The set opens with "Lawyers, Guns And Money," a great song from a great album, Excitable Boy. In this duo setting, the song has a more intimate feel, and somehow those opening lines are even more striking here: "Well, I went home with a waitress/The way I always do/How was I to know/She was with the Russians too?" And it is still a lot of fun, a song that is completely engaging. "Yes, I'm down on my luck," he sings, and we all kind of feel it these days. That's followed by "I Was In The House When The House Burned Down," with Warren Zevon delivering some nice stuff on harmonica at the beginning. And speaking of strong opening lyrics, check out the lines which start this one: "I had the shit 'til it all got smoked/I kept the promise 'til the vow got broke/I had to drink from a loving cup/And stood on the banks 'til the river rose up/I saw the bride in her wedding gown/I was in the house when the house burned down." There is a fantastic energy to his vocal performancer, and there is more good stuff on harmonica throughout the track. This song comes from Life'll Kill Ya, released in 2000. It is one of my personal favorites from this live recording.
There is then some stage banter, which is presented as a separate track and given the title "I Don't Play Too Many Festivals." Warren Zevon certainly shows his sense of humor, telling the crowd: "I feel privileged to be able to play this Edmonton Folk Festival. I don't play too many festivals. I don't play too much folk music. And I don't really go outdoors very much." The audience laughs, of course. He also introduces Matt Cartsonis, who came up from Los Angeles. "I don't know exactly how you feel about Los Angeles up here. I don't really care." Nice! He then delivers a cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You," a song from her fantastic Blue album. It is a beautiful love song about a love that is already over, and its opening lines contain a reference to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Just before our love got lost/You said I'm constant as the northern star." "But I am constant as the northern star" is a line that Julius Caesar says in the first scene of the third act, just before he's killed. "If you want me, I'll be in the bar" is a funny line that I think of whenever I'm at a place I'm not all that interested in being. But those are not the lines that especially stood out to this Edmonton crowd. Not only is Joni Mitchell from Canada, but this particular song mentions her country: "I drew a map of Canada/Oh, Canada." Perhaps that influenced Warren's choice, perhaps not, but that line gets a cheer from the Canadian audience. Warren Zevon delivers a wonderful rendition. "I could drink a case of you." That leads straight into "Detox Mansion," a song from Warren Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene, released in 1987. "Now I'm doing my own laundry/And I'm getting those clothes clean." There is a somewhat humorous delivery of that line, particularly the word "clean." There is also a great energy to this number, even an intensity to the playing. "Well, it's tough to be somebody/And it's hard not to fall apart," he sings here. Indeed. And, perhaps surprising in a duo setting, this song becomes a sort of wild jam. That helps make this track one of the disc's highlights.
"Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" comes from My Ride's Here, which at the time was Warren Zevon's new album, having been released just a few months before this concert. Before he starts the song, someone in the audience shouts something to him. He responds, "Say what, you love me?" He then jokes, "Then I will test your love." At the song's first mention of hockey, there is an audible cheer. Aw, Canada. This song also mentions Canada directly: "What else can a poor boy from Canada do?" "But he wasn't that good with the puck/Buddy's real talent was beating people up/His heart wasn't in it, but the crowd ate it up." Warren is on piano for this one. He also plays piano on "Werewolves Of London," always a favorite. This is a playful rendition. At one point he sings, "Werewolves of Edmonton again." And I love his surprisingly straightforward delivery of "Hey, I'd like to meet his tailor" here. Warren Zevon is clearly having a good time with the song. At one point he comments wryly, "Folk music," then adds, "English folk music."
Warren Zevon remains on piano for "For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer," a song from Life'll Kill Ya. I love the humor of Warren Zevon's music. Check out the opening lines from this song: "Well, I can saw a woman in two/But you won't want to look in the box when I'm through." So, any volunteers? "I can pull a rabbit out of a hat/I can pull it out, but I can't put it back/I can make love disappear," he tells us. This track also features some good stuff on harmonica. The next song, a short number titled "A Tune With No Name," was composed by Matt Cartsonis, his only composition on this album. It's a cool banjo instrumental tune. Some folk music for the folk festival crowd. There is some playful banter at the end of the track. "We're going to play a brand new song for ya," Warren then tells the audience. "I just wrote this a few weeks ago, and I thought it would utilize Matthew's extraordinary banjo pyrotechnics." The song is "Dirty Life And Times," and indeed it features some good work on banjo. "This is not on any album," Warren adds. But it would end up on 2003's The Wind, Warren Zevon's final studio album. This is yet another of the disc's highlights. "And sometimes I wonder what tomorrow's gonna bring/When I think about my dirty life and times."
"Poor Poor Pitiful Me" is a song from Warren Zevon's self-titled 1976 album, a song that was a big hit for Linda Ronstadt. It's a song that first finds him laying his head on railroad tracks before learning the train doesn't come through anymore. That's rough. I'm digging this folk rendition, with Matt on fiddle. In this version, Warren sings, "I met this girl in West Edmonton" instead of "West Hollywood." That's followed by "Play It All Night Long," a song from Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School, with Matt again on fiddle. "Grandpa pissed his pants again/He don't give a damn/Brother Billy has both guns drawn/He ain't been right since Vietnam." This is a fantastic song, with a sort of urgency to the vocal delivery. The disc concludes with a traditional number, "Canadee-I-O." "We've gone to reasonably great lengths to learn a real folk song for you," Warren tells the audience in the song's introduction, adding that he learned it from listening to Nic Jones. He delivers a beautiful, passionate vocal performance.
CD Track List
- Lawyers, Guns And Money
- I Was In The House When The House Burned Down
- "I Don't Play Too Many Festivals"
- A Case Of You
- Detox Mansion
- Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)
- Werewolves Of London
- For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer
- A Tune With No Name
- Dirty Life And Times
- Poor Poor Pitiful Me
- Play It All Night Long
- Canadee-I-O
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