Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Thank you both. I will, indeed, continue to check in and respond to
questions. Thanks for having me.
Cheers.
  

    
Thanks so much for your generous participation here, John, and thank you, 
everyone.