124: Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (1978)

Buy on Amazon

“As you start to think about Warren’s music, every one of his songs is a short story like that. I still don’t know what some of his references may mean except that, to me, I think, Holy shit, this guy is a poet. He’s a musician, and he knows enough about the world to include references that are beyond my education. It’s a pretty good package.”

—David Letterman

Whether he likes it or not, Warren Zevon will forever be most remembered for his surprise hit “Werewolves of London,” but he’s a far more complex and interesting songwriter than most folks are aware. Forever a musician’s musician, Zevon’s unique voice has influenced scores of artists although he himself has remained something of a cult figure over the decades. While 1978’s Excitable Boy does indeed feature his biggest hit, it is also home to some of the most sharp-witted and acidic songs he ever wrote. Join Dan, Mike, Rich, and returning guest Libby Cudmore as we discuss Zevon and his cast of psychopaths, mercenaries, screwups, and lycanthropes. 

Miscellany

• This episode features some dark subject matter and strong language (from both Zevon and our panelists), so we recommend taking caution if you have small children around.

• We discussed both “Follow Me” by lyme & cybelle and “Outside Chance” by the Turtles in our series on the garage rock box set Nuggets way back in 2019.

• On the unfortunate subject of “All Summer Long,” Zevon got the last laugh decades beforehand in “Play It All Night Long,” which features the rousing chorus, “‘Sweet Home Alabama’/Play that dead band’s song.”

• As mentioned in the episode, Libby is co-host of the podcasts The OST Party and Misbehavin’, and also co-edited and contributed to the anthology Lawyers, Guns and Money: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Warren Zevon. 

Other links

• Warren Zevon's official website (warrenzevon.com)

• Zevon’s final Late Night with David Letterman appearance (YouTube)

• Zevon on The Larry Sanders Show (YouTube)

• Zevon on Suddenly Susan (YouTube)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Excitable Boy playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s merch store (TeePublic)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Dan Watkins (host)

• Rich Bunnell (moderator)

• Mike DeFabio

• Libby Cudmore (special guest) 

Excitable Boy tracklist 

1. Johnny Strikes Up the Band

2. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner

3. Excitable Boy

4. Werewolves of London

5. Accidentally Like a Martyr

6. Nighttime in the Switching Yard

7. Veracruz

8. Tenderness on the Block

9. Lawyers, Guns and Money 

Other clips used 

Warren Zevon:

• I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

• Frank and Jesse James

• Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)

• Jungle Work

• Excitable Boy (Stand in the Fire version)

• Desperados Under the Eaves

• Boom Boom Mancini

• My Shit's Fucked Up

• Gorilla, You're a Desperado

• Genius

• Poisonous Lookalike

• The Sin

• Searching for a Heart

• Lawyers, Guns and Money (feat. Brooke Shields) 

Others:

• lyme and cybelle - Follow Me

• The Turtles - Outside Chance

• Linda Ronstadt - Hasten Down the Wind

• The Beach Boys - Johnny Carson

• "Weird Al" Yankovic - Here's Johnny

• Macabre - Jeffrey Dahmer and the Chocolate Factory

• Oingo Boingo - Only a Lad

• Kid Rock - All Summer Long

• Adam Sandler - Werewolves of London

• The War on Drugs - Accidentally Like a Martyr (live)

• Randy Newman - Guilty

• Toto - Rosanna

• GG Allin - Carmelita

• Yes - Don't Kill the Whale

• Hindu Love Gods - Raspberry Beret

• Grant Green - Nighttime in the Switching Yard

Band/album personnel 

• Warren Zevon – lead, harmony and backing vocals, piano, organ, synthesizer

• Jorge Calderón – harmony and backing vocals, Spanish vocals (7)

• Danny Kortchmar – guitar, percussion

• Russ Kunkel – drums

• Karla Bonoff – harmony vocals (5)

• Jackson Browne – guitar, harmony and backing vocals

• Luis Damian – jarana (7)

• Kenny Edwards – bass guitar (7-9), harmony and backing vocals

• John McVie – bass (4)

• Mick Fleetwood – drums (4)

• Kenny Edwards – backing and harmony vocals

• Arthur Gerst – Mexican harp

• Bob Glaub – bass guitar (2, 3, 6)

• Jim Horn – recorder (7), saxophone (3)

• Greg Ladanyi – bells (6)

• Rick Marotta – drums (7, 9)

• Jeff Porcaro – drums and percussion (6)

• Linda Ronstadt – harmony and backing vocals (3)

• Leland Sklar – bass guitar (1, 5)

• J.D. Souther – backing and harmony vocals

• Manuel Vasquez – requinto (7)

• Waddy Wachtel – guitar, synthesizer, harmony and backing vocals

• Jennifer Warnes – harmony vocals (3)

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• Warren Zevon - Nighttime in the Switching Yard (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Excitable Boy and other albums by Warren Zevon at warrenzevon.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.