Werewolves of london by warren zevon3/16/2023 We didn’t think it was suitable to be played on the radio. “I don’t know why that became such a hit. When Warner’s Asylum Records suggested making the three-and-a-half minute track the lead single for Zevon’s new album, 1978’s Excitable Boy, the songwriter was unsure whether “a novelty song” would work. Browne said later that he believed the song, a Halloween favourite, was essentially a “nightmare song about a debauched Victorian gentleman”. Werewolves Of London is cryptic and lyrical, full of alliteration and striking imagery (“He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim/Heh, I’d like to meet his tailor”). A couple of months later, Zevon wanted a new ending, adding the iconic closing line, “I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s/And his hair was perfect.” “I still think it’s funny” They finally decided that the second take had been the best one. Zevon said they painstakingly searched for the right “heavy” sound for the song, recording 59 different takes, drinking vodka and working until dawn at The Sound Factory in Los Angeles. Jackson Browne and Eagles collaborator JD Souther joined on harmony vocals. In the end, they brought in drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie to accompany Wachtel on guitar and Zevon on vocals and piano (he plays the distinctive barrelhouse hook). Zevon rejected regular rhythm section men Russ Kunkel and Bob Glaub because he thought their playing was “too cute” for this particular song. They tried numerous configurations of backing musicians. Wachtel, who had played on albums by The Rolling Stones, Randy Newman and Linda Ronstadt, described it as “the hardest song to get down in the studio I’ve ever worked on”. Recording Werewolves Of London was a difficult process. “Otherwise, that song never would have gone anywhere,” Marinell added. Crystal grabbed a steno pad from her bag and transcribed their words. “You think it’s so great, why don’t you write it down?” Marinell remembered saying. When they were finished, Zevon’s wife, Crystal, told them she loved it. Inspired by Wachtel’s opening, Zevon and Marinell spent the next 15 minutes rattling off lyrics for the rest of the song, using the way Wachtel mimicked a wailing wolf as the key part of the howling chorus. Lee Ho Fook, a restaurant in London’s Gerrard Street, closed in 2008, four years after Werewolves Of London won a BBC vote for the Greatest Opening Song Line. The opening verse that came off the top of Wachtel’s head was memorable: “I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand/Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain/He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook/Gonna get a big dish of chow mein.” I just spit out that whole first verse,” Wachtel recalled. I had just gotten back from England, so I had all these lyrics in my head. Zevon asked Marinell to start playing a lick he had been strumming earlier.
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