Bob Dylan’s favourite Warren Zevon songs
In the 1960s, Bob Dylan emerged as one of the most significant figures of the folk revival movement. He could often be found in Greenwich Village, playing gigs in small clubs, inspired by his musical hero, Woody Guthrie. Around this time, Dylan released his self-titled debut album before steadily recording eight more records that decade, proving himself to be a prolific and highly talented songwriter.
Some of his most popular albums include The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde, all of which are considered some of the greatest collections of folk music ever recorded. In the spirit of the folk tradition, Dylan often covered other artist’s songs – an act of showing his love for the work of other musicians. On several occasions, Dylan has performed his own renditions of several tracks by Warren Zevon, who rose to prominence in the 1970s.
To Dylan, Zevon is one of the all-time greats regarding songwriting, despite the fact that Zevon once claimed Dylan “invented my job”. Dylan was already an acclaimed musician when Zevon broke through into the mainstream with his 1978 album Excitable Boy. Zevon would go on to make 12 albums before dying in 2003, and Dylan thought they were magnificent, even playing harmonica on Sentimental Hygiene’s ‘The Factory’.
Reflecting on Zevon’s work, Dylan once told HuffPost, “There might be three separate songs within a Zevon song, but they’re all effortlessly connected”.
He added, “Zevon was a musician’s musician, a tortured one”.
Given his admiration, Zevon was excited to meet Dylan, later telling David Letterman, “He was great, he was very co-operative. When he first came to visit, I was trying to make conversation with him because he’s Bob Dylan y’know.”
Out of Zevon’s vast catalogue, Dylan has four favourite tracks, beginning with ‘Desperado Under the Eaves’. The track features on Zevon’s self-titled sophomore album and contains backing vocals courtesy of The Beach Boys’ Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche.
Elsewhere, he cited ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money’ and ‘Boom Boom Mancini’ as “down hard stuff,” adding: “His musical patterns are all over the place, probably because he’s classically trained”.
Dylan has covered both tracks in the past, playing ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money’ at a Los Angeles gig in 2002, just a year before Zevon passed away. The song is one of Zevon’s most well-known compositions, appearing on Excitable Boy. While it has been covered a handful of times, few have done the track as much justice as Dylan.
Finally, Dylan also cited ‘Join Me in L.A.’ as one of his favourites, describing it as “sort of straddl[ing] the line between heartfelt and primaeval”. The song also appears on Zevon’s self-titled album and features simple yet evocative lyricism, opening with the lines, “Well, they say this place is evil/ That ain’t why I stay/ ‘Cause I found something/ That will never be nothing/ And I found it in L.A.”
Bob Dylan’s favourite Warren Zevon songs:
- ‘Desperado Under the Eaves’
- ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money’
- ‘Boom Boom Mancini’
- ‘Join Me in L.A.’
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