Published on Aug 1, 2005
I really didn’t expect to end up reviewing this disc.
Y’see, it was just a few months ago that I reviewed the Warren
Zevon tribute album
Enjoy Every Sandwich, featuring an all-star cast
interpreting some of Zevon’s best-known tunes. Thus, while I
appreciated my friend Mark Doyon (Mr. Wampus himself) laying a copy
of his label’s Zevon tribute album on me, I had to ask myself what
new insight could possibly be forthcoming from a second such album,
similar in many ways, but featuring generally more obscure song
choices interpreted by generally more obscure independent
artists.
After a couple of listens to
Hurry Home Early, the answer hit me like a self-administered
whack in the forehead. Tribute albums aren’t so much about the
artist being honored, or the artists honoring that person. They’re
about the songs themselves. And Warren Zevon left behind one hell
of a songbook.
By turns caustic, reflective, raucous and brilliantly funny,
Zevon used the entire emotional palette to paint bold strokes on
his sonic canvas. From the prideful iconoclasm of “Splendid
Isolation” to the gentle entreaty of “Mutineer,” this disc covers a
huge amount of that tonal ground. And thanks to the relatively
anonymous names involved, you never get wrapped up in the novelty
of, say, Adam Sandler singing “Werewolves Of London.” You hear the
words, you feel the music, you experience the song, unfiltered by
expectations of any sort.
Which allows you to fully appreciate things like Last Train Home
imbuing “Desperadoes Under The Eaves” with a rich, determined
alt-country swing; the Simple Things giving a jangle-rock kick to
“I’ll Slow You Down”; Tom Flannery delivering a version of “Boom
Boom Mancini” that’s as stripped-down and close to the bone as its
working-class hero narrative; and The Matthew Show offering a
moody, lilting take on “Mohammed’s Radio.” (Side note: is it just
me, or is Simple Things lead singer Jimmy Catlett a dead ringer
vocally for Zevon pal Don Henley?)
The other highlight comes near the end, with the one-two punch
of Brook Pridemore wrapping his sharp-edged voice and acoustic
guitar around the bitter brilliance that is “Life’ll Kill Ya,” and
Robbie Rist following that with a snarling romp through “Mr. Bad
Example” (“I’m very well acquainted with the seven deadly sins / I
keep a busy schedule, tryin’ to fit ’em in / etc.”). It’s
nasty-greasy rock and roll at its very best.
I can’t say every cut here is a smashing success — there are a
couple of tries that feel a little uninspired or off-track — but
all in all, it’s a very solid set. And the previously unrecorded
nugget “Warm Rain” — a gentle, melancholy ballad presented by
Simone Stevens and Warren’s son Jordan Zevon — makes for a welcome
bonus (“Dry thoughts for a wine-dark day,” goes the best line).
The bottom line is, any songwriter with the balls and chops to
rhyme “Spokane” with “naughahyde divan” without missing a beat
deserves as many tribute albums as the music world can cook up.
Keep ’em coming, boys and girls!
[For more information about this disc and other
Wampus discs, visit
www.wampus.com]