Happy Birthday: Warren Zevon

Although Warren Zevon may not be here to celebrate his birthday with us, which is such a tremendous shame that we hardly even have the words to express it, it doesn’t mean that we can’t celebrate it without him. To commemorate the occasion, here’s a four-pack of tracks which featured Zevon as a guest star (he didn’t do it a lot, which is why it’s not the usual six-pack), and we’ve also got a playlist featuring all of the Zevon tracks in the Rhino catalog. That’s a whole lot of Zevon, as you might imagine, but it goes down smooth and leaves you longing for more. Would that it were possible…

1. Phil Everly, “The Air That I Breathe” (1973): Zevon was part of Everly’s band during his stint as a solo artist in the early ‘70s, a period which resulted in this track becoming a minor hit.

2. Don Henley, “Them and Us” (1982): While we can’t produce a copy of this track for your listening enjoyment, we can assure you that Zevon’s presence on the song was one which was payback for all of the times Henley turned up on Zevon’s albums.

3. The Odds, “Jackhammer” (1993): These Canadians are probably best remembered for their semi-novelty hit “Heterosexual Man,” but Zevon appeared on a few tracks on the same album from which that song hailed, including this track, which features a guitar battle between Zevon and Robert Quine.

4. The Wrockers, “Tupperware Blues” (1998): This band is best known for its members, but its members are arguably least known for their music: the lineup consisted predominantly of writers, including Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Zevon popped up on a few tracks, including this number as well as a cover of “Proud Mary.”