Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner and Werewolves of London among others were running on endless repeat for ages over here. I don't have a single WZ T-Shirt though. Something I need to remedy, methinks.
Oct 15, 2023·edited Oct 15, 2023Liked by Michael Estrin
I love Warren Zevon. I saw him perform twice, and after the second time, at the Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri in the early 1990s, we went out back and met him and got his autograph. He was quite lovely and a genuinely nice person I thought.
I don’t think I ever finished Bosch, so I’m not sure where we last saw him.
As for Crockett Tubbs, from the very start of his appearance in the story, I didn’t believe he was a real cop. So that’s where I’m at with that.
Jackie, I'm so jealous that you got to see Warren twice and meet him once. That is so cool! As for Crockett Tubbs, I appreciate your skepticism. There's a reason why you're always supposed to see a badge. I should've asked. But if I had asked, who knows how this one would've ended!?
Am I the only one who doubted that Thick Neck was a cop at all? His stupid responses to you and Mia dropping actual cop names gave me pause. Maybe I’m wrong here, but I agree with Geoffrey that an undercover cop wouldn’t go around telling people he was a different flavor of cop.
I did love the vivid picture you painted where he could have been 28 or 47 🤭. I can so picture that dude.
My nephew is a cop. He’s 30yo. I somehow doubt he knows who Warren Z is, since I don’t know who he is and he sounds much more up my alley than his. But I am going to investigate, because I love a singer songwriter who can turn a phrase.
I love Christina’s street smarts! 🔥 And I love that you are secure enough in your manhood to give her all the props, always. You’re both keepers.
Christina absolutely has street smarts, and thank goodness for that, or I'd be up shit's creek. But I have a question about your interpretation, Amy. Are you saying he wasn't a cop, period? That's an interesting take! To be honest, I didn't doubt that he was a cop since he's married to someone Christina sorta knows and she knew that woman's husband was a cop. So I took that information at face value. But your interpretation raises an interesting point because if I didn't have that context and we had just met at some bar, I probably wouldn't have believed him when he said he was a cop.
As for investigating Warren, here's some advice. Check out "Desperados Under the Eaves." Bob Dylan has been referencing at his concerts and even singing portions of it, so there's a rumor that he's planning to cover it. Also, "Mohammed's Radio" is a good one. Members of Fleetwood Mac backed Warren up on that one. "Carmelita" will break your heart. Likewise, Warren's last album, The Wind, will give you a good cry, especially "Keep Me In Your Heart for While." I don't know how you feel about dark humor, but if it's a challenge for you, I'd suggest holding off on "Excitable Boy," which is amazing but really, really dark. Also, "My Shit's Fucked Up" is excellent, but also super dark. No pressure, but let me know how this investigation into Warren goes!
I think I lost the detail that he was Christina’s friend’s husband and Christina knew she was married to a cop. But basically what you said at the end of the first paragraph of your comment is what I meant - without that detail, I don’t know if I would have believed him. It’s just the way he responded that made him seem like kind of a clueless dude who thinks it’s fun to lie to people about what he does for a living 🤷🏼♀️.
Ok, so Zevon. This morning after reading your post, I headed over to Spotify and listened to all of Werewolves and half of L,G, and M. I couldn’t get the howling of the former out of my head for an hour. I think I’d rather follow your recommendations, which you were so kind to lay out here in detail. I’ll definitely report back!
I love Werewolves. I think most Warren fans do too. But if someone is like, "I'm a Warren Zevon fan" and then they hit me with Werewolves, it's sorta like saying you're a Dead fan because you like Touch of Grey.
News to me. I guess Jackson Browne got around. Discussing him always reminds me... and this was actually the reason I was listening to him last night. I get super annoyed any time The Load Out is played if it is not immediately followed by Stay. Sure, technically, they are two songs, but, NO. THEY. ARE. NOT.
I am a Warren Zevon fan. When I was a teenager a friend gave me a stack of records and Warren's Excitable Boy album was in the mix. He made some damned fine music.
