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No, Carl Franklin's and I didn't just cut a disc for my blog, and yes, this is for real. Janell needed a new mouse, so we headed out the Best Buy in Lincoln before doing our usual Saturday night thing at the Haymarket Old Chicago. I wandered around the music for a while looking for tunes and I found this. There was no question that I had to have it. But frankly, unless you're a big Zevon head like me, there's really no compelling reason to buy it. And if you are, skip the first three tracks. Billy Bob Thorton is the surprise on this disc, I think, as he turns in a great cover. Jill Sobule also does a bang-up job.
"Searching for a Heart" by Don Henley should be "Search for a red-shag carpet covered lounge to sing in" since that's what he turned it into. Seriously. this reminds me of why Mojo Nixon sang "Don Henley must die."
"Werewolves of London" by Adam Sandler. Well at least didn't try to turn into a joke. Not a bad cover, maybe a little over produced.
"Reconsider Me" by Steve Earls and Reckless Kelley. I knew after the first ten bars that I wasn't going to like this one bit. Stoped after next five.
"Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" by Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. Good cover, well done and faithful to Zevon's presetation of the song. Hard to tell Bonnie is really in the song until the end.
"My Ride's Here" by Bruce Springsteen. Nice tribute, but I don't know if this song works very well live and when Bruce does it, his ballad-like approach to it just seems to rob all the punch from the song. Not bad, just different.
"Lawyers, Guns and Money" by the Wallflowers. Faithfully done, nothing bad about the music or singing. I might have to check out some of the other work this band has done.
"Studebaker" by Jordon Zevon. Very good cover and well done. Jordon doesn't have his father's raspy voice that would this song really demands, IMHO, though.
"The Wind" by Billy Bob Thorton. Wow! my first my reaction was "isn't this Tom Waits instead?" I really found myself liking this. All the soul that Henley lacked on "Searching for a Heart," Billy Bob puts down here.
"Splendid Isolation" by Peter Yorn. Punched up by the studio a bit, but I really like Peter's voice for this song and he does it seriously enough. The score was a bit differant the standard, but overall a very nice job.
"Mutineer" By Bob Dillion. Before hearing this, I thought other than Zevon, there's only two folks I want I to hear this song come out of: Jimmy Buffett and Bob Dillion. Dillion's style makes the song sound more like a train-wreck-in-progress than I was ready for. Not bad if you like Dillion, and is faithful to the music and spirit of the original, I think.
"Monkey Wash, Donkey Rise" by David Lindley and Ry Cooder. This song demands the strangest pairing I guess. Lindley and Cooder are at different ends of my prefences (and I like Cooder). Ry's rich vocals are all but washed out by Lindley's nasal squeaking here. Dissappointing. At least they keep the spirit of the song alive.
"Don't let us get sick" by Jill Sobule. I really have a hard time with this song emotionally since Zevon passed on. Jill does a great job of stirring those emtions up. Lyrically and musically faithful to the original. Easily one of the best three tracks on this album.
"Ain't that pretty at all" by the Pixes. Ok, I though, this should rock. And it does. But this is totally a Pixies version of the song. Sounds like they had a lot fun recording it at least.
"Keep me in your heart" By Jorge Calderon and Jennifer Warnes. Another difficult song for me to enjoy, but Jorge really kicks it out nicely. Jennifer adds great touches to the song too. Well done. |