Springsteen, Dylan, Pixies Salute Zevon
Live recordings by Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, as well as newly recorded cuts by Jackson Browne, the Pixies and Ry Cooder will be featured on an upcoming tribute to the late Warren Zevon. Planned for a fall release by Artemis, the collection is being produced by Jorge Calderone, who worked closely with Zevon on his final album, “The Wind.”
The title, release date and track list for the album is still being finalized, according to a label spokesperson.
Springsteen, who was among the guests on “The Wind,” has contributed a version of Zevon’s “My Ride’s Here” recorded in Toronto last year. Dylan, who took to performing several Zevon songs on the road in 2003, has offered his take on “Mutineer” to the collection.
In a move that the notoriously sardonic Zevon would probably have appreciated, comedian Adam Sandler has recorded the artist’s best-known song, “Werewolves of London,” for the compilation.
Jackson Browne donates version of “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” a 1978 top 40 hit for Linda Ronstadt, while the Pixies take on “Ain’t That Pretty At All” and Cooder teams with David Lindley for “Monkey Wash/Donkey Rinse.”
Singer/songwriter Jill Sobule adds a previously released cover of “Don’t Let Us Get Sick,” while her Artemis labelmate Steve Earle’s “Reconsider Me” and Don Henley’s “Searching for a Heart” are both tabbed for inclusion. Among several other tracks that will round out the set will be a cut from actor-turned-recording artist Billy Bob Thornton, who also appeared on “The Wind.”
Calderone is planning to add his own touch to the tribute with his rendition of the heartbreaking “Keep Me In Your Heart,” one of the songs he co-wrote with Zevon for “The Wind.”
Talking to Billboard.com in the wake of a pair of Grammy wins for “The Wind” — best contemporary folk album and best rock performance by a duo or group for the duet with Springsteen, “Disorder in the House” — Zevon’s son Jordan said there were a few unrecorded songs by late artist and Calderone that he believed would come to light at some point.
“There are songs that he and Jorge collaborated on and we’re all gonna get behind Jorge and keep nudging him to record those,” he said in February. “I know that Dad gave Jorge his blessing to take those songs and work with them and record them, so hopefully he will.”
Jordan Zevon has taken one of those songs, “Studabaker,” and recorded it for inclusion on the tribute, and tapped longtime friend/Wallflowers lead singer Jacob Dylan to add backing vocals.
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