WARREN ZEVON - Wanted Dead Or Alive (1970)

By far the oldest record I've ever tried to blog about!  I think the only explanation necessary for "why Zevon?" is that I know his music in a greatest-hits sort of way, always liked it, have been meaning to do a deep dive for years, and am now doing so.

Anyway, in 1970 some singer-songwriter nobody had ever heard of who went by the name "Zevon" put out a record, playing most of the instruments and doing most of everything.  It achieved minimal success and was mostly forgotten.  To the extent that it was ever rediscovered, it's as a footnote to the career the guy ended up forging later when he reemerged, with his album sleeves now calling him "Warren Zevon."

Track One:  "Wanted Dead Or Alive"

Well, this is not a bad start to a career.  WDOA* immediately hits with a riff that's basically three notes, strummed but downtuned to pack the sort of muscular heft that I don't really associate with most music from the era.  Zevon's** voice has melodic grit as he embodies the character of a man who perceives himself to be on the run.  He saves the quirky punchline for the last verse:  "now all I'm tryna do is find a peaceful place; but they say I have an outlaw face."  Seems like an unreliable narrator to me.

It's hard to ignore the fact that WDOA is basically one musical idea driven into the ground.  It's a pretty cool idea.  Some of the core elements of what would be Zevon's basic thing, here from the start.  Not all ideal - there's a lot of goofy faux-spontaneous "hey!"s and "dig it!"s that do not work at all.  Zevon would be doing that shit for his entire career too, to the very end, but I think he got much better at it.

Track Two:  "Hitchhikin' Woman"

Having established a template, the record immediately abandons it, going for a dirty harmonica-based blues-rock sort of sound.  Zevon doesn't even bother trying to sing or write lyrics of any value, trying to get by on sleazy vibes.  Meh.  At least the song is short.  Also, I can't not hear the dopey "crankcase" line as "I've just had my pancakes."  

Track Three:  "She Quit Me"

Okay, overall, this is more like it.  Back to letting a sole guitar basically drive the song, and a nice little minor vocal hook.  I go back and forth on Zevon's affected yodeling performance as he vamps like mad, but I think I kinda like it.  Especially the little chuckle he throws in to " It wasn't because I couldn't satisfy, no-ho-ho!" as the means to transition to the vaguely menacing "where'd she get the nerve to say goodbye?"  It takes a special artist to successfully sell irreverence.

I don't love the mixed metaphor of "the ace of spades reversed;" there are no spades in tarot, and no reversed cards in most playing-card games.  Not quite clicking.  This was, of course, the very early '70s, and America was just on the cusp of falling for (the) Eagles, who'd soon have their own go at a twangy soft-rock ballad comparing women to playing cards, so clearly there was the core of an idea here.

Track Four:  "Calcutta"

I ought to be into Warren trying to be a rocker.  Not in this instance.  "Calcutta" is a song that likely will never stand out to be or leave any impression.  It does however feature the belated appearance of a piano for the first time... but only really in the bridges.  Weird to hear a Zevon record not leaning heavily on that instrument.

Track Five:  "Iko-Iko"

I have to admit, I've always kinda hated "Iko-Iko."  No real reason for the depth of my antipathy.  Objectively I can't point to anything offensive.  I simply do not get anything about the song.  Since I don't live in New Orleans, one could say it's not important that I understand it, except for the fact that here and there "Iko" just resurfaces in the wild or someone has a minor hit with it, and I get re-baffled by the whole thing.  

Speaking as someone vaguely aware of other recordings of this song over the years, Zevon's take has to qualify as a rather bizarre version, right?  It sounds like it's such a hurry, and then there are the echoing background vocals that come in a little bit late rather than together, and then there's the random whooping of "Iko!"... even by the standards of a song I didn't like to begin with, it's a bad cover.  What is the appeal?  Who is this for?

