Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
Home / Warren Zevon the Electric Werewolf Strikes Again and Again

Warren Zevon the Electric Werewolf Strikes Again and Again

1978 single by Warren Zevon

1978 single by Warren Zevon

"Werewolves of London"
Werewolves of London Single.jpg
Single by Warren Zevon
from the album Excitable Male child
B-side "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"
Released January xviii, 1978[ citation needed ]
Recorded 1977
Genre
  • Rock
  • comedy stone
Length 3:27
Label Asylum
Songwriter(southward) LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, Warren Zevon
Producer(s) Jackson Browne, Waddy Wachtel
Warren Zevon singles chronology
"Hasten Down the Wind"
(1977) 		"Werewolves of London"
(1978) 		"Lawyers, Guns and Money"
(1978)
Music video
Warren Zevon - "Werewolves Of London" (Official Music Video) on YouTube

"Werewolves of London" is a rock song performed by American vocaliser-songwriter Warren Zevon. It was composed by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel and was included on Excitable Boy (1978), Zevon'southward third solo album. The rail featured Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on drums and bass respectively. The single was released past Asylum Records and was a superlative 40 US hitting, the merely one of Zevon'southward career, reaching No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 that May.[1]

Background and recording [edit]

The vocal began as a joke by Phil Everly (of The Everly Brothers) to Zevon in 1975, over two years before the recording sessions for Excitable Boy.[2] Everly had watched a television broadcast of the 1935 film Werewolf of London and "suggested to Zevon that he adapt the title for a song and dance craze."[two] Zevon, Marinell and Wachtel played with the idea and wrote the song in about 15 minutes, all contributing lyrics that were transcribed by Zevon's then-married woman Crystal. However, none of them took the song seriously.

Soon after, Zevon'southward friend Jackson Browne saw the lyrics and thought "Werewolves of London" had potential and began performing the vocal during his own live concerts. T Os Burnett too performed the vocal, on the first leg of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour in the fall of 1975.[3] Burnett'due south version of the song included alternate or partially improvized lyrics mentioning stars from classical Hollywood movie theater, along with mentions of vanished labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, and developed film stars Marilyn Chambers and Linda Lovelace.

"Excitable Male child" and "Werewolves of London" were considered for only not included on Zevon's self-titled second album in 1976.[4]

According to Wachtel, "Werewolves of London" was "the hardest vocal to get down in the studio I've e'er worked on."[5] However, Wachtel "laid down his solo in i take."[vi] They tried at least 7 different configurations of musicians in the recording studio before existence satisfied with McVie and Fleetwood'due south contributions.[2] The protracted studio time and musicians' fees led to the song eating up most of the album's upkeep.

The song'southward lyrics "He was looking for the place chosen Lee Ho Fook'due south / Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein" refer to Lee Ho Fook, a Chinese restaurant on 15 Gerrard Street in London's Chinatown, which is in the W End of London.[7] [8] Egon Ronay's Dunlop Guide for 1974 discussed the restaurant and said it served Cantonese cuisine.[ix]

Over Zevon'southward objections, Elektra Records chose "Werewolves of London" as the album'southward first single (he preferred "Johnny Strikes Upwardly the Band" or "Tenderness on the Block").[2] The song was a quick hit, staying in the Billboard Meridian twoscore chart for over a month.

A storefront with a large cartoon pig on it

Personnel [edit]

  • Warren Zevon – piano, vocals
  • Mick Fleetwood – drums
  • John McVie – electrical bass
  • Waddy Wachtel – guitar

Reception and legacy [edit]

BBC Radio two listeners rated it as having the best opening line in a song.[10]

Zevon later said of the song, "I don't know why that became such a hit. We didn't think it was suitable to be played on the radio. It didn't become an albatross. It's amend that I bring something to mind than null. There are times when I prefer that it was "Bridge Over Troubled Water", but I don't think bad well-nigh the song. I still recall it'southward funny."[11] He also described "Werewolves of London" every bit a novelty vocal, "[but] not a novelty the way, say, Steve Martin's "Rex Tut" is a novelty."[two]

The song had a resurgence in popularity in 1986 due to its apply in a scene in The Color of Money, where Tom Prowl dances and lip-syncs to the song in a scene in which Prowl "displayed the depths of his talents at the billiards game of 9-brawl."[12]

After Zevon'southward death in 2003, Browne stated that he interpreted the vocal as describing an upper-class English womanizer: "It's most a actually well-dressed, ladies' man, a werewolf preying on piffling erstwhile ladies. In a fashion information technology'south the Victorian nightmare, the gigolo matter."[2]