I worked for a music distributor for 10 years and many musicians would roll through, sometimes playing our lunch room. The best by far was when Warren Zevon came and signed CDs for us. This was a year before his diagnosis. To this day, I can't listen to The Wind unless I'm in a mood to get torn up.
Hell yes, Amber! That stupid Kid Rock medley is an abomination. On a happier front, what a great gift for a dad to give his daughter. Hearing that makes me really happy!
Favorite t shirt reads “I am my ancestors wildest dreams.” White people get a kick of it if- I think they say to themselves “Now if I wore that, It’d be a problem.” - it would.
I moved from NYC, to Alabama. I know know over 6 police officers. Thankfully, all by marriage.
This is a safe pace right? Never heard of Zevon until now. Context - my mother doesn’t even know who Prince was.
My husband also loves t-shirts that are conversation starters! His current favorite says, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” in the Barbie movie font.
Okay, hear me out - You do a TikTok of Morty laying on your couch with a little Hallween sweater on, just chilling, and set it to Werewolves of London. That shit will be trending IN AN HOUR.
Gina, this is a green light all the way! Well, that's what the writer in me says. But the lawyer in me, who isn't too keen on guns but is focused on money, wants to offer a word of caution on this pitch. If I don't have the right to use Werewolves of London for the video, TikTok will take it down pretty fast. But if it goes super viral before that, I could find myself in a pretty hairy situation with the record companies -- I hear they can be "difficult." That said, if that should come to pass, I'll defend myself as I learned to in school by blaming the dog for eating my licensing agreement.
Those are licensed songs that rotate in and out of the library. Record labels love TikTok because they get a little money for the license and then it becomes a way of breaking their back catalogue, which can turn into a massive windfall of cash. But there's another benefit to this arrangement, which is that unauthorized music is easier to detect. It's not a perfect detection system though. Some stuff gets through because machines aren't perfect, but more likely, stuff gets through because the video just doesn't break big enough to really matter. But the larger point is that the songs that trend on TikTok don't do so organically. It's a function of a relationship between TikTok and the record labels. TikTok users still have to pick up the tune and run with it, although they can be encouraged to do so by seeding TikTok with influencers who are suddenly using that music, or just making a particular song the top suggested option for a lot of users. Obviously, this is a huge tangent from what could be Morty's breakout video, but yeah, the TikTok music scene isn't all that different from the old radio payolla days.
There are many lies going around these days. But in the interest of full candor, I don't have direct knowledge of TikTok. I'm piecing together three things. First, I used to work with a client that did exactly what I'm describing but for video. Their business model was basically to sit between YouTube and media companies and collect a fee. Smart people and they paid really well. Second, I'm going off of what I've read in trade journals that cover tech and music, and in my defense that's more client research because that shit ain't pleasure reading, I can assure you. Third, I've taken both of these inputs and applied them to my experience playing with the TikTok app.
I’m aware of Warren Zevon, but not intensely. I’ll rectify that situation. Although you are welcome to fly out to Atlanta and visit the horse park we are currently parked in. Discovering new music is so much easier now that you don’t need to invest real money buying the albums.
I’m willing to bet that your Crockett Tubbs was in on the Drawing Room investigation and liked drinking there so much that he has become a regular. Sort of a penance for shutting it down.
I’m not a t-shirt fan but I have a half dozen from my time volunteering at The Waterfront Blues Festival over the years. I wear them around the house. At one time I wore t-shirts to work every day for over 5 years. Again, they were given to me. Some of those are still being worn by a 30 something friend that raided my closet when I moved out of my house in Portland.
One of my nephews was a narc in north Mississippi. Now he does something for the court system. Nice kid, but I wouldn’t want to be on his wrong side. I’ve never heard his Warren Devon status, but I kind of doubt it.
As a sixty something, my dive bar experiences now are that I’m just one of the day drinkers in there for the cheap booze. It not a real stretch for me.
I can add nothing to the Warren Zevon discussion ( I only ever heard ", Werewolves") but once again you've demonstrated that your life partner is exactly the person you should be with . She is my hero.
