And I learned all about the other blues cats from John Hammond's Vanguard records.
And I think it's safe to say that the single very impressive figure to me was Merle Haggard.
And if I have any self-mythologizing idea of myself, it's that I'm this sort of homeless, Graham Greene kind of character. Which is not so far from the truth.
And my ex-wife and I thought we should do something interesting while we were young, before we settled into any kind of groove.
But I can't say that I didn't like John Hammond's performances often better than the originals.
But there's a thin line between songwriting and arranging.
David Marks. He was one of the original, original Beach Boys. But he like wasn't a close enough cousin or something.
Duncan Aldrich has been my partner in most recording projects, and touring projects, for the past decade.
Dylan can do no wrong.
Dylan doesn't have to make Blonde On Blonde every time.
Everywhere I go, I have my little Steinberger, and I like it very well.
Glenn Gould was my hero. Glenn Gould was my idol. I loved him.
I also told John Hammond this, 20 years later - to his exquisite embarrassment - that he was like this incredible, overwhelming influence on me.
I don't learn so good, no matter how good the teacher is.
I don't like piano solos.
I had a good guitar, and I was a young, young kid.
I have no guitar technique.
I loved Hendrix. I mean, really, really loved him. As if he were one of the great classical composers. And he was. That's how I saw him.
I mean, I haven't been completely lacking in some enjoyment of Chuck Berry or Buddy Holly. But I just didn't pay attention to that period of music, obviously.
I missed jazz, kind of. And by the time I came to it in life, it was too intimidating to enjoy thoroughly.
I played a lot of real normal, straight sessions.
I remember certain lines and whose they are.
I wish I sang better.
I'll sleep when I'm dead.
I'm not a big jazz fan.
It took me 10 years to realize that I don't know 'em, 10 years to realize that it's possible to learn them, then another 10 years to learn how to do things.
Mutineer is the first album of mine without a demo stage.
My father was a boxer, though. So, I have a particular interest in Ray Mancini, I think.
My first album is like a terrible John Hammond album, with drums.
My memory is not even what most people's is, much less what it oughta be for a discussion like this.
Piano is like drudgery.
Recording at home enables one to eliminate the demo stage, and the presentation stage in the studio, too.
So I guess I had, I think they tell me I had, about three years total of piano lessons, off and on.
So I have, in fact, never played a piano solo but that it was also a guitar solo.
So, I met Stravinsky, and talked to him and sat with him. But in no way was I like friends with him or anything.
That's my only active wish. I think if I sang like Don Henley, this would be a lot more agreeable business.
The first few albums I bought, I guess around high school age, I had a John Lee Hooker album and a Bo Diddley album, and then some singles.
The primary one being, like I said, I don't like rock 'n' roll piano.
Well, I don't think it ever did, but in the early '60s I got interested in folk music.
Well, I was interested in playing the piano from as early as I can remember.
When I started working for the Everly Brothers, I realized that I had liked them.
Yeah, I don't like, um, I'm not interested in rock 'n' roll piano. I find it a little grating.
You had to go to a different part of town from where I was to get Muddy Waters singles. I had him on singles.
(Commenting on his terminal illness): "You've gotta remember, it's not morbid to me. I know the hearse is parked at the curb and the motor is running. The thing is, I'm still trying to be cheery about it."
I guess I made sort of a tactical error by not going to the doctor's in twenty years.. Just one of those phobias that didn't pay off.
Enjoy Every Sandwich
One of his songs, "Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead," was later used for the title of a 1995 film.
Recorded hit single in early 2001, "Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song)", co-written with sportswriter (and "Tuesdays With Morrie" author) Mitch Albom. David Letterman provided backup vocals.
The London (Ontario) club in baseball's Frontier League, an independent minor league, is named the Werewolves after Zevon's song "Werewolves of London." The Werewolves' mascot is named Warren Z. Von.
In September 2002, announcing to the press that he had terminal cancer, Zevon stated with his traditional wry humor: "It would be a shame if I didn't make it to see the next James Bond movie."
He was the first musical guest on 'Late Night' and the only guest who had the whole show to himself as a guest where he spoke of his terminal cancer.
The song Werewolf of London's title was an idea of Phil Everly! He asked Warren and Waddy Wachtel to write a dance song and call it Werewolf of London. Warren had worked for Phil on his TV show as music director much as he did when he filled in for Paul Shaffer on Late Night with David Letterman. He played in an Irish pub in Spain before Werewolf made him famous.
His final album, "The Wind" (released in 2003), was intended to be a farewell to his friends and fans. It includes a haunting cover version of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". The final song is an acoustic ballad entitled "Keep Me In Your Heart".
One daughter, Ariel; one son, Jordan.
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