Is there any substance behind this catchy 70s piano song? After botanist Wilfred Glendon travels to Tibet in search of a rare flower, the Mariphasa, he returns to a London haunted by murders that can only be the work of bloodthirsty werewolves.After botanist Wilfred Glendon travels to Tibet in search of a rare flower, the Mariphasa, he returns to a London haunted by murders that can only be the work of bloodthirsty werewolves.After botanist Wilfred Glendon travels to Tibet in search of a rare flower, the Mariphasa, he returns to a London haunted by murders that can only be the work of bloodthirsty werewolves. They describe ridiculous imagery like I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand. The lyrics to Werewolves of London seem silly and playful on the surface. Warren Zevon. As Jackson Browne said, the true breadth of Warrens genius is very much in this song, exemplified by the humor instilled in simple language:Its about a really well-dressed, ladies man, a werewolf preying on little old ladies, said Jackson. He studied piano with composer Igor Stravinsky when his family moved to California. Masha Shirins sultry rendition provides a striking divergence from the original within the ironic setting of a noirish musical featuring a stylish lupine ladies man that was part of an ad campaign for Three Olives vodka in 2014. Wachtel used seven bands and endless combinations of musicians, before recruiting Fleetwood Mac members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, who finally executed the drum and bass parts to best fit the song during an all-night session. Its all there in this song. Fools that we are, we said, You think its so great, why dont you write it down? Marinell recounted in Crystals 2008 book Ill Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 that May.[1]. However, none of them took the song seriously. Werewolves of London was trotted out regularly. The hit songs 15- minute conception, prompted by a horror film and a dance-crazed Phil Everly, progressed into a lineage of assorted and unusual cultural citations. Cover versions range from the Flamin Groovies, David Lindley, and Magnolia Electric Co., to actor Adam Sandler. An extraordinary story of suspense set in 1872 that tells of David and Gabriel, unknowing hosts for the enormously powerful fallen angels of Biblical mythology. But the song still wasnt finished. Warren Zeon performs one of his most famous and successful compositions 'Werewolves of London' on Irish TV in January 1981The Late Late Show [3] Burnett's version of the song included alternate or partially improvised lyrics mentioning stars from classical Hollywood cinema, along with mentions of vanished labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, and adult film stars Marilyn Chambers and Linda Lovelace. The track featured Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on drums and bass respectively. Theres plenty of room to make your own story out of it. Fortunately, they were game and agreed to help them get their werewolf song off the ground. Zevon thought it should end with, I saw a werewolf drinking a pia colada at Trader Vic's, and his hair was perfect. Wachtel laughed but later realized it was exactly the right line. What is that other song called? The idea behind all those references is the idea of the neer do-well who devotes his life to pleasure: the debauched Victorian gentleman in gambling clubs, consorting with prostitutes, the aristocrat who squanders the family fortune. All of that, Jackson, is secreted in that one line: Id like to meet his tailor.. Browne told Rolling Stones David Fricke that when someone inevitably made reference to Werewolves of London at Zevons memorial service in 2003, Browne came away with a new perspective on the song 25 years later, with one of Zevons patented comes-out-of-nowhere lines his focal point. It was composed by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel and was included on Excitable Boy (1978), Zevon's third solo album. Johann Strauss's "Tales from the Vienna Woods", Op. Werewolves Of London by Warren Zevon - a great tune for the uke off his Excitable Boy album. [9] In a retrospective review, film critic Leonard Maltin awarded it two-and-a-half out of four stars, calling the film "dated but still effective", and complimenting Oland's performance as Dr. [4] Six years later, Pierce was able to use a design closely resembling his original version when he worked with Lon Chaney Jr. on The Wolf Man. Veracruz 8. I did read it many years ago so my memory might be false. How did Warren Zevon not get sued by Lynyrd Skynyrd for Werewolves of London? Ahhwwwooooooo. And yeah, I get that. Werewolves (literally "man-wolves") are shape-shifting creatures with unusual speed, strength, reflexes, and senses. Zevon secured his place with mainstream consumers when Linda Ronstadt began to perform his work that same year. The 1977 song was a fitting representation of Warren Zevons macabre outlook on life, as. Waddy was on electric guitar, and Warren on piano. It turns out that the song may have been deeper than anyone ever realized. That this and Werewolves were on the same album made it pretty evident that this guy had quite a big pallette, and was using colors nobody considered. About Discogs. [6] The werewolf's howl for the film is a blend of Hull's voice and a recording of an actual timber wolf, an approach that has not been used in any subsequent werewolf film.