the warren zevon EXCITABLE BOY poll: mad love, shadow love, random love and abandoned love

i guess the only question is how much "werewolves" wins by, but i could make a case for any of the first 5, and "tenderness on the block." and i'm voting "lawyers, guns and money." but really, there's not a bad song. with the possible exception of "nighttime," but i'm kind of a sucker for that late '70s boogie.

here's xgau, more or less otm:

Excitable Boy [Asylum, 1978]
The further these songs get from Ronstadtland, the more I like them. The four that exorcise male psychoses by mock celebration are positively addictive, the two uncomplicated rockers do the job, and two of the purely "serious" songs get by. But no one has yet been able to explain to me what "accidentally like a martyr" might mean--answers dependent on the term "Dylanesque" are not acceptable--and I have no doubt that that's the image Linda will home in on. After all, is she going to cover the one about the headless gunner? A-

(it occurs to me that for marketing purposes i should have called this thread KNEE DEEP IN GORE)

"Excitable Boy" for me.
I don't see "Werewolves" winning this, to be honest.

Although there are so many good songs, it could win by a squeaker.

i went with "roland." that martial shit gets me. other option was "lawyers," i guess.

Lawyers, Guns & Money

He has better records than this, but most of the "hits" are here. I made the mistake of reading his biography and he was a total monster.

I only heard this album a few times when my roommate was really into it, but I'm voting "Lawyers."

"Excitable Boy," thanks to the Ronstadt harmonies. But you can't fuck with the Mick-and-John rhythm section on "Werewolves."

This is all about "Lawyers, Guns, & Money"

I voted for "Accidentally Like A Martyr" -- no one else likes that one? I'm actually pretty into Zevon's ballad-y side ...

i like it a lot.

oh haha, didn't even see the poll's subtitle ...

Wrong album, I know, but I like Ronstadt's "Carmelita" cover fine.

oh man, i think "Carmelita" is my fave Zevon song ever.

yeah, it's one of mine too. the ronstadt version sounds good, but i don't believe her as any of the characters in the song.

lol I saw this thread and just assumed it was a tipsy mothra joint

Nighttime is the only thing on here with the slightest whiff of dud.

"Johnny" and "Accidentally" feel like contenders for me. And "Veracruz" needs a little love here, esp. the bridge. In context vs on the radio "Werewolves" feels like brilliant divertissement it is.

"Lawyers, Guns and Money" takes it. At least tonight.

speaking of bridges, the one on "johnny" is A+ -- "and johnny is my main man/he's the keeper of the keys" etc., trailing off after "back by popular demand..." until the whack of the snare drum and then wham back into the verse. sweet.

Carmelita is his best song, followed by Mr. Bad Example. A lot of his songs aren't as good as they should be IMHO. Even his greatest hits record is littered with mediocrity, which is too bad. I guess I like him more in theory than in reality.

love lawyers & the title track but unashamedly voting werewolves because the groove is so unstoppable and the delivery is so great - so many lines spat out like they'd sprung fully formed just in that second.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I WON

totally respectable breakdown. good work everyone.

also, in that live "excitable boy" i posted above, just how coked up is he? hyper city.

man... even with Dylan's vote Lawyers, Guns, and Money comes up short...

BF: Did you know Zevon?

BD: Not very well.

BF: What did you like about him?

BD: "Lawyers, Guns and Money." "Boom Boom Mancini." Down hard stuff. "Join me in L.A." sort of straddles the line between heartfelt and primeval. His musical patterns are all over the place, probably because he's classically trained. There might be three separate songs within a Zevon song, but they're all effortlessly connected. Zevon was a musician's musician, a tortured one. "Desperado Under the Eaves." It's all in there.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/15/bob-dylan-exclusive-inter_n_187216.html