al. They're full of all kinds of Zevon lore which you probably already know, but is new to me... Haven't listened to all of them, but generously sampled "Fire"...that was some fine, crunchy rock and roll, wasn't it? I always thought Waddy Wachtel was a cool ass player...sort of a straighter, longhaired, non-parent snorting Keith Richards... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1817 Registered: 03-2006 |
Lately, I've been begging, borrowing and stealing discs, rather than paying money for them, because I've realized I just spend too much money on them (I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard). What that boils down to in actuality, though, is that I've been downloading a lot and and trading old discs that I don't listen to for new ones... Anyways, something I'll still pay hard-earned cash for is reissues of old stuff that I love, particularly if it's done up all nice, with new packaging, new tracks, etc. So, I found a cool deal for folks who were interested in the new Sly reissues coming out. They've put all seven of them out in a box set, called "Collection". It lists for $70, which is a deal in itself, but Overstock.com has it for $45, which is about $6.50 a piece...Since I figured I would spent about that much on the three or four I thought were must-have, I had to take the plunge... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1879 Registered: 03-2006 |
What do you Zevonians (sounds like something out of Scientology) know about this newly released "Preludes" disc? Sposed to be any good? | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 578 Registered: 08-2006 |
I don't know what's on it exactly, LK, but I've heard some early Zevon stuff and, while there are hints of greatness here and there, a lot of it sounds pretty youthful. It's interesting to hear the stuff, but I don't think it's something I'd play much after the first couple listens. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 413 Registered: 09-2006 |
I thought at first it might have been some of that very early stuff too, Rob, the kind that first turned up without his consent following the success of "Excitable Boy"...but I just looked at the track listing on Amazon and it's not that at all...give it a look. Not sure if I'd blow a wad of cash on it unheard, but wouldn't mind giving it a free listen... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1885 Registered: 03-2006 |
Yeah, apparently his kids assembled it, so it has a certain veneer of respectability. Btw, I know youse two are big Zevonians, so this might interest you. I don't know if you can get it where you are, but the new issue of "Los Angeles" magazine has a great excerpt, from the new book about him written by his ex-wife, Crystal. At first, that seems like a cash-in motivated thing, as well, but it seems to me, on reflection after reading the piece, that no one should begrudge the woman anything. She put up with some serious shit. All that posturing with the 44 magnum? It wasn't, apparently, just for show. He would get loaded and blow shit up around the house! He was, apparently, the Elvis Presley of sensitive singer-songwriters... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 579 Registered: 08-2006 |
I read a review of the book in the NY Times, LK, and it sounds like Zevon ASKED her to do the book. Apparently they had many conversations as he was dying and she interviewed a bunch of people close to him. The book sounds like that rarest of animals - a tell-all, warts-and-all biography done with the subject's consent and cooperation and written by someone the subject seriously f-ed over. I'll be buying it. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 414 Registered: 09-2006 |
Oh, I don't doubt it..I do recall reading about a number of those incidents over the years...there were plenty of reasons he got on so well with Hunter Thompson. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 580 Registered: 08-2006 |
I should have added the word "affectionate" into that last sentence above. Apparently, although it's not always flattering, it comes across as an honest portrait of the guy, not a hatchet job. For them who've registered with the Times, the review's here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/books/ 30masl.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |