Thursday May 28, 2020 “Poor Pitiful Me” Warren Zevon
Don’t we all find ourselve occasionally slipping into 'poor, poor pitiful me' as we wade through this virus?
A classically trained musician who studied briefly with Igor Stravinsky, one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century, Warren Zevon would spend his early career writing advertising jingles and managing the Everly Brothers touring band. In fact the victim in his “Excitable Boy” song is Little Susie, perhaps in deference to the Everly Brothers big hit “Wake Up Little Susie”...unfortunately Little Susie does not wake up in Warren’s song.
Early on Warren shared living quarters with Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham who were then on the edge of joining Fleetwood Mac and they along with John McVie appear on his early albums/CDs. The Warren Zevon version of “Poor Pitiful Me” was produced by his friend Jackson Browne.
Diagnosed at age 56 with an untreatable mesothelioma and given a short time to live Warren Zevon noted on the David Letterman show in what would be his final public appearance that "I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years." When Letterman asked if his situation had given him any insight into life he offered, “Enjoy every sandwich.”
Here is Linda Ronstadt’s version of Warren Zevon’s song which was softened up lyrically for a more general audience than his might be.
Stay safe and well...aaahooooo (oops different song)