Search - Warren Zevon :: First Sessions

Warren Zevon, Sixties Style

Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 03/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In early 1965, Warren Zevon met Violet Santangelo in high school in Los Angeles. Long story short, they formed the folk duo known as Lyme & Cybelle. It's great to finally hear all of their recordings, as well as some previously unreleased demos. In addition, there are some early Warren Zevon demos, and a couple of Lyme & Cybelle songs after Warren had left the group. Musically, this collection is a mixed bag. (1) "Follow Me" - Peaking at #65 in 1966, this Lyme & Cybelle song is a psychedelic flavored classic. It boasts a great opening riff, a catchy melody, superb musical production, and a perfect blending of Warren's and Violet's voices. This song has an insistent drumbeat and a blistering electric guitar break that are the very definition of a folk-rock song. GREAT!(2) "Like The Seasons" - It's a mellow folk song, backed with strings. At times the melody strains to accompany the heartfelt lyrics. "You and I have learned that love can turn like the seasons." Who says Warren Zevon can't write tender love songs?(3) "I've Just Seen A Face" - It's a homemade recording with surprisingly good sound quality. Lyme & Cybelle's version of the Beatles' classic features their vocal harmonies and Warren's acoustic guitar playing to great effect.(4) "Peeping And Hiding" - This Jimmy Reed blues song, better known as "Baby, What You Want Me To Do," was performed by Elvis in his 1968 Comeback Special. Lyme & Cybelle's rocking version of this tune features bluesy piano and harmonica backing. Warren's love of blues music is evidenced by the songs he did many years later on the Hindu Love Gods album.(5) "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" - The prominent horns and organ turn this Bob Dylan song into a pop tune. It's enjoyable to listen to, but not among the best of the many Dylan cover songs done in the sixties. (6) "I'll Go On" - It's a very mellow folk song, pleasant but unremarkable.(7) "Follow Me" - A homemade demo, it proves that this tune works well as an acoustic folk song. (8) "(You Used To) Ride So High" - After leaving Lyme & Cybelle, Warren recorded this demo under the fictitious group name of The Motorcycle Abeline. It's a hard rocking song with a memorable melody. (9) "Outside Chance" - Another rocker, this song is most famous for being covered by Warren's White Whale labelmates, the Turtles.(10) "I See The Lights" - It's a folk song lamenting a lost love. Warren's voice strains a bit on the last high note. (11) "And If I Had You" - It sounds like a wandering troubadour trying to win the hand of his lady fair with this plea for love. This is about as far from "Werewolves Of London" as you can get!(12) "A Bullet For Ramona" - This demo, featuring Warren at the piano, is the only song in which you can recognize Warren's familiar, deep voice. Unfortunately, it's also the only demo with poor sound quality. Warren would later record this song for his "Wanted Dead Or Alive" album.(13) "Song 7" - This was released by Lyme & Cybelle after Warren Zevon had left the group. This overproduced pop song sounds like it was taken from an episode of the Partridge Family TV show.(14) "Write If You Get Work" - It's a novelty song that would have sounded right at home on the "Winchester Cathedral" album by the New Vaudeville Band.Clocking in at 33 minutes and 33 seconds, I can highly recommend this collection to diehard Warren Zevon fans, like myself. Casual fans may want to think twice before buying this CD."

Everybody has a skeleton in their closet....

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 05/29/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Everybody has a skeleton in their closet. The Beatles had Live in Hamburg. The Stones had Got Live If You Want It (and they chose to release it). Bruce had that CD of early songs (the name of which escapes me). My point is (and I do have one) that every major artist has taken a wrong turn, gone down a one way street the wrong way or turned into a court expecting a through street. This is Warren Zevon's. It was the 60's and Zevon had yet to find his voice as a composer/singer/performer. While First Sessions has a number of charming and interesting tracks, none of them are essential. These quasi-folk-mellow rock songs sound nothing like what Zevon did in the 70's. Unlike Wanted: Dead or Alive, First Sessions offers little that suggests Zevon's best and greatest material was yet to come. There are a couple of songs that might not have sounded out of place on his first or second albums (Outside Chance--a hit for The Turtles; A Bullet For Ramona actually did reappear on W:DOA;Ride So High which was never released in any form). That's not to suggest this is a bad compilation--it's probably something Zevon never thought would see the light of day during the 70's (and it did).Now that Warren is terminally ill, Varese Sarabande has chosen to re-release these early sides recorded as part of the duo lyme & cybelle and as early songwriting demos. The remastering by Dan Hersh improves the sound over earlier editions but doesn't improve the quality of the songs. The early material co-written by Zevon and Violet Santagelo)it typical of the mid-60's folk-rock movement. They're derivative but, overall, nothing to get too excited about. The later material recorded when Zevon was shopping for a deal as a solo performer (and as songwriting demos to sell to other artist's) show some of the promise Zevon exhibited later in his career. Again, they're not bad but none of them reflect the experience, sharp wit or poetic sensibility at the heart of Warren's later material. I'd recommend them for hardcore Zevon fans who must have everything the man recorded. Otherwise, steer clear and purchase any of his fine albums from Warren Zevon up to and including the terrific My Ride's Here.The bonus tracks are, again, for completist. Warren doesn't appear on them nor did he write the last single recorded by Wayne Erwin and Violet as lyme and cybelle. They have little in common with the previous singles sounding like out takes from an Association recording (not surprising given the producer involved)."

He Just Wasn't Ready

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 01/07/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"A teenage Warren Zevon wrote most of these songs in a brash attempt to connect to the mellow rock of the sixties. But he was trying to emulate other voices, and with the exception of "Bullet For Ramona," there isn't much here that even hints at the Warren Zevon to come. Even the dire "Wanted Dead Or Alive" is more of a Zevon album than this.For collectors and historians only."