Warren Zevon, Excitable Boy
Asylum, 1978: Warren Zevon (vocals and just about every instrument, died 2003), Jorge Calderón (vocals), Danny Kortchmar (guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums)

Notable songs (There are nine cuts, I decided to note just five!)

Warren Zevon tix

This is one album that I played, and play, a lot; so much so that I had to purchase a special protective plastic sleeve for the record.

I think that I've always liked the album because of the smart song-writing, the humorous black side and the dark sense of satire in the lyrics, especially in "Excitable Boy." Throughout the songs there are memorable lines intermixed, like "send lawyers, guns and money, the shit has hit the fan" in "Lawyers, Guns and Money."

"Werewolves of London," from this album, was the only Top 40 hit ever for Zevon as a singer.

Zevon had a long career as a performer--his first solo album appeared in 1969. In the 1970s, he was very much a part of the LA music scene with the Everly Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, et al.

I never knew that he was a good friend of David Letterman or that he often appeared on the Late Show--not surprising since I probably haven't watched a show that started after 11 pm in twenty years. In late 2002, Zevon was the only guest for the show's entire hour as he talked about his losing battle with cancer. The last song that he performed on Letterman was "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner."