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We buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them
~Warren Zevon

All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I’m gonna drink ’em up
–
And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill
~Warren Zevon (Desperados Under the Eaves)

Few of rock & roll’s great misanthropes were as talented, as charming, or as committed to their cynicism as Warren Zevon.
~Mark Deming (allmusic.com)

the classic – Warren Zevon’s last Letterman Appearance:

Lawyers, Guns and Money (from BBC 1994):

Send lawyers, guns and money; the shit has hit the fan.

From Wikipedia:

Birth name	Warren William Zevon
Also known as	Sandy Zevon Stephen Lyme
Born	January 24, 1947 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died	September 7, 2003 (aged 56) Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Rock, Country rock, folk rock,Americana, hard rock, piano rock, blues rock
Occupations	Songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Years active	1965–2003

Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. He was known for the dark and somewhat bizarre sense of humor in his lyrics.

Zevon’s work has often been praised by well-known musicians, including Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. His best-known compositions include “Werewolves of London”, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” and “Johnny Strikes Up the Band”, all of which are featured on his third album, Excitable Boy (1978). Other well-known songs written by Zevon have been recorded by other artists, including “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” (a top 40 hit by Linda Ronstadt), “Accidentally Like a Martyr”, “Mohammed’s Radio”, “Carmelita”, and “Hasten Down the Wind”.

BF: Who are some of your favorite songwriters?
Bob Dylan: Buffett I guess. Lightfoot. Warren Zevon. Randy. John Prine. Guy Clark. Those kinds of writers.
~Bob Dylan (to Huffington Post – May 2009)

Hasten Down The Wind:

She’s so many women
He can’t find the one who was his friend
So he’s hanging on to half her heart
He can’t have the restless part
So he tells her to hasten down the wind
~WZ (Hasten down the wind)

Along with his own compositions, Zevon recorded or performed occasional covers, including Allen Toussaint’s A Certain Girl, Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan”. He was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman later performed guest vocals on “Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)” with Paul Shaffer and members of the CBS Orchestra on Warren Zevon’s My Ride’s Here album.

Live in Passaic NJ, 1982 (The Full Concert):

Album of the day

Warren Zevon (1976)

Other January 24

• The Köln Concert is a recording by the pianist Keith Jarrett of solo piano improvisations performed at the Cologne Opera House inCologne (German: Köln) on January 24, 1975 before a live audience. It was released in the autumn of 1975 by the ECM Records label to critical acclaim and went on to become the best-selling solo album in jazz history, and the all-time best-selling piano album with sales of more than 3.5 million.
  –
• Aaron Neville (born January 24, 1941, New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American soul and R&B, country singer, and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States (including three that went to number one on Billboard’s adult contemporary chart and one that went to number one on the R&B chart) along with four platinum-certified albums. He has also recorded with his brothers Art, Charles and Cyril as The Neville Brothers and is the father of singer/keyboards player Ivan Neville. Of mixed African American and Native American heritage, his music also features Cajun and Creole influences.

-Egil