Petty, Harris Join Zevon CD

Warren Zevon's new studio album, which has the working title of "My Dirty Life and Times," is nearing completion. The singer-songwriter plans to add some more vocals over the next couple weeks.

Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, Emmylou Harris and Joe Walsh have recently joined the guest list for what will be Zevon's final album, as he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in August. Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Ry Cooder, Dwight Yoakam, David Lindley, Timothy B. Schmit, Jim Keltner, John Waite, Billy Bob Thornton and Zevon's son Jordan are among those who had previously made contributions to the album. Zevon has also recorded a cover of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" for possible inclusion. The recording will be the follow-up to 2002's My Ride's Here.

"What I've told myself," Zevon said last fall, "is that it's a good idea to be able to say goodbye to yourself, one hopes fondly, and that you'll be at peace with everyone you know."

In other Zevon news, three of his older albums will be reissued by Capitol on May 6th. Fans with an itch to hear "Leave My Monkey Alone" in Spanish will get their wish thanks to a bonus track on a new edition of his 1987 set, Sentimental Hygiene. His 1969 debut, Wanted Dead or Alive, and 1989's Transverse City round out the set.

Wanted was recorded and released during a period when Zevon was writing advertising jingles and songs for the likes of the Turtles, as well as serving as keyboardist and bandleader for the Everly Brothers. The album failed to reap any rewards for Zevon, who wouldn't record and release a follow-up until his Jackson Browne-produced, self-titled album seven years later.

Hygiene finds Zevon backed by R.E.M., with other friends making guest appearances: Dylan adds harmonica to "The Factory," Neil Young plays guitar on the title track and George Clinton produces "Leave My Monkey Alone." In addition to the Spanish-language "Monkey," the reissue will include "Nocturne" as a bonus track.

The Transverse City reissue features guest spots by Young, Jerry Garcia, Chick Corea and late Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein. An acoustic demo of "Networking" is the bonus track.

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

More Song Stories entries »

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