Chart history [edit]

Samples and other versions [edit]

  • The Grateful Dead covered the song in a number of live concerts in 1978, one of which was released on Ruby Rocks: vii/8/78. The group resurrected the song for Halloween night concerts in 1985, 1990, and 1991.[22]
  • The Flamin' Groovies included a cover of this song in their 1979 album Jumpin' in the Night.
  • Adam Sandler provided a version for the tribute anthology, Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon (October 2004).[23] [24] [25] Sandler also performed it on the Belatedly Prove on 15 December 2004.[26]
  • American popular-rocker Masha covered the song for a Three Olives Vodka ad campaign in 2014.[27] [28] [29]
  • Kid Rock sampled this vocal in 2008 (and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Dwelling house Alabama", which has a similar riff) on "All Summer Long" and credits Zevon as a songwriter.[30]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Warren Zevon - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d due east f George Plasketes (June 15, 2016). The Surreptitious Inspiration Behind Warren Zevon's 'Werewolves of London', Medium.com, accessed xxx July 2018
  3. ^ "The Rolling Thunder Revue - Werewolves Of London". Pastemagazine.com . Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  4. ^ Zevon, Crystal. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon, p. 112.
  5. ^ Zevon, Crystal. I'll Sleep When I'k Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon, p. 138.
  6. ^ Browne, David (April 12, 2013). "The Knights of Soft Rock". Rolling Rock. No. 1180. p. 58.
  7. ^ Wooldridge, Max (2002). Rock 'n' Ringlet London. New York: Macmillan Publishers. p. 38. ISBN0-312-30442-0 . Retrieved 2020-08-09 .
  8. ^ Self, Volition (2001). Feeding Frenzy. London: Viking Press. p. 252. ISBN978-0-670-88995-two . Retrieved 2020-08-09 .
  9. ^ Robards, Terry (1974-03-21). "Michelin Guide Invades Great britain, But It's No Star‐Filled Journey". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2020-08-09 .
  10. ^ Vine, Jeremy (May 2004). "Greatest Opening Song Line – The Winner!". BBC Radio 2. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 22 Oct 2014.
  11. ^ Stephen P. Wheeler. "Warren Zevon: Your Guide Through Transverse Citye". Rock's Backpages. (Subscription required.)
  12. ^ Brad Steiger, The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings, 2011, p. 315.
  13. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, North.S.Westward.: Australian Nautical chart Book. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
  14. ^ "Detail Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca . Retrieved 2019-07-07 .
  15. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 18 June 1978
  16. ^ Joel Whitburn's Tiptop Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  17. ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 20, 1978
  18. ^ "Official Charts Company". 1987-04-18. Retrieved 2019-07-08 .
  19. ^ Australian-charts.com
  20. ^ "Top 200 Singles of '78 – Volume 30, No. 14, December 30 1978". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  21. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN0-89820-142-X.
  22. ^ "Grateful Dead - Tour Statistics". Setlist.fm . Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  23. ^ Deming, Mark. "Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon – Diverse Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  24. ^ Lifton, Dave (3 September 2013). "Adam Sandler, 'Werewolves of London' –- Terrible Classic Rock Covers". Ultimate Classic Rock . Retrieved nineteen December 2016.
  25. ^ Peisch, Volition (xxx October 2015). "7 Spooky Bangers and Monster Mash-Ups". The Dartmouth . Retrieved xix December 2016.
  26. ^ Plasketes, George (23 May 2016). B-Sides, Undercurrents and Overtones: Peripheries to Pop in Music, 1960 to the Present. Rutledge. p. 194. ISBN978-1-31717-113-3.
  27. ^ "AdWeek – Ad of the Day: Masha Sings a Sultry Remake of 'Werewolves of London' for Three Olives Vodka". Adweek.com. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2014-12-04 .
  28. ^ Elliott, Stuart (viii December 2014). "Ads Imply This Vodka Has a Existent 'Bite'". The New York Times . Retrieved xix December 2016.
  29. ^ Lukovitz, Karlene (2 December 2014). "Three Olives Unleashes 'Werewolves in London' 12/02/2014". MediaPost . Retrieved nineteen Dec 2016.
  30. ^ Sisario, Ben (ii October 2008). "Child Rock, Longtime Holdout, Goes Digital With Rhapsody". MediaPost . Retrieved 13 October 2018.

gentileconstainey.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolves_of_London