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. 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. 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. It doesn’t get any better than this.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. But above all of that, listen to this document of one incredible performer giving his all. So sure, check out this album for the many examples of terrific songwriting (“Mohammed’s Radio,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”) or even the previously unreleased Warren Zevon songs ( Excitable Boy‘s “Johnny Strikes Up The Band,” the gothic “Play It All Night Long,” “Frank and Jesse James,” “Hasten Down The Wind”). With a little twist of the lyrics, “I’d like to meet his tailor” becomes “He’s looking for James Taylorrrrrr!” Later on, with a nod to both his newfound sobriety and his friendship with Jackson Browne, he sings: “I saw Jackson Browne walking slow down the avenue/You know his heart is perfect,” and then completely loses it with “I saw a werewolf drinking a Perrier at Trader Vic’s/And his hair was perrrrrrffeeeeeeecttt!!!!!!” It’s one of the moments that a friend of mine described as “forgetting who you are.” On Stand In The Fire, the song is transformed into a balls-out raver with Zevon giving himself up to the passion for the music. His biggest hit, “Werewolves Of London,” had a catchy hook that was mostly piano-driven. ![]() Some folks might be a little surprised to hear Warren Zevon in such a rocking context. Add guitar gunslinger David Landau and you have one potent mix. Recorded on what was termed The Dog Ate The Part We Didn’t Like tour, Zevon and his backing band of hired guns (an actual Warren Zevon cover band from Boulder, Colorado) blew the roof off the joint. It’s proof that Warren Zevon was not only a great songwriter but quite the amazing performer. Add to that the late Warren Zevon’s Stand In The Fire, a live album recorded L.A.’s Roxy theater in 1981 but not issued on CD until 2007. Recorded documents of fantastic performances include Cheap Trick’s Live at Budokan, The Who’s Live at Leeds, and the Stones’ Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out. Phew! All these years later and the chills still occur when that memory surfaces. ![]() Seeing Bruce Springsteen on The River tour might have qualified, but the night was thrown over the top when Southside Johnny walked onto that Richfield Coliseum stage to perform “I Don’t Want To Go Home” with Bruce and the E-Street Band. No amount of enticement, planning, or force of will can make them happen.įor me there are a pile of these things, some recorded and some experienced directly. There are moments in time, musical moments, when things come together perfectly.
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