Excitable Boy

Amazon.com essential recording
With this 1978 LP, Warren Zevon stepped forward as something of the dark prince of California. Like fellow Southern California outcast Randy Newman, Zevon achieved some fame, albeit not what his talent would have earned him had he written songs more like his mellower pal Jackson Browne and a little less like Jack the Ripper in a convertible. Fascinated with bloodthirsty antiheroes, Zevon wrote with the flair of a desperately bright pulp writer and summoned images of mutilated mercenaries ("Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"), pampered bad boys ("Lawyers, Guns and Money"), helpless sickos (the title track), and, of course, feral Chinese-food fiends ("Werewolves of London"). Excitable Boy's 1976 predecessor (Warren Zevon) may be a more consistent album, but this is the one that put Zevon in the public consciousness as someone to keep an eye on--for protection as well as promise. --Steven Stolder

Excitable Boy,Warren Zevon,Elektra / Wea,Album Rock,Hard Rock,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop,Singer/Songwriter

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Excitable Boy

Average customer rating: Great album now sounds even better More than just an excitable boy... Rest In Peace, Warren - You are MISSED! Warren Zevon hits his early peak! Warren Zevon's Best Album Ever Gets The Respect It Deserves

Excitable Boy Warren Zevon Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Rhino Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Stand in the Fire The Envoy Preludes I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon Live at Massey Hall (CD/DVD) ASIN: B000MGV9WA Release Date: 2007-03-27

Tracks:

1. Johnny Strikes Up The Band
2. Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner
3. Excitable Boy
4. Werewolves Of London
5. Accidentally Like A Martyr
6. Nighttime In The Switching Yard
7. Veracruz
8. Tenderness On The Block
9. Lawyers, Guns And Money
10. I Need A Truck (Outtake)
11. Werewolves Of London (Alternate version)
12. Tule's Blues (Solo Piano Version)
13. Frozen Notes (Strings Version)

Amazon.com

It's really too bad that Warren Zevon had to die before hearing how spectacular his albums sounded in these latter-day remasters. Excitable Boy remains his best-known document, awash with blood and guts (especially on the horror-laden title track) and a famous, phenomenal touch of lycanthropy. The trick is in Zevon's ironic distance, his dispatch of killer narratives that touch on mercenary internationalism and undeserved indulgence in due course. Zevon's writing is musically simple--pianos and guitars and mid-tempo pacing--and those touches here only underscore how crisp the remastering sounds. To wit: The raucous undertow of "Lawyers, Guns, and Money" is delirious and ironically rhapsodic. As for "Werewolves of London," it's here twice (once in the expanded rack of four additional tunes) in all its tilted glory. As for the other extra content, "I Need a Truck" is the short gem, a 50-second a cappella litany of Zevon's raffish ways: "I need a truck to haul my percodan and gin" and one to "haul the womens from my bed," he sings... followed by this apt note, "I need a truck to haul my body when I'm dead." He had a mordant side. --Andrew Bartlett

Album Description

EXCITABLE BOY, originally released in '78--and produced by Jackson Browne and Waddy Wachtel--hit #8 on Billboard®'s Pop albums chart and made Zevon a star. Includes the essential signature songs "Werewolves Of London"--a #21 hit single--and "Lawyers, Guns And Money." Also features "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner," "Excitable Boy," "Accidentally Like A Martyr," and other Zevon classics. Four previously unissued bonus treasures include an alternate version of "Werewolves," a solo piano version of "Tule's Blues," and an outtake of "I Need A Truck." In-depth liner notes by Rolling Stone writer David Fricke.

Customer Reviews:

Great album now sounds even better.......2007-06-09

Most of you reading this should already know how good this album is. I bought this remastered version to enjoy the improvement in sound quality and wasn't disapointed. I usually do not like other tracks tacked on to the end of the original tracks, but in this case I enjoyed all of them, especially the alternate version of "Werewolves of London". I
almost like it more than the originally released version on the album !

The liner notes are also excellent, giving some interesting insights into the man himself, as well as his music.

Now all I want is his 1976 self-titled album to be REMASTERED too.

