Album of the Day

Warren Zevon may have written songs for The Turtles and led a band for The Everly Brothers, but upbeat pop-rock was just his day job. To judge from 1976's WARREN ZEVON, his real passion was for richly detailed, somewhat astringent character sketches. His talent along these lines wasn't lost on the Southern California music community - Jackson Browne produced Zevon's Asylum debut, recruiting members of Fleetwood Mac, The Beach Boys and Eagles to lend a hand. The arrangements provide bright frames to dark portraits of “Frank and Jesse James,”“Desperados Under the Eaves” and others (though not so dark as to scare Linda Ronstadt off; she covered “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “Hasten Down The Wind” to great success). Warren Zevon passed away on this day in 2003, and this outstanding album makes a fine epitaph – smart, memorable and not the least bit sentimental.