Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Your Wednesday Moment of Surprisingly Way Cool

So we had a lot of fun doing Capt. Al's intertube radio show yesterday -- the theme being a tribute to tribute albums. (I'll post a link to the audio tomorrow).

Played this one -- from a 2004 Warren Zevon homage -- which I hadn't heard since the thing came out, and had forgotten how unsucky it is. In fact, it's pretty great.



I mean, say what you will about Sandler, but he gets it.

That's Waddy Wachtel on guitar, by the way, and Mick Fleetwood on drums.

12 comments:

Sal Nunziato said...

Solid, and definitely better than "Little Nicky."

buzzbabyjesus said...

Waddy and Mick played on the original.

steves said...

He's okay, but still no Robert Downey, Jr.

(Also, I can't stand the California choir on the "ah-woo's.")

BG in Q said...

Waddy is The Man. I wish "King of the Sidemen" would come out already ...

mainuh said...

Adam aquited himself well, go figure. Much better than Johnny Depp ;-)

Everytime I see Waddy a smile crosses my face.
I was lucky enough to have stood @ 20' from him back in the Seventies when he did double duty that night playing guitar for both Andrew Gold and Linda Ronstad.
Somewhere a Kodachrome slide exists.

rob

Billy B said...

This is great. Wachtel is cranking it.

That's Sandler, eh? Amazing.

Alzo said...

"Little old lady got mutilated late last night" –– one of the best lines ever.

This is one song that's overplayed and it doesn't matter because it's always delightful.

steves said...

^^^ Until Kid Rock got a hold of it.

Anonymous said...

WTF, I think this is better than the original.

Never been too fond of this track, though, despite its longstanding popularity. Maybe it's because I see how stupidly people behave when the song is played in a social setting.

It should be noted that when Asylum decided on "Werewolves" as the first single from the "Excitable Boy" LP, Zevon and Wachtel were insulted that the record company had chosen "that piece of shit."

Zevon, being the total asshole he was, withheld royalties to the guy who wrote the main licks for years. I've heard "Werewolves" and "Excitable" were both outtakes from the "Warren Zevon" album. Not sure if that's exactly true.

At the Capitol Records swap meet in mid 1976, I traded with schoolteacher Lou to get several copies of a Jackson Browne bootleg. It was the famous, loose & vibey "Rated X" Main Point WMMR-FM show, albeit edited. It was Lindley and Jackson on multicolored vinyl. "Werewolves" and "Mohammed" were on it, along with Doug Haywood's "You Asshole You". My first exposure to mid 1970's Zevon.

Complete shows of a couple of those nights at the Main Point are now available on CD. Jackson also does "Hasten Down the Wind." You really don't have to be a Jackson fan to appreciate the bootlegs, the atmosphere will suck you in.

Here's a link to 2 hours and forty-nine minutes of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=darbsuPyNbc

I don't think I need to warn anyone here to steer clear of the Grateful Dead's cover of "Werewolves". Fuckin' awful. Not a great tune to melt your face with.

VR


Anonymous said...

I neglected to mention the underrated Jorge Calderon's killer bass sound on this. Fuck! I positively like this version better than the original.

VR

Anonymous said...

Wow...you neglected to mention something. A first!

Anonymous said...

If anyone cares: Here's a Zevon show from the Main Point in Bryn Mawr. It was recorded 9 and a half months after the Jackson Browne WMMR-FM broadcast I mentioned and linked above. Zevon was opening for Steve Goodman. The first LP had just been released.

His 3-piece touring band included ex-Fairport Convention guitarist Jerry Donahue and two guys who had been in Goose Creek Symphony. Namely, Doug Haywood on bass and Mickey McGee on drums. Both had worked with Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt in the studio and on tour. Despite the talented players, it's a pretty rough set. Nothing seems to gel, even though nothing goes horribly awry. Maybe a bad night, I dunno. But a historic recording nonetheless. Enjoy the quesadillas and quaaludes while you absorb Zevon's "apocalyptical meaningless period." BTW, there never was a Pioneer Chicken stand on Alvarado. The really primo H was at the bank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1gJMaZOANg

VR