More than just an excitable boy..........2007-04-13

Zevon become famous with "Werewolves of London," a satirical critique of the world's womanizers (past and present), but as true Zevon fans know, there was much more to this man than "aaaaaoooo, werewolves of London" and a three-chord progression that is as infectious as it is cutesy. The true Warren Zevon was a poet of sorts, a man who tackled difficult subjects ("Excitable Boy," for example, with a final verse that still gives me shivers), but still remained a sensitive man at heart ("Accidentally Like a Martyr," for example; don't deny, it moves you).

From the you-know-what hitting the fan in "Lawyers Guns and Money," to the purely delightful recitation of "I Need a Truck," to the heart-wrenching "Tule's Blues," to the rockin' romp of "Nighttime in the Switching Yard," to the world's most famous undead Thompson-gun toting anti-hero in "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner," EXCITABLE BOY remains a rock 'n roll classic. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's a staple rock album. It is by far wittier and more creative than most rock albums ever produced; sure, there aren't too many screaming electric guitars (oh my God, is that guy playing a PIANO???), but EXCITABLE BOY is quite simply one of the best rock albums ever made. Warren Zevon was a folk/rock artist like none before him...and, it's safe to say, like none we will ever see again.

Rest In Peace, Warren - You are MISSED!.......2007-04-04

...to further pontificate on what all the other esteemed reviewers have said here would be simply redundant. But if there truly IS a "rock and roll heaven," Warren is THERE, just merely on the basis of "Werewolves Of London." I like what "CD Universe" had to say about him, that he "came roaring out of the mid seventies touchy-feely with one hand on the piano, and the other with a gun." Let's face it, folks, Rock and Roll, as WE know it, DIED, Aug. 16, 1977 - but this album and (on the other coast), The Ramones, were doing their very best to keep disco & punk from interbreeding. But they did, and "popular music" limped off to its dirt bath under the name "New Wave," and left the likes of Huey Lewis, U2, Prince, ad nauseum...

Warren Zevon hits his early peak!.......2007-04-01

More than anyone else in the whole El Lay songwriter movement of the late seventies, Warren Zevon had absolutely no problem with getting a good laugh at the expense of the insularity of it all. And on his second proper album, he took the whole scene and turned it properly on its backside. "Excitable Boy" threw in a mix of werewolves, mercenaries, drug abusers and paranoid spoiled brats, yet while frequently offering exceptional tenderness and insight. It was easy to see why Jackson Browne was his mentor and Linda Ronstadt his patron angel.

A song as reckless as the album's title track could come from nothing less than genius. The chirpy sweet background vocals and sugary melody buoy the dark tale of a murderous high school student who kills on the night of his junior prom. "Hotel California" this most certainly wasn't. At the same time, "Accidentally Like a Martyr," with its stately piano line, encompasses the horror of a sunken love affair in barely three and a half minutes. These juxtapositions carry all the way through "Excitable Boy," with only one misstep in the CD's nine songs (the forced funk of "Nighttime In The Switching Yard").

Warren Zevon made several other great albums, but "Excitable Boy" was the moment that his youthful exuberance and a mind uncluttered by too many foreign substances produced a stunner. As a document of the California Sound that Elektra/Asylum records was known for in the seventies, this is indispensable.

The remaster is stunning. The piano to "Accidentally Like A Martyr" just leaps out of the mix (where before it seemed kind of flat). The same can be said for "Nighttime In The Switching Yard." What originally sounded compressed now sounds so much livelier. The bonus tracks are only so-so, with the alternate take of "Werewolves" being somewhat interesting and "I Need A Truck' humorous but unnecessary. What you really want here is the original album, and "Excitable Boy" is worth the remastered wait.

Warren Zevon's Best Album Ever Gets The Respect It Deserves.......2007-03-29

Warren Zevon's best album, EXCITABLE BOY, is finally getting the respect it deserves via a remastering which adds several previously unreleased demos and outtakes to the original album. Although learning to take teasing like the lyrics on this CD can make you a stronger person, the cold, hard truth is that Zevon was no novelty act, as several of his songs on other albums, such as the recovering-addict tales "Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School" and "Detox Mansion" prove. Get this CD as soon as you can.