[7]. It is also fitting that this is Warrens only Top 40 hit given that he never really cared for the song. The correct term is "lycanthropy". And Warren Zevon had his werewolf, with perfect hair, in London. Contributors. Warren Zevon Excitable Boy 2007 Elektra Entertainment Company Producer: Jackson Browne Bass. Warren Zevons eponymous second album, produced by Jackson Browne, was released in 1976. November 1, 2020, 4:26 pm. "[12] He also described "Werewolves of London" as a novelty song, "[but] not a novelty the way, say, Steve Martin's "King Tut" is a novelty. In fact, Zevon sometimes inserted Jacksons name into the song in concerts, to be funny. Zevon's werewolves are sophisticates, sporting exquisitely . Universal's first foray into lycanthropy was this version of a man that goes to Tibet in search of a rare flower. D Ah- C ooooo, G werewolves of London. It's one of those things that can really bug you. So it deserves its due acclaim. He then played the solo in one take. Its about a really well-dressed, ladies man, a werewolf preying on little old ladies, Browne told Rolling Stone. But Zevon remained a well-kept secret from the world at first. Zevon mingled in the same LA scene as Stevie Nicks, Glenn Frey, and JD Souther. Linda recorded his song Poor, Poor Pitiful Me, which became a hit, though it sheds the dimension of irony thats there when he sings it. Yet so many of those are inducted. For him it was just one card from his expsnsive deck, and an easy one. "[2], The song had a resurgence in popularity in 1986 due to its use in a scene in The Color of Money, where Tom Cruise dances and lip-syncs to the song in a scene in which Cruise "displayed the depths of his talents at the billiards game of 9-ball. By Warren Zevon (Official Music Video) Released Oct 28, 2019 By abandoning ones usual restraint to say that thing that isnt said, and write a song nobodys ever written, leads often to great, new places. There is also ironic juxtaposition in Kid Rocks All Summer Long, a huge hit that reached number one in eight countries in 2008. The pseudonym derives from the first names of himself and of a school friend from the 1960s, Craig A. Mackintosh, with whom he jointly published some very early work. Details on B.A. Musical references to the film include Warren Zevon's 1978 hit song "Werewolves of London", and Paul Roland's 1980 album and single The Werewolf of London. The trio frivolously alternated verses, beginning with what may be one of the all-time opening lines: I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand/Walking down the streets of Soho in the rain. The romp is comic noir, featuring a stylish werewolf on his way to Lee Ho Fooks for a big dish of beef chow mein and another drinking a pia colada at Trader Vics., There is a warning of the hairy handed gent who ran amok in Kent alleviated with nifty alliteration little old lady got mutilated late last night, droll fashion statements his hair was perfect, characteristic celebrity name dropping Lon Chaney, and Lon Chaney Jr. walking with the Queen, the dance endeavor Everly had hoped for, doing the Werewolves of London, and an Aah-oooh chorus. He was friends with writers like Hunter S Thompson and Stephen King. Warren Zevon on the cover of Excitable Boy, the 1978 album which includes "Werewolves in London." All this summer, All Things Considered is digging into listeners' parents' record collections to . As the fallen angels move toward their final confrontation in a strange private hell, their pawns must move with them, struggling for their own lives--and the fate of the world. The gods of songwriting and rock & roll do not want any of their children to be so disparaged, even ones who were famously abusive or worse. WARREN ZEVON: (Singing) Doin' the werewolves of London, I saw a . - Svengoolie.com", "Werewolf of London (1935) - Rotten Tomatoes", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Werewolf_of_London&oldid=1145150245, Articles needing additional references from April 2022, All articles needing additional references, Articles lacking reliable references from October 2017, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Clark Williams as Hugh Renwick, Wilfred's friend and assistant in Tibet, Joseph North as Plympton, the Glendon's butler (uncredited), Eole Galli as the singer at Ettie's party (uncredited), Amber Norman as Wilfred's first victim (uncredited), Jeffrey Hassel as Alf, the nightwatchman at the zoo (uncredited), This page was last edited on 17 March 2023, at 14:53. [9] In concerts, Zevon would often change the line "You better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out, Jim / I'd like to meet his tailor", to "And he's looking for James Taylor".[10]. Waddy bolstered and echoed the piano part with his rhythm guitar. He has also used the pseudonym Brian Craig for a couple of very early works, and again for a few more recent works. He constructs a lamp that simulates moonlight in his London laboratory and waits for the plant to bloom. Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon vs. Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. After which, Warren took it home and tailored it. What have the artists said about the song? I'm not too familiar with music copyright laws. Waddy was on a mission to make it the album that would break him through, Excitable Boy. Since its release, artists ranging from David Bowie to Jimmy Buffet have covered the song. A killer, of course, a monster. Werewolves of London, all over again. Warren was never a fan of the pop song, and didnt want it on the album. The chords D Major, C Major and G Major are constant throughout the song and a straight 4/4 drum beat. T Bone Burnett also performed the song, on the first leg of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour in the autumn of 1975. According to his great-nephew Cortlandt Hull, however, Hull, an accomplished makeup artist in his own right, argued that Pierce's original design obscured his face so much that it would contradict the script, which specified that other characters were able to recognize the werewolf as Glendon. Months later, Zevon called Wachtel out of the blue to say he wasnt happy with the songs closing line. In 2004, Werewolves of London won the BBC Radio 2s Greatest Opening Song Line vote, finishing ahead of Bill Haley and the Comets