Warren Zevon Wind CD

Live Recording

Personnel: Warren Zevon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, keyboards); Jorge Calderon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, tres, bass, maracas); Bruce Springsteen, Brad Davis (electric guitar, background vocals); Mike Campbell (electric guitar); Ry Cooder (guitar, slide guitar); Tommy Shaw (12-string guitar, background vocals); Randy Mitchell (slide guitar, background vocals); Joe Walsh (slide guitar); David Lindley (lap steel guitar, saz, background vocals); Gil Bernal (saxophone); James Raymond (piano); Reggie Hamilton (upright bass); Luis Conte (drums, bongos, congas, maracas, percussion); Don Henley, Jim Keltner, Steve Gorman (drums); Dwight Yoakam, Billy Bob Thornton, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty (background vocals).
Producers: Warren Zevon, Jorge Calderon, Noah Scot Snyder.
THE WIND won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. "Keep Me in Your Heart" was nominated for Song Of The Year and for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. "Disorder in the House" won for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and was also nominated for Best Rock Song.
Personnel: Warren Zevon (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, keyboards); Jorge Calderon (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tres, maracas, background vocals); Tommy Shaw (acoustic 12-string guitar, background vocals); Brad Davis, Bruce Springsteen (electric guitar, background vocals); Mike Campbell (electric guitar); Randy Mitchell (slide guitar, background vocals); Joe Walsh , Ry Cooder (slide guitar); David Lindley (lap steel guitar, background vocals); Gil Bernal (saxophone); James Raymond (piano); Reggie Hamilton (upright bass); Luis Conte (drums, congas, bongos, maracas, percussion); Steve Gorman, Don Henley, Jim Keltner (drums); Dwight Yoakam, Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, John Waite, Jordan Zevon, T Bone Burnett, Timothy B. Schmit, Tom Petty, Billy Bob Thornton (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Noah Scot Snyder.
Recording information: Anatomy Of A Headache; Cherokee studios; Fancyboy Studios; Groovemasters; Henson Studios; Masterlink Studios; Sunset sound; The cave.
In late August of 2002, Warren Zevon was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a virulent and inoperable form of lung cancer; with his life expectancy expected to be no more than a few months, Zevon focused his dwindling energies on completing a final album, and The Wind, released a year after Zevon learned of his condition, was the result. With a back story like that, it's all but impossible to ignore the subtext of Zevon's mortality while listening to The Wind, though, thankfully, he's opted not to make an album about illness or death (ironically, he already did that with 2000's Life'll Kill Ya) or create a musical last will and testament. While The Wind occasionally and obliquely touches on Zevon's illness -- most notably the mournful "Keep Me in Your Heart" and the dirty blues raunch of "Rub Me Raw" -- in many ways it sounds like a fairly typical Warren Zevon album, though of course this time out the caustic wit cuts a bit deeper, the screeds against a world gone mad sound more woeful, and the love songs suggest higher emotional stakes than before. The Wind also lays in a higher compliment of celebrity guest stars than usual, and while obviously a lot of these folks are old friends wanting to help a pal in need, in some cases the ringers help to carry the weight for Zevon, who, while in good voice, can't summon up the power he did in his salad days. And remarkably, the trick works on several cuts; Bruce Springsteen's rollicking guest vocal on "Disorder in the House" offers just the kick the tune needed, Tom Petty's laid-back smirk brings a sleazy undertow to "The Rest of the Night," and Dwight Yoakam's harmonies on "Dirty Life and Times" are the perfect touch for the tune. In terms of material, The Wind isn't a great Zevon album, but it's a pretty good one; "El Amour de Mi Vida" is a simple but affecting look at lost love, "Prison Grove" is aRolling Stone (12/25/03, p.111) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 ...