– Warren Zevon in concert at Main Point, Bryn Mawr – June 20, 1976 – WMMR Broadcast –
Classic Singer-Songwriter this morning. The inimitable Warren Zevon, recorded in concert at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr on June 20, 1976 and broadcast by WMMR in Philadelphia.
Zevon had a string of hits throughout the 1970s, most notably being Werewolves Of London. His debut, self-titled album which came out around the time of this concert, was universally acclaimed and a huge seller, establishing Zevon as an artist to be reckoned with; not the least because of his darkly humorous songwriting style.
By September 1975 Zevon had returned to Los Angeles, where he roomed with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. There he collaborated with Jackson Browne, who produced and promoted Zevon’s self-titled major-label debut in 1976. Contributors to the album included Nicks, Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, members of the Eagles, Carl Wilson, Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt. Ronstadt elected to record many of his songs, including “Hasten Down the Wind”, “Carmelita”, “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “Mohammed’s Radio”. Zevon’s first tour, in 1977, included guest appearances in the middle of Jackson Browne concerts, one of which is documented on a widely circulated bootleg recording of a Dutch radio program under the title The Offender Meets the Pretender.
Produced by Browne, Warren Zevon (1976) was his first album to chart in the United States, peaking at No. 189. The first edition of the Rolling Stone Record Guide (1979) called it “a masterpiece”. The guide’s latest edition (2004) calls it Zevon’s “most realized work”. Representative tracks include the junkie’s lament “Carmelita”; the Copland-esque outlaw ballad “Frank and Jesse James”; “The French Inhaler”, a scathing look at life and lust in the L.A. music business (which was actually about Marilyn Livingston, his long-time girlfriend and mother of his son, Jordan); and “Desperados Under the Eaves”, a chronicle of Zevon’s increasing alcoholism.
This concert marks one of the earlier appearances of the Asylum Records period Zevon, and from all indications, pre-dates his first official tour by several months. Whether this is correct or not will no doubt be the source of either correction or corroboration from readers. Have at it, and let me know if I’m wrong.
In any event, here is classic Warren Zevon as first heard on June of 1976.
It would be safe to say you can crank this one up too.