Average customer rating: A veritable "greatest hits" Zevon Deep in Singer-Songwriter Groove Warren Zevon Nighttime In The Switching Yard Is My Jam! Strong Zevon Songs - Look Beyond the Big Hits for Some Other Fine Music

Excitable Boy Warren Zevon Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Rock | Styles | Music General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Warren Zevon Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School Life'll Kill Ya The Wind Sentimental Hygiene ASIN: B000002GW7 Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

1. Johnny Strikes Up The Band
2. Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner
3. Excitable Boy
4. Werewolves Of London
5. Accidentally Like A Martyr
6. Nighttime In The Switching Yard
7. Veracruz
8. Tenderness On The Block
9. Lawyers, Guns And Money

Amazon.com essential recording

With this 1978 LP, Warren Zevon stepped forward as something of the dark prince of California. Like fellow Southern California outcast Randy Newman, Zevon achieved some fame, albeit not what his talent would have earned him had he written songs more like his mellower pal Jackson Browne and a little less like Jack the Ripper in a convertible. Fascinated with bloodthirsty antiheroes, Zevon wrote with the flair of a desperately bright pulp writer and summoned images of mutilated mercenaries ("Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"), pampered bad boys ("Lawyers, Guns and Money"), helpless sickos (the title track), and, of course, feral Chinese-food fiends ("Werewolves of London"). Excitable Boy's 1976 predecessor (Warren Zevon) may be a more consistent album, but this is the one that put Zevon in the public consciousness as someone to keep an eye on--for protection as well as promise. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

A veritable "greatest hits".......2007-06-15

If you look at his [[ASIN: RHINO ANTHOLOGY]], you'll see that roughly half this album made the cut. That gives you an idea that this is an epochal moment for Zevon and you'd be right.

HIGHLIGHTS:
"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" is a modern day transplanting of the old George Washington Irving Halloween evergreen with the headless man being made a soldier of fortune this time AND the protagonist. The strong male "drunken" chorus makes this sound almost like a long lost folk ballad. The title track could be a lost 50s rocker from a ghoulish parallel universe..Linda Ronstadt blissfully chirping "Excitable boy" behind Zevon's tale of a man who assaults and kills a prom date and then nonchalantly drops her off at her house. Halloween perennial "Werewolves.." is Zevon's signature tune. Travel misadventure "Lawyers, Guns and Money" is another standout. (I was gambling in Havana/I took a little risk/Send lawyers, guns and money/Dad, get me out of this..")

LOWS:
"Veracruz" is probably the weakest tune here, not bad but ho-hum compared to the stronger fare surrounding it.

BOTTOM LINE:
Worth getting excited about.

Zevon Deep in Singer-Songwriter Groove.......2007-04-26

My love for this record matches what I have for Randy Newman's "Good Old Boys"--I bought the LP, recorded it onto cassette for the car, and bought the CD when that format took over. Randy and Warren have similar histories--songwriters from California, writing and singing their own odd (in Warren's case macabre), but perceptive songs about life and the world.

"Excitable Boy" is remarkable in that its most popular track, "Werewolves of London", is one of the CD's weaker tracks (a relative status, as every track is plenty good). "Johnny Strikes Up the Band" gets the show off to a roaring start with its '50ish lyrics ("Freddy getting ready, to rock steady"), but anything-but vocals and arrangement. The '50s and '60s get an even stranger look with "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"--Norwegian mercenaries fighting in Biafra being unusual subject matter--but somehow Warren brings it off. By the time we get to the cover track "Excitable Boy", we're ready for whatever comes, even if it's when the title character has "dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones." Warren included a doo-wah chorus featuring his friend Linda Ronstadt to lighten the mood. I always think of McCartney's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" when I hear this song, but Warren again has pushed the envelope. "Werewolves" seems downright cheery (well not quite--"little old lady got mutilated late last night") at this time, as "doo-wah" morphs into "aah-oo, werewolves of London".

The rest of the CD is a less grisly, but a treat of a different kind. We get a history less of sorts from "Veracruz", a poignant "Accidentally Like a Martyr", a jazzy "Nighttime in the Switching Yard" (my least favorite track, it turns out, but still good), and two great closers - the wise "Tenderness of the Block" (my favorite of all listening-wise) and the sarcastic and raucous "Lawyers, Guns and Money" (my favorite for a good onstage singalong.)

With my favorable reviews in here of Randy Newman, John Hiatt, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and others, you can tell where my musical groove lies--with great perceptive and ironic songs performed in a rough-edged style by their authors. If this is near your groove, jump all over Warren Zevon's "Excitable Boy" (although you probably already own it)--one of the very best recordings of its type. If you're looking to branch out in new directions, Warren will take you on a strangely satisfying trip to the possible.