You might be more familiar with some of Warren's work than you realize, if you're a Linda Ronstadt fan. She covered several of his songs and her versions were more popular than his. "Hasten Down the Wind," "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," and "Carmelita" were all covers of Warren.
As for Christina, all I can say is thank goodness I found her.
Another winner of a post, even though it was totally out of my experience, I don't have a favorite T, didn't know Warren Z, don't know any cops, never been in a bar, much less a dive bar, but boy, I was right there with you the whole story, and that's what makes a good writer.
I miss having more Trader Vic’s around. But I can always live them vicariously through a song while drinking a piná colada. Warren rocks - literally! But come over any time and spin some tunes.
The Bosch books really are great aren't they? And sometimes I go back to the early ones because they really do bring to life a Los Angeles that has disappeared.
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner and Werewolves of London among others were running on endless repeat for ages over here. I don't have a single WZ T-Shirt though. Something I need to remedy, methinks.
I think you need a Warren Zevon t-shirt, ASAP, Alexander!
I think you’re right! I may have to make one myself, even! 😅
I love Warren Zevon. I saw him perform twice, and after the second time, at the Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri in the early 1990s, we went out back and met him and got his autograph. He was quite lovely and a genuinely nice person I thought.
I don’t think I ever finished Bosch, so I’m not sure where we last saw him.
As for Crockett Tubbs, from the very start of his appearance in the story, I didn’t believe he was a real cop. So that’s where I’m at with that.
Jackie, I'm so jealous that you got to see Warren twice and meet him once. That is so cool! As for Crockett Tubbs, I appreciate your skepticism. There's a reason why you're always supposed to see a badge. I should've asked. But if I had asked, who knows how this one would've ended!?
Am I the only one who doubted that Thick Neck was a cop at all? His stupid responses to you and Mia dropping actual cop names gave me pause. Maybe I’m wrong here, but I agree with Geoffrey that an undercover cop wouldn’t go around telling people he was a different flavor of cop.
I did love the vivid picture you painted where he could have been 28 or 47 🤭. I can so picture that dude.
My nephew is a cop. He’s 30yo. I somehow doubt he knows who Warren Z is, since I don’t know who he is and he sounds much more up my alley than his. But I am going to investigate, because I love a singer songwriter who can turn a phrase.
I love Christina’s street smarts! 🔥 And I love that you are secure enough in your manhood to give her all the props, always. You’re both keepers.
Christina absolutely has street smarts, and thank goodness for that, or I'd be up shit's creek. But I have a question about your interpretation, Amy. Are you saying he wasn't a cop, period? That's an interesting take! To be honest, I didn't doubt that he was a cop since he's married to someone Christina sorta knows and she knew that woman's husband was a cop. So I took that information at face value. But your interpretation raises an interesting point because if I didn't have that context and we had just met at some bar, I probably wouldn't have believed him when he said he was a cop.
As for investigating Warren, here's some advice. Check out "Desperados Under the Eaves." Bob Dylan has been referencing at his concerts and even singing portions of it, so there's a rumor that he's planning to cover it. Also, "Mohammed's Radio" is a good one. Members of Fleetwood Mac backed Warren up on that one. "Carmelita" will break your heart. Likewise, Warren's last album, The Wind, will give you a good cry, especially "Keep Me In Your Heart for While." I don't know how you feel about dark humor, but if it's a challenge for you, I'd suggest holding off on "Excitable Boy," which is amazing but really, really dark. Also, "My Shit's Fucked Up" is excellent, but also super dark. No pressure, but let me know how this investigation into Warren goes!
I think I lost the detail that he was Christina’s friend’s husband and Christina knew she was married to a cop. But basically what you said at the end of the first paragraph of your comment is what I meant - without that detail, I don’t know if I would have believed him. It’s just the way he responded that made him seem like kind of a clueless dude who thinks it’s fun to lie to people about what he does for a living 🤷🏼♀️.
