This cover is presented to you on what I call Multi-take Monday. This is our interpretation of the song Werewolves of London originally done by Warren Zevon. Bob Dylan once said of Zevon (in part): “There might be three separate songs within a Zevon song, but they’re all effortlessly connected. Zevon was a musician’s musician"…
This is not a strict cover, rather, we took the liberty to change it up a bit. I will leave some of the details of our changes for you to discover and mention a few others below.
The song was thought to be a simple 3 chord song. But once we got into it, there was more complexity, mainly in the guitars, than at first glance. IMHO, I think OH49 did a great job on the guitars and he saved the project as arthritis in my fretting hand flared up, making it difficult to stretch on the bar and power chords. In many cases the guitars mimic the original quite well. But, there was no getting around the repetitive 3 chord nature of the song. We tried to rock it up a bit with the guitars being brought up and I will say the keys changed up in the chorus sections too!
As another first in this song. Bro went after playing real bass… go easy on me as I have not hardly picked the bass up in 40 years! This was a shocking challenge to me. Maybe the biggest challenge was in blowing off a ton of dust on the bass! JK - (sort of)… playing it was fun and very tough.
Credits and who did what are listed at the end of the video. Special thanks to Batwoman, DavidP and Roman for lending their ears, comments and suggestions to this production!
We hope you enjoy this one and it rocks for you!
Let us know what you think, good or bad,
Hi David,
Thanks for the nice reply and comments! It has been a while, but this one brought back memories for me too.
OH49 did fine, I know he likes rhythm guitar, probably more than solo work. But considering he did the solo without slide, I think it came out pretty darn good.
I played around with that YT level far longer than I would have liked. That is a tough target for me to nail.
This one was Zevon’s biggest hit and it charted at about 20. I can’t recall any other of his tunes really catching fire.
Here’s another from the same album that rings a bell. Not a popular radio artist and the guy I shared an apartment with was quite into his music, the good stuff, not necessarily what was produced for commercial success.
I assume that’s tongue in cheek LB ? Its in London, there’s is a large Chinese community but it is/was more famous for other “industries”. I would not want to breach forum etiquette but think Amsterdam and we’re not talking “wacky backy” !! Last time I was there was in my late teens/early twenties and certainly before I was married and only window shopping. The lighting will have a somewhat internationally recognized hue !
@DavidP - Hi and thanks for posting the links to the songs! I had not heard either. I like the second one best. Now that is a subject for conjecture; Lawyers, Guns and Money… I still hear the piano heavy mix if you will and the more I hear of Zevon, the more I realize that is his MO.
No, not really that kind of deal at all. I just thought in your London travels you might have venture into Soho. Sounds like an, uh, place I might not visit! Thanks for the clue in on it! I suppose if I looked close at some of the video in my video, I could figure it out.
I’ve been a fan of Warren’s music for a long time - he left us too soon. The line “Little ol lady got mutilated late last night” has always been one of my favorites, not for the subject matter of course, but all the “l’s” in it - I think there’s a term for that and if so, it escapes me at the moment.
His version of “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” is one of my favorites to play along with. Same with Linda Ronstadt’s, too.
Aaawhooooooo!!!
Always love seeing a Coast to Coast production and this was no exception.
You’re getting more expression in your vocals these day, Brother
Oldhead steady as a rock and clean as a whistle.
Don’t you boys be heading down to the shady side of London Town now
Ahhh oooooooo LB and Dave, what a polished, tight production. Every element is beautifully sung and played and sits happily in the mix. It really does rock.
It surely does bear the stamp of your excellence boys.
I’m so glad you dusted off your bass LB and played it, that’s special.
Hi,
Yeah - I always liked this song. I don’t know much of the rest of Zevon’s music though. I am glad this one rocked your socks off and that it brought back memories of Zevon and his music!
Just call us the “coast to coast” boys at play! LOL - Who would have thunk it… There being a shady side of London?
You take good care Brian!
Thanks Rod! Glad this one blew a fuse on your end!
Rock on!
LB
Hey, the price of admission is cheap on this one! I am really glad you liked it too!
Keep on Rock’n,
LB
Thanks for the nice review and comments Maggie! Yeah my $100 bass is cool. It does not hurt my hand to play. Maybe I will lean into bass more and let go of a bit of the guitar. Having your hand lock up in mass pain at random is no fun. I have to see the doc on it soon!
I am really glad you liked it too!