Warren Zevon on Letterman tonight

Cafe Society
1

Damn - just caught the last 10 minutes of the show. Warren did a song from Genius and also Roland tHTG. I thought this had to be a rerun, I knew Warren was ill - but Dave is a little bit emotional acting and it sounded like Warren had done at least one other number before I tuned in. Turns out to be today’s show - the appearance is noted on Warren Zevon .

I kind of trips me out - a goodbye appearance when he could be doing anything else, but I guess he and Dave are fairly good friends.

Anyone else catch the whole show?

-mdf

2

I missed the first few minutes, but saw more of it than you did. Warren and Dave chatted a bit at the desk, and then he did three songs, Mutineer and the two you saw. (Genius is originally from “My Ride’s Here”.) I always find it a bit disconcerting when I see David Letterman being sincere. He shies away from it, but it works when it’s really from the heart.

The show was great. It could have become morose very easily, but it didn’t.

3

The first thing Letterman and Zevon talked about on the show was Zevon’s cancer diagnosis. I’m guessing Dave talked this over with him, or his people, before the show, to see if he was ok with the subject.

4

I caught the whole thing. Dave clearly didn’t know at first how much to talk about it or what tone to take; either that or, even after a rehearsal, he was still (understandably) awkward about it. Warren got him clued in pretty quickly though, and it was beautiful. What an amazing man (Zevon).

One thing Dave didn’t ask (thank heaven) was “How long do you have?” Does anyone know what the prognosis is?

5

I’m not sure what you mean by that, mdf. I’m not okay with the fact that this man is dying, but I can accept it, and a farewell appearance helps. To be fair, it does seem as if singing does not come as easily to him as it once did. For instance, normally when performing “RtHTG”, he stretches the last note of “Berkeleyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy” for as long as possible and then a little more, but this time he only held it for an extra beat. Still, I imagine the performance was therapeutic for him as well. And he wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t want to. Warren has always been known to be stubborn, and that’s certainly not going to change now!

Letterman’s demeanor was heartbreaking in the first part of the show, when he was talking about Warren. He completely abandoned his schtick. No attempts to be witty. He was just talking, in a low-key tone, praising Warren’s music not with hyperbole, but with a kind of quiet awe. “He feels about Warren the way I do,” I thought. “He’s not talking about the music, he’s talking about his admiration. He really wants the audience to understand and appreciate, because it means so much to him.”

Warren’s account of their friendship boils down to “For years I couldn’t believe he really liked me, but he does.” I haven’t heard Letterman’s side of it, except for tonight’s speech, but I imagine he sees some qualities in Warren that he wishes he had in himself.
Never thought I’d be able to feel empathy with a world-famous TV personality.

Warren looked amazingly good for his condition. But his voice! He always had that rich, deep rumble; now it’s just a voice. One of the first casualties, I suppose. I did wish Letterman could have drawn him out a bit more about his family. But that moment before the commercial: “Thank you. For everything.” “Thank you.” I can remember every one of Warren’s appearances on Letterman. I haven’t seen them all, but I’ve recorded every one that I have seen, including this one. This was a tasteful coda.

I wonder if there’s any significance to the fact that he spoke, rather than sang, the line “Let’s get out of here” during his performance of “Mutineer”. It could be that he wanted to give the phrase special emphasis, or it could be that his voice was on the verge of giving out. With Warren, either is possible.

jackelope, the headlines were “WZ has two months to live”, and he told the press: “The recovery statistic for what I have is zero.”

Ooh! Ooh! I just realized: It’s the night before Halloween, and Warren got away without having to play “Werewolves of London”! Which he reportedly despises having to do. I can just see him backstage, telling Letterman, “No fucking ‘Werewolves’; I mean it. Cancer or no cancer, I can STILL kick your ass!”

Keep kicking ass, Warren.

6

BTW, for those of you who don’t know, Letterman had scheduled Zevon to be his very first guest on the first Late Night show on NBC in 1981. Zevon had to cancel at the last minute, so we got Don “Mr. Wizard” Herbert instead. I still have that show on tape.

But clearly Zevon’s music has always meant a great deal to Dave, as it has for a lot of us. I notice Letterman being an evangalist for Zevon’s work a lot, praising it and trying to sell albums even when there is no reason for him to do so. I’ve done the same thing for 20 years myself. It’s like, Zevon’s music has had such an impact on me, I just want to constantly try to explain to other people how much they are missing if they don’t listen to him. I can’t count the number of Zevon CD’s I’ve purchased as gifts for friends and even acquaintances like co-workers.

He looks like he’s still in pretty good health, considering that it’s been two months since he was told that he only had ‘weeks’ to live.

And he’s only got 23 more days to go to make it to the next James Bond movie. I think he’ll make it.

7

I’m really surprised they didn’t play “Desperados Under the Eaves”. Zevon has said more than once that he misses being able to play the song, but he can’t afford to tour with a string section so he never plays it. And Dave asked him to play it last time, and Warren said, “You get me a 21 piece string section, and I’ll play the song.”

I figured for sure tonight Warren would play it with that string section. They did play it during a commercial break, but not on the show.

8

Thanks for the notice mdf. It was just on here. He looked very small wearing that guitar. Still himself though.

9

By watching Dave gingerly dancing around the subject, you’d think he was the one dying. Zevon seems to have come to terms with his situation quite well. He stated that he made certain choices and now must live with the consequences of those choices.

One interesting comment by Zevon after Dave told him that he (Dave) couldn’t make jokes if it were him. Zevon replied, “Yes, you would.”

It is a rare thing to see Dave acting like a normal guy.

10

I saw the show and for those who didn 't watch, it was obviously sort of a personal tribute by Letterman to Warren. A “regular” show except that Zevon was the sole guest and performed three songs as well as commented on his health situation. They had brought in a 4 piece strings section, violins or violas I think, and along with Paul Schaefers’s (sic) band orchestrated very nice versions of the songs with Warren accompanying himself on piano on two and guitar on one. His voice was a little weak and you could see that he was sick but he was pretty sure of himself just the same. His comment to Dave’s question about how his diagnosis changed his outlook on life - “every sandwich’s is special” (or words to the that effect). At the close of the show Letterman’s final words were essentially “Good night, everyone and remember, make every sandwich special!” Really incredible show. Take it easy, Warren.