CD Reviews
Zevon tribute: his songs, their voices

By Kevin O'Hare
Newhouse News Service

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"Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon," Various artists (Artemis)

Here's a fine coda to add to the legacy of Warren Zevon.

The acclaimed songwriter, who died Sept. 7, 2003, worked hard throughout his battle with terminal cancer in order to finish his final album, "The Wind," which won two Grammys. Released shortly before his death, it was one of the most poignant, touching and deeply felt farewells an artist ever crafted.

Now, a little more than a year after his passing, Zevon's self-proclaimed "Dirty Life and Times" are being celebrated in song on this 15-track collection of his work, featuring some of the biggest names in rock history.

From Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen, from Don Henley to Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt, they're all on board to salute the irreverent, offbeat and delightfully eccentric Zevon, whose wild and crazy youth paved the way for the far more thoughtful and exceedingly provocative songs that he wrote in his later years.

"I want to start the night with a song in memory of my great friend Warren Zevon," says Springsteen before a live version of "My Ride's Here," early in this set. "Warren passed away a few days ago, but he was one of the great, great American songwriters."

Springsteen's accordion- and violin-backed version of "My Ride's Here" is one of the high points of this disc, but it's certainly not the only one.

Dylan's delicately sung "Mutineer," another live track, is one of three Zevon songs Dylan was regularly playing in concert as an homage to Zevon before he died. It was a heartfelt salute from the most acclaimed songwriter of his generation to someone he considered a peer.

Henley gives a nice, raspy touch to the album-opening "Searching for a Heart"; the Pixies do an over-the-top take of "Ain't That Pretty at All"; and Ry Cooder and David Lindley offer a Cajun-styled "Monkey Wash Donkey Rinse."

Younger acts pay their respects to Zevon as well. Pete Yorn's harmonica-wailing "Splendid Isolation" is delivered with passion, while Zevon's son Jordan turns in a nice, previously unreleased "Studebaker." The Wallflowers offer up their own rendition of Zevon's classic "Lawyers, Guns and Money."

The album, which gets its title from a comment that Zevon made during his last public appearance on "The David Letterman Show," ends movingly with a faithful take of "Keep Me in Your Heart" by Zevon's musical cohort, Jorge Calderon, and Jennifer Warnes. It's followed by a "strings only" version of the same song arranged by Van Dyke Parks.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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