Warren Zevon, 1947-2003 - Page 2

Death and dying were among Zevon's favorite topics (the cover of his 2002 album ``My Ride's Here'' showed him in a hearse, while another collection was titled ``Life'll Kill Ya''), and when confronted with his own mortality he continued the exploration with aplomb. The singer, a longtime smoker, learned in August 2002 that he was suffering from inoperable lung cancer and a month later he went public with his condition in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

``I feel the opposite of regret,'' he said then. ``I was the hardest-living rocker on my block for a while. I was a malfunctioning rummy for a while and running away for a while. Then for 18 years I was a sober dad of some amazing kids. Hey, I feel like I've lived a couple of lives — and now when people listen to the music they'll say, `Hey maybe the guy wasn't being so morbid after all.' ''

Zevon spent much of his time during his illness doting on family and working in a home studio on a new album, ``The Wind.'' His popularity among his peers was underscored by a parade of contributors to the record, including longtime friends Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley and Jackson Browne. The Artemis Records disc debuted recently in the Top 20 of U.S. pop charts, an unprecedented showing for the singer.

The tracks also include some wry, unsentimental songs, in Zevon's familiar mode, and a version of the Bob Dylan classic ``Knockin' on Heaven's Door,'' a selection that speaks to Zevon's candor and sense of grim theater. Zevon's candor about his condition also extended to allowing VH1 to film the sessions for ``The Wind'' for a poignant documentary that aired near the album's release date.

Dylan himself has recently paid tribute to Zevon by singing several of his songs, including ``Accidentally Like a Martyr,'' in his concert sets. That same month, David Letterman devoted an entire episode on his late night CBS show to his old friend, an unprecedented time commitment by the long-running program.

Warren William Zevon was born Jan. 24, 1947, in Chicago and spent much of his youth shuttling between different cities in California, among them Los Angeles and San Francisco. His father, William, was a Russian Jewish immigrant who was a boxer in his early days in America, then settled into a career as a professional gambler and ``a mobster, generally,'' as his son described him. The singer's mother, Beverly, was of Scottish heritage and a Mormon...

Zevon's parents divorced when he was 16 and the classically trained young pianist quit high school and traveled from Los Angeles to New York to become a folk singer. That dream fizzled and Zevon bounced around the country, eventually returning to Southern California by the late 1960s. He made a living composing commercial jingles and playing on recording sessions. He also wrote some songs for the Turtles (``Like the Seasons'' and ``Outside Chance''), and by the early 1970s was a keyboard player and music director for the Everly Brothers.

Article Author: Steve Rhodes

Steve Rhodes is a journalist and photographer in San Francisco.

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