Rock Around the Clock, Hey Joe by the Leaves, Jimi Hendrix, and others, Little Richards Tutti Frutti, and Lynyrd Skynyrds Freebird. The first part of the opening line I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand has also been appropriated as a bumper sticker, with the verse catchy but confounding to those not familiar with Zevon. Still, it wasnt easy to get the feel right. Most of the Excitable Boy budget went into recording Werewolves of London due to the disproportionate number of attempts to get the song done. In addition to being a perennial Halloween favorite, it has appeared in numerous TV shows and movies, including the 1986 Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money, starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. In major league baseball, Washington Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth includes Werewolves of London in his rotation of walk-up tunes played over the stadium PA system as he approaches the batters box. The song samples the Werewolves piano hook, mashed up with Lynyrd Skynyrds Sweet Home Alabama, a song Zevon satirized in Play It All Night Long in 1980. The song was done as a joke, written in 15 minutes as they were watching B Horror Movies. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. ", "Warren Zevon: Your Guide Through Transverse Citye", "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada", "Kent Music Report No 236 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978", "australian-charts.com - Forum - Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts - 1980s (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)", "Top 200 Singles of '78 Volume 30, No. Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen. He infused so much power, passion, brilliance and musicality into each one. Nonetheless I found the film very entertaining and recommend it. Lugosi would subsequently portray the gypsy werewolf who bites Lon Chaney Jr.'s titular character in The Wolf Man (1941), which was a much smaller, though memorable, role. Lets check it out! The 1977 song was a fitting representation of Warren Zevons macabre outlook on life, as expressed in many of his other songs. Werewolves of London was one of those songs which fell into place easily, with input from many directions. Fortunately, Crystal Zevon was present to transcribe the lively lyric exchange onto a steno pad that she always carried. I don't really get Kid Rock anyway. According to Wachtel, "Werewolves of London" was "the hardest song to get down in the studio I've ever worked on. The track featured Fleetwood Mac 's Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on drums and bass respectively. When it came time to record, Waddy started with the great Russ Kunkel on drums, with whom he made countless records. Warren Zevon is the epitome of this dynamic. I mean, it's great if you like to read literary prose-style books in which a lot of words are used but nothing is really said, and this is one of them. Warren relished the image of a fashionable British werewolf. Accidentally Like a Martyr 6. But as easy as it was to immediately capture its spirit in the writing, doing this in the studio was the opposite. Eddy Parker of Raleigh, N.C., has one. It is sampled by Kid Rock. I still think it's funny. Browne was a huge fan of Zevon having produced his acclaimed first album ASYLUM and co producing WEREWOLVES of LONDON his biggest hit with his own money. There are times when I prefer that it was "Bridge Over Troubled Water", but I don't think bad about the song. The make-up by Jack Pierce is pretty good, but actor Henry Hull is very dull in his lead role. Its then they learned that Fleetwood Mac was making an album in the same studio. UFO - Werewolves Of London - RED TRANSLUCENT [New Vinyl LP] Clear Vinyl, Red, Po. The song also circulated to the spirited atmosphere of minor league baseball. D Ah- C ooooo G. Zevon told Wachtel about the crazy song title Everly had suggested, and Wachtel responded, Werewolves of London? You mean like, Ah-hoooo?. If it suits you, you can stop here and keep the meaning simple.But on a deeper level, a Zevonic level, the lyrics are about something much more nefariously real. Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA. Print and download sheet music for Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon. [4] It has often been reported that Pierce's design was simplified because Henry Hull was unwilling to endure the hours that it would have taken to apply the original version of the makeup,[5] or that Hull did not want his face obscured because of vanity. I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. And his hair was perfect. It was composed by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel and was included on Excitable Boy (1978), Zevon's third solo album. Some might argue that theres irony in the fact that Werewolves of London did so well. The novel also has a different ending, in which Glendon decides to cooperate with Yogami, and they attempt to control their transformations with the aid of a hypnotist. [11] It aired on the April 2, 2022, episode of Svengoolie. Folks even discussed the song at Zevons memorial, which gave Jackson Browneone of the songs early championsa chance to reflect on what the lyrics were truly about. Yet listen to any of his songs. It could serve that literary purpose he was so good at double entendre. : r/AskReddit. Zevon. The police search all day for Wilfred, who is hiding in his lab, waiting for the only remaining Mariphasa flower to bloom. His subversive social satire and clever delivery of the written word bring aspiring songwriters to his work even now. Werewolves of London was included in the movie The Color of Money, and also was featured in the Italian movie Radiofreccia, the 2005 drama North Country, and Grown Ups 2. 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