Warren Zevon is one of those artists that is equally loved for his music as well as his embodiment of the destructive, excessive rock and roll life. He's sooooo 70's rock, in a great way, not a lame Eagles-way. "Werewolves of London" is one of my all time favorites. In fact, Elle and I did the Werewolves of London thing for Halloween one year and it was excellent! "Lawyers, Guns and Money" is another great, great song. The part of the song near the end where he lets loose with a loud "HA!" and breaks into a short solo is a great, cathartic moment. But, today we are focusing on one of his lesser-known tunes, "Carmelia". I first heard this song via Magnolia Electric Co doing a live cover of it back when I was downloading loads of live MECO a couple years ago. I loved it, as well as their cover of "Werewolves" from the Hard to Love a Man EP. Carmelita is song about an addict, with narrative, writerly elements and one of my favorite opening lines "I hear mariachi static on my radio/and the tubes they glow in the dark/and I'm there with her in Ensenada/and I'm here in Echo Park". My favorite version is the demo version that was added to the re-issue of his self-titled sophomore album. Zevon wouldn't gain widespread popularity until his third album "Excitable Boy" which contained both "Werewolves of London" and "Lawyers, Guns and Money".
Warren Zevon - Carmelita (1974 demo version) [mp3 link]
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