Track Six:  "Traveling In The Lightning"

I wish TITL didn't immediately follow "Iko" so I wasn't turned off by the similar intros.  Once things get going, we've closer to Zevon being Zevon.  This ode to a certain type of peripatetic life - an attempt at an anthem for the hard touring musician? - lets Zevon string together some longer phrases.  That's why TITL is more than another attempted honky-tonk*** number.  Maybe it's knowing where his career would go, but here I can see him in storyteller mode.  A storyteller who can come up with name/phrases that just evoke things, like "Nashville Shakedown Band."  Another track flashing hints of greatness.  I like the interplay between the vocals and the guitar part throwing in a few pyrotechnics on top of its pulsing beat.

Track Seven:  "Tule's Blues"

More of a country-tinged ballad, demanding the question "what even is this record?"  I think "Tule's" is generally viewed as one of the strongest tracks on Wanted, and if so, I agree.  The straightforward melody lets Zevon throw some layers into the lyrics here that aren't really present elsewhere on the record.  The unexpected rhyme of "oh, Tule" with "oh, truly."  One line sets both characters up as musicians so that the chorus can then give us:

It's a sad song and we always seem to be singing it to each other
You and me, sweet and slightly out of key
Like the sound of a running down calliope

Is this the first truly great Zevon lyric?  Is the narrator sure if he blames himself or Tule for their sad song, or is it just (to him) one of those things nobody could have prevented?  How much of the absentee dad in the song reflects its absentee-dad singer's real-life feelings? 

Track Eight:  "A Bullet For Ramona"

Another ballad with a vaguely country sound, only this time a keys-heavy tune about murder.  Here Zevon didn't actually write the lyrics, which I wouldn't have guessed.  So, does ABFR expand or transcend the huge**** canon of songs about putting a cheatin' woman in the ground?  I guess the main twists are the uncertainty about whether or not any commitment Ramona has made to the narrator are entirely within his own mind, and his telling his story as a letter to "Ma," as in, "Ma, I hope you'll understand."  The song is fine, I suppose, although it's musically inert enough to overstay its welcome.

Track Nine:  "Gorilla"

Hey, suddenly Zevon remembers the joys of a hard rocking guitar, and even better, discovers how nice a descending piano line can sound on top of that background.  Where was this energy all record?!   The hell with lyrics, put together sounds that sound really good!  As basic as I am sometimes, "Gorilla" is probably my personal favorite song on Wanted.

Track Ten:  "Fiery Emblems"

A pleasant guitar-and-bass figure that plays for about three minutes.

Final thoughts:

I struggled quite a bit with assigning an arbitrary numerical rating to Wanted Dead Or Alive.  I dabbled with everything from a 2.0 (out of 5) to a 3.0.  I mean, we know this is pretty damn far from Zevon's best work.  Even Zevon himself had little desire to reclaim Wanted after he made it big.  But taken on its own, is this a good record?  To me... kinda?  It's, at minimum, an interesting record.  Even the lesser songs are generally potentially good ideas for songs that needed more time in the oven.  The same musical schizophrenia that keeps Wanted from being cohesive does keep things lively.  It helps that both the individual tracks and the record tend to go by quickly.  There is something here.  The record is engaging.  The vocalist's approach is unique.  The songwriting dabbles with cleverness just often enough to pique one's interests.  I guess I do like it.

Another way to frame the question is, if Wanted Dead Or Alive had been made as a one-off by a guy who then permanently settled into life as a session musician, songwriter for other people, etc, would there be a reason to listen to it today?  Well... kinda?  If one wants a weird little lo-fi curio from a time when the music landscape was changing rapidly, might be worth a spin or two!

I know there's way more stuff preserved and recorded than a world could possibly need.  How can one not kinda love it, though, when A debut that at the time seemed to be a dead end gets preserved like this, though?  It's a privilege to have access to a full on official release from what's effectively a music legend's "prehistory" period.

Favorite track:  "Gorilla"

Runner up:  "Tule's Blues"

Least favorite track:  "Iko-Iko"

Rating:  3/5

We continue with Warren Zevon whenever I get around to it!

*No connection, of course, to a certain identically titled little rock tune from someone else that would be released sixteen years later

**I'm really not quite sure why my writing is not on a first name basis with ol' Warren the way it is with just about every other musician.  Somehow seems fitting that his original artist name didn't even include the first name.

 

***Maybe I should only use terms like "honky-tonk" when I can actually confidently define what they mean?  Ah, well.

****Disturbingly huge, honestly