Warren Zevon.......2007-03-23

A shame he passed away at such an early age. This one has his best known works.

Nighttime In The Switching Yard Is My Jam!.......2007-03-02

i got this album on c.d. the audio quality is good.

remember, the CORRECT pitch is 33 & 1/3rd. i don't know about anybody else, but i can tell that it's sped up.

Strong Zevon Songs - Look Beyond the Big Hits for Some Other Fine Music.......2005-12-30

If Warren Zevon had a bigger album than Excitable Boy, I am not sure what it would be. What is it about his music that I appreciate? Well, he does certainly tell interesting stories with his lyrics. Sometimes they are bizarre such as "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner", or marvelously weird such as "Werewovles of London". Even the popish sound of "Excitable Boy" embraces lyrics with strange but real meaning.

His tortured love songs of loss and pain are among his best on any album. On this album it is "Accidentally Like a Martyr". It isn't a great song, but better than nearly anything you will hear on the radio or anyone else's CD. The bow to disco with "Nightime in the Switching Yard" is the weakest thing on the album and immediately forgettable. "Veracruz" pairs the political sensibilities and storytelling of something like "Roland" with a sad love song such as "Accidentally Like Martyr" and is quite a good story of loss and hurt.

"Tenderness on the Block" speaks to every Dad who has ever raised a teenage daughter. Arrgghh!

Then there is the magnificent and culturally significant "Lawyers, Guns, and Money"! It is a term that has entered the language for important reasons and rings so true to anyone who has ever gotten deeply lost in a troubled situation that is dragging them into an abyss.

Zevon, we feel his loss, had a fine way of constructing songs. At times they were so compelling that they became hits for others. I am glad that he put this album together for us.

Average customer rating: Maybe the acid test ... Ain't So Bad Shameful The most lackluster "tribute" ever produced... the jury is out

String Quartet Tribute to Warren Zevon: Dad Get Me Various Artists Manufacturer: Vitamin Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Compilations | Rock | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Tributes | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Hurry Home Early: the Songs of Warren Zevon I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon Preludes Reconsider Me: The Love Songs The Envoy ASIN: B0000TGA5A Release Date: 2003-11-25

Tracks:

1. Poor, Poor Pitiful Me
2. Werewolves Of London
3. Detox Mansion
4. Excitable Boy
5. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
6. Hasten Down The Wind
7. I Was In The House When The House Burned Down
8. Keep Me In Your Heart
9. Lawyers, Guns And Money
10. Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner

Customer Reviews:

Maybe the acid test ..........2007-06-30

... is whether Warren would like it. I kind of think he would. Maybe he's sitting on a cloud somewhere, chuckling.

Ain't So Bad.......2006-10-26

In fact, I really liked it!

what ya gotta do is burn a CD with the instrumental followed by the Zevon original. It works for me. I think Warren woulda got a kick outta this one. I can imagine him with a cigerette holder, wearing a gray flannel suit with gold matching cuff links and tie clasp humming along with these songs as he rides to the top floor of a high rise in an elevator. And...his hair is perfect!

Shameful.......2006-08-26

You would be better served buying any other release full of WZ's music instead of this one. Part of the problem is the leaden execution of the music. It sounds like a totally midi programmed score, drum machines, midi instruments and the like. The second problem is that this release illustrates that, while WZ was a true genius musically, without his lyricism, his melodies can be repetitive. Don't agree with me? Then buy this CD, and listen to "Werewolves of London" 5 times in a row.

The most lackluster "tribute" ever produced..........2005-02-02

The version of "Roland..." presented here is the only thing that keeps this from a 1 star rating. It's dull and lacks any of the intensity or originalitly that Zevon brought to the original recordings of these songs. "Enjoy Every Sandwhich" has some great moments and heartfelt tributes, this is an insult to a genius.

the jury is out.......2004-03-07

i am a HUGE wz fan and have been since i first saw him live in boston circa 1980. i agree with some of the other comments. no lyrics means that you've lost more than half the power of zevon. however, i'm delighted that someone out there respects his songs so much as to put out a tribute record. but what i would really like to see (hear) is a tribute record performed by singer/songwriters, such as bob dylan, tom waits, elvis costello, or even eugene chadbourne, the residents or randy newman. now that would be fun !!!
and i still want 'the envoy' and 'stand in the fire' to be released on CD. get with it already !!!

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