Ok, so Zevon. This morning after reading your post, I headed over to Spotify and listened to all of Werewolves and half of L,G, and M. I couldn’t get the howling of the former out of my head for an hour. I think I’d rather follow your recommendations, which you were so kind to lay out here in detail. I’ll definitely report back!
I love Werewolves. I think most Warren fans do too. But if someone is like, "I'm a Warren Zevon fan" and then they hit me with Werewolves, it's sorta like saying you're a Dead fan because you like Touch of Grey.
I was listening to Jackson Browne's 'Cocaine' while reading this, and the similarity was rather surprising.
"He looked like he was either twenty-eight or forty-seven."
However, in Cocaine, it Jackson Browne sings:
"I was talking to my doctor down at the hospital
(What'd he say?)
He said, 'Son, it says here you're twenty-seven
But that's impossible
(Cocaine), you look like you could be forty-five'."
That's really funny, Steve. I don't know if you know this but Jackson Brown was Warren's producer and one of his biggest champions.
News to me. I guess Jackson Browne got around. Discussing him always reminds me... and this was actually the reason I was listening to him last night. I get super annoyed any time The Load Out is played if it is not immediately followed by Stay. Sure, technically, they are two songs, but, NO. THEY. ARE. NOT.
I’m guessing here, but Michael made this reference.
That guess gives me way too much credit. It wasn't a reference, just a happy accident.
I am a Warren Zevon fan. When I was a teenager a friend gave me a stack of records and Warren's Excitable Boy album was in the mix. He made some damned fine music.
Sounds like you had a good friend there, David!
We're still friends, more than forty years later. We saw each other a week ago.
THAT is what it's about about, David! A 40-year friendship is something to celebrate.
I worked for a music distributor for 10 years and many musicians would roll through, sometimes playing our lunch room. The best by far was when Warren Zevon came and signed CDs for us. This was a year before his diagnosis. To this day, I can't listen to The Wind unless I'm in a mood to get torn up.
I'm with you on The Wind. It always guts me. It's so cool that you got to meet Warren. I am very envious of that, Joe.
He was too cool for school, in the right way
My dad passed down his Warren Zevon appreciation, and it makes me hate Kid Rock even more (if you know, you know).
Hell yes, Amber! That stupid Kid Rock medley is an abomination. On a happier front, what a great gift for a dad to give his daughter. Hearing that makes me really happy!
Favorite t shirt reads “I am my ancestors wildest dreams.” White people get a kick of it if- I think they say to themselves “Now if I wore that, It’d be a problem.” - it would.
I moved from NYC, to Alabama. I know know over 6 police officers. Thankfully, all by marriage.
This is a safe pace right? Never heard of Zevon until now. Context - my mother doesn’t even know who Prince was.
Marc, this is absolutely a safe space. I'm not sure my mom knows of Prince, Warren Zevon, or Warren G. Also, that t-shirt is gold.
Great story. And who doesn’t love Warren Zevon?!
Great question, Joel! Answer: people who haven't heard of Warren Zevon. Sadly, they're in the majority, but I'm working to remedy that!
We’re going to need more T shirts.
Truth!
My husband also loves t-shirts that are conversation starters! His current favorite says, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” in the Barbie movie font.
OMG, that t-shirt is gold! I mean pink! I'll bet he gets into some fun conversations with that one.
Oh yeah.
Okay, hear me out - You do a TikTok of Morty laying on your couch with a little Hallween sweater on, just chilling, and set it to Werewolves of London. That shit will be trending IN AN HOUR.
Gina, this is a green light all the way! Well, that's what the writer in me says. But the lawyer in me, who isn't too keen on guns but is focused on money, wants to offer a word of caution on this pitch. If I don't have the right to use Werewolves of London for the video, TikTok will take it down pretty fast. But if it goes super viral before that, I could find myself in a pretty hairy situation with the record companies -- I hear they can be "difficult." That said, if that should come to pass, I'll defend myself as I learned to in school by blaming the dog for eating my licensing agreement.
BUT TIKTOK VIDEOS USE MUSIC ALL THE TIME! HOW DO THEY DO IT??
