Were he still alive, Warren Zevon would be on a roll, scarcely able to believe the belated acclaim coming his way. Of course, plaudits came his way in life, but Zevon was the epitome of a cult artist, beloved more by critics and other musicians than necessarily a buying public. It’s fair to say his songs tended more to niche listeners, with a taste for the left field. That sure describes a lot of us here at Cover Me, and we have endeavored to keep his flame alight, in our own small way.
“Mr. Zevon had a pulp-fiction imagination,” said the New York Times, and they weren’t wrong. If his most celebrated song was about werewolves, that was not unique, as other songs were to celebrate, if that is the right word, child serial killers and headless mercenaries. With a penchant for the dark side, Zevon was unafraid to tackle the most unusual of inspirations, while at the same time being able to pen some of the tenderest and gentlest of love songs. Truly a paradox.
Now here is Keep Me In Your Heart, a double album containing a wide selection of his songs, covered by a large cast of peers and acolytes. Curated by Long Island record label Paradiddle Records, this set is populated more by jobbing musicians on that local circuit, rather than the bigger names that gathered for a tribute concert in L.A. last fall, or indeed, the ones on his earlier tribute album, 2004’s Enjoy Every Sandwich. As such there is allowed a greater scrutiny of the song and the performance, over any recognition of already established voices and styles. Having said, there are a few higher profiles present also, a memento of how well appreciated was Zevon as a writer, by his colleagues and contemporaries.
Time and space defy each and every of Keep Me In Your Heart‘s 33 songs their individual credit, much as I would like to. They are indisputably all of merit, without any too-great clunker in the pack. First up is, as you would hope, an absolute cracker, from Pete Mancini and his Hillside Airmen. They imbue “Accidentally Like a Martyr” with brass-drenched blue-eyed soul, which freshens the song up a treat.
“Mohammed’s Radio” gets (of all things) a gospel shimmer from Tricycle, aka the Fortier Family Trio, new to my ears. No less than Jimmy Webb is up next; the patron saint of narrative song spoons ladlefuls of gravitas into “Desperados Under the Eaves,” awash with strings. If that sounds hard to follow, veteran trouper Willie Nile does just that. He channels Oh Mercy-era Dylan into a triumphant “Mutineer.”
Sticking with the first disc, a special mention must come for Mike Nugent, who sprinkles some Dead-adjacent magic into “Nighttime in the Switching Yard,” adding elements of what sounds like “Shakedown Street.” Ringing the eclectic further, “I’ll Slow You Down,” from Russ Seeger, packs some N’Awlins marching band spirit into the ceremony.
One of the more poignant songs in the Zevon canon is “Searchin’ For A Heart,” which suffered from too sweet an arrangement in the original. Mick Hargreaves sticks to a similar vocal, but against the spareness of the background, he’s able to extract even more poignancy.
If mainly male voices figure, there is some balance given. Claudia Jacobs, Caroline Doctorow and Tara Hack add their contrasting timbres, with this particularly effective for Doctorow’s rendition of “Heartache Spoken Here,” where she comes over as a bluesier Nanci Griffith.
The only missed step so far is, frustratingly, Richard Barone’s “Keep Me In Your Heart.” The valedictory track from 2003’s The Wind heralded Zevon’s death, which came two weeks after the album’s release. Despite the undoubted sentimentality of the words, Zevon avoided any drift to saccharine, possibly impossible for any other singer of those same words. But all in all, it rounds out a sound and solid first disc, and, if that were all there was to Keep Me In Your Heart, few could complain.
But there’s more! Disc 2 kicks off with Freddy Johnston’s jug band iteration of “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me,” giving prior interpreters Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt a good run for their money. Pete Mancini is one of a few artists to get a second slot; “Carmelita” must be one of the bleakest songs ever, by anyone, but he conveys just the sufficient wracked angst to convince.
More chapel vibes inhabit “Don’t Let Us Get Sick,” with the idea to pitch a tabernacle choir behind Kenny White being one of the masterstrokes of this project. Claudia Jacob, another returnee, also gets to recreate “My Shit’s Fucked Up,” a song I never much took to, as an agreeably acoustic ragtime blues.
By now you may be asking, “Where’s ‘Werewolves’?” Sure, it’s here, just as it should be. Howard Silverman finds something a little different in the playchest, as a bluegrass jangle gives an unseen slant to “Werewolves of London.” Ray Lambiase transforms another favorite, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,” into the style of an old Western ballad, and it’s quite gorgeous.
The biggest curveball of all comes from the aptly titled Belle Curves, aka Troy-based singer-songwriter Delaney Hafener. If you can imagine “Lawyers, Guns and Money” in the style of The Go-Go’s, that is exactly what she delivers. The only detraction is that, so much fun is it, it takes attention from Zevon’s splendid wordplay.
The final track in such a large selection has to be a doozy, so as to leave the listener truly satisfied. Emily Duff has not only this challenge, but also that of tackling what I consider Zevon’s finest song, the one that sums up best both his life and legacy. “Excitable Boy” is that song, and she does it proud. Stripped down to picked guitar, slowly squeezed accordion and voice, it is possibly the standout across the whole two discs. So much so that she is one of the artists here I am most driven to hear more of. Having said, any of the artists here, known and less known, would be welcome at my table.
Paradiddle Records have pulled a blinder here. Keep Me In Your Heart is a first-class primer to Warren Zevon, and whether you come to this as a fan or a neophyte, there is more than enough here to pull you in to the repertoire of this remarkable talent, of whom we won’t see the likes again. Highly recommended.
Keep Me In Your Heart tracklisting:
- Pete Mancini – Accidentally Like a Martyr
- Tricycle – Mohammed’s Radio
- Jimmy Webb – Desperados Under the Eaves
- Willie Nile – Mutineer
- Mike Nugent – Nightime
- Jack Licitra – Tenderness on the Block
- Claudia Jacobs – Empty Hearted Town
- James O’Malley – My Ride’s Here
- Russ Seeger – I’ll Slow You Down
- Allen Santoriello – I Need a Truck
- Caroline Doctorow – Heartache Spoken Here
- Gene Casey – It’s True
- Mick Hargreaves – Searchin’ For a Heart
- Tara Hack – Never Too Late For love
- Allen Santoriello – Outside Chance
- Richard Barone – Keep Me In Your Heart
- Freedy Johnston – Poor, Poor Pitiful Me
- Gerry McKeveney – Backs Turned Looking Down the Path
- James Maddock – Reconsider Me
- Pete Mancini – Carmelita
- Kenny White – Don’t Let Us Get Sick
- Claudia Jacobs – My Shit’s Fucked Up
- Revolver – The Wild Age
- Annie Mark – Mama Couldn’t Be Persuaded
- Howard Silverman – Werewolves of London
- Ray Lambiase – Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
- Bryan Gallo – Splendid Isolation
- Hank Stone – Like the Seasons
- The Belle Curves – Lawyers, Guns and Money
- Phil Kennelty – Stop Rainin’, Lord
- The Lucky Ones – Johnny Strikes Up the Band
- Kerry Kearney – Rub Me Raw
- Emily Duff – Excitable Boy
