| Wanted Dead or Alive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 1970 | |||
| Studio | Wally Heider's Studio III, San Francisco, California | |||
| Genre | Rock, psychedelic rock, blues | |||
| Length | 30:58 | |||
| Label | Liberty | |||
| Producer | Warren Zevon | |||
| Warren Zevon chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
Wanted Dead or Alive is the debut studio album by singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album released by Liberty Records in 1970 under the moniker "Zevon".
Kim Fowley began the project as producer, but left after disagreements with Zevon and did not take credit for production duties. Fowley later remembered:
[Warren] wanted to play all the instruments himself. He wouldn't listen to anybody. I wasn't trying to produce him because you really couldn't produce Warren, at least not in those days, but I was trying to help him make a record that might sell more than ten copies, all purchased by his friends. But, he didn't listen to anyone about anything, and one day I just walked in thinking I'd had enough. [3]
Zevon chalked up his disagreement with Fowley to a "sudden attack of taste". [3]
"Wanted Dead or Alive" was a commercial and critical failure. The album was released "to the sound of one hand clapping", as Zevon later remarked. [3] Sales were poor, and critics ignored the album. Jackson Browne later commented, "I don't remember thinking [the album] was as good as he really was." [4] Attempts to record a follow-up album, called Leaf in the Wind, were abandoned, and Zevon found work as band leader and musical coordinator for The Everly Brothers. His next album, the critically acclaimed classic Warren Zevon , was not released until 1976. Once Zevon reached stardom, Wanted Dead or Alive ended up as an all-but-forgotten relic of his early career.
Wanted Dead or Alive was initially released on CD by One Way Records in 1996. Following the announcement that Zevon had terminal lung cancer, Capitol Records put out a remastered version of the album in early 2003, which was initially intended to have the entirety of Leaf in the Wind, but those plans were scrapped at the last minute for unknown reasons. [5]
The track "She Quit Me" was featured in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy (performed by Lesley Miller) as "He Quit Me". "Tule's Blues" was written about Zevon's lover, Marilyn "Tule" Livingston, mother of his son Jordan. It was covered in 1972 as a single by the group Sugarblu on Warner Bros. Records. [6]
All tracks composed and arranged by Warren Zevon; except where indicated
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wanted Dead or Alive" | Kim Fowley, Martin Cerf | 2:36 |
| 2. | "Hitch Hikin' Woman" | 2:16 | |
| 3. | "She Quit Me" | 4:48 | |
| 4. | "Calcutta" | 2:19 | |
| 5. | "Iko-Iko" | Marilyn Jones, Sharon Jones, Joe Jones, M. Thomas | 1:54 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Traveling in the Lightning" | 3:05 | |
| 7. | "Tule's Blues" | 3:32 | |
| 8. | "A Bullet for Ramona" | music: Warren Zevon; lyrics: Paul Evans | 3:50 |
| 9. | "Gorilla" | 3:23 | |
| 10. | "Fiery Emblems" (instrumental) | 3:15 |
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money", and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All three songs are featured on his third album, Excitable Boy (1978), the title track of which is also well-known. He also wrote major hits that were recorded by other artists, including "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", "Accidentally Like a Martyr", "Mohammed's Radio", "Carmelita", and "Hasten Down the Wind".
Warren Zevon is the second studio album by American musician Warren Zevon. This album was recorded in 1975 and released on May 18, 1976, by Asylum Records. A remastered version of the album with bonus tracks was released in 2008 by Rhino Records.
Excitable Boy is the third studio album by American musician Warren Zevon. The album was released on January 18, 1978, by Asylum Records. It includes the single "Werewolves of London", which reached No. 21 and remained in the American Top 40 for six weeks. The album brought Zevon to commercial attention and remains the best-selling album of his career, having been certified platinum by the RIAA and reaching the top ten on the US Billboard 200. A remastered and expanded edition was released in 2007.
Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon is a compilation album by American musician Warren Zevon, released in 2002.
"Werewolves of London" is a song by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, written by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel. It was released on Excitable Boy (1978), Zevon's third studio album. The track featured Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on drums and bass respectively. The single was released by Asylum Records and was a top 40 US hit, the only one of Zevon's career, reaching No. 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 that May.
Life'll Kill Ya is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album was released on January 25, 2000, by Artemis Records. It was later hailed in Rolling Stone as his best work since Excitable Boy.
Kim Vincent Fowley was an American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been described as "one of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll", as well as "a shadowy cult figure well outside the margins of the mainstream".
The Envoy is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album was released on July 16, 1982, by Asylum Records. The album's lack of commercial success caused Zevon's label to terminate his recording contract.
Transverse City is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Warren Zevon, released in October 1989 by Virgin Records. It features appearances from a number of prominent musicians, including guitarists Neil Young, David Gilmour, Jerry Garcia and Mike Campbell, as well as jazz pianist Chick Corea. Michael Ironside narration Run straight down
The Wind is the twelfth and final studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album was released on August 26, 2003, by Artemis Records. Zevon began recording the album shortly after he was diagnosed with inoperable pleural mesothelioma, and it was released just two weeks before his death on September 7, 2003. The album was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and "Disorder in the House", performed by Zevon with Bruce Springsteen, won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance. Songs from the album were nominated for an additional three Grammys.
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead is a two-disc compilation album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, released on Rhino Records in 1996. It spans his career from his eponymous debut album on Asylum Records to date of release, ignoring his disowned initial album from 1969, Wanted Dead or Alive. It contains tracks from all ten of his albums released during this period, and includes contributions to soundtracks and his one-off album with members of R.E.M., Hindu Love Gods.
Stand in the Fire is a live album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, released December 26, 1980. It was recorded in August 1980 during a five-night residency at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California and featured two new original songs and one new cover. The album was dedicated to Martin Scorsese.
lyme & cybelle was an American male-female folk-pop duo formed by Warren Zevon and Violet Santangelo. The duo is best known for its moderate chart hit "Follow Me", which represented the first commercial recording of Zevon's long musical career.
Clyde "Skip" Battin was an American singer-songwriter, bassist, performer, and recording artist. He was a member of the Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers.
Reconsider Me: The Love Songs is an album by American singer/songwriter Warren Zevon, released in 2006. It is the first album to be released after his death in 2003.
Preludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordings is a two-CD compilation of music and interviews, including unreleased outtakes and demos, by singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, who died in 2003.
Jorge Calderón, originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer best known for his collaborations with Warren Zevon and Buckingham Nicks. Calderón sings, and also plays guitar, bass guitar and percussion.
Fat City is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin. It was released on October 27, 1992, on Columbia Records.
"Reconsider Me" is a single from Warren Zevon's 1987 album Sentimental Hygiene. The song failed to chart, but became a live staple in Zevon's concert performances. In 2006, a set of love songs were released under the name: Reconsider Me: The Love Songs.
The First Sessions is a 2003 compilation album of early recordings by American rock musician Warren Zevon, including his short-lived folk pop duo lyme & cybelle.