Those are licensed songs that rotate in and out of the library. Record labels love TikTok because they get a little money for the license and then it becomes a way of breaking their back catalogue, which can turn into a massive windfall of cash. But there's another benefit to this arrangement, which is that unauthorized music is easier to detect. It's not a perfect detection system though. Some stuff gets through because machines aren't perfect, but more likely, stuff gets through because the video just doesn't break big enough to really matter. But the larger point is that the songs that trend on TikTok don't do so organically. It's a function of a relationship between TikTok and the record labels. TikTok users still have to pick up the tune and run with it, although they can be encouraged to do so by seeding TikTok with influencers who are suddenly using that music, or just making a particular song the top suggested option for a lot of users. Obviously, this is a huge tangent from what could be Morty's breakout video, but yeah, the TikTok music scene isn't all that different from the old radio payolla days.
Oh my god I feel so lied to by the people who keep making The Outfield's "Your Love" trend on there.
There are many lies going around these days. But in the interest of full candor, I don't have direct knowledge of TikTok. I'm piecing together three things. First, I used to work with a client that did exactly what I'm describing but for video. Their business model was basically to sit between YouTube and media companies and collect a fee. Smart people and they paid really well. Second, I'm going off of what I've read in trade journals that cover tech and music, and in my defense that's more client research because that shit ain't pleasure reading, I can assure you. Third, I've taken both of these inputs and applied them to my experience playing with the TikTok app.
More than I've done!
I’m aware of Warren Zevon, but not intensely. I’ll rectify that situation. Although you are welcome to fly out to Atlanta and visit the horse park we are currently parked in. Discovering new music is so much easier now that you don’t need to invest real money buying the albums.
I’m willing to bet that your Crockett Tubbs was in on the Drawing Room investigation and liked drinking there so much that he has become a regular. Sort of a penance for shutting it down.
I’m not a t-shirt fan but I have a half dozen from my time volunteering at The Waterfront Blues Festival over the years. I wear them around the house. At one time I wore t-shirts to work every day for over 5 years. Again, they were given to me. Some of those are still being worn by a 30 something friend that raided my closet when I moved out of my house in Portland.
One of my nephews was a narc in north Mississippi. Now he does something for the court system. Nice kid, but I wouldn’t want to be on his wrong side. I’ve never heard his Warren Devon status, but I kind of doubt it.
As a sixty something, my dive bar experiences now are that I’m just one of the day drinkers in there for the cheap booze. It not a real stretch for me.
I like your interpretation of Crockett Tubbs and the Drawing Room investigation. It's kind of poetic, actually.
I can add nothing to the Warren Zevon discussion ( I only ever heard ", Werewolves") but once again you've demonstrated that your life partner is exactly the person you should be with . She is my hero.
You might be more familiar with some of Warren's work than you realize, if you're a Linda Ronstadt fan. She covered several of his songs and her versions were more popular than his. "Hasten Down the Wind," "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," and "Carmelita" were all covers of Warren.
As for Christina, all I can say is thank goodness I found her.
Christina is a champ! And have you ever heard the version of "Carmelita" by Flaco Jimenez and Dwight Yoakam?
I haven't heard that version, but I'm about to remedy that. Thank you for the rec!
Another winner of a post, even though it was totally out of my experience, I don't have a favorite T, didn't know Warren Z, don't know any cops, never been in a bar, much less a dive bar, but boy, I was right there with you the whole story, and that's what makes a good writer.
Thank you, Louisa, that really means a lot! I'm so glad you enjoyed this one!
My sole contribution to this (I didn't know Warren Z but do know a Warren G as in Harding) is to say that Christina must be an angel.😇
She's the best, but I'm biased!
Bosch- the books and the series are great.
I miss having more Trader Vic’s around. But I can always live them vicariously through a song while drinking a piná colada. Warren rocks - literally! But come over any time and spin some tunes.
The Bosch books really are great aren't they? And sometimes I go back to the early ones because they really do bring to life a Los Angeles that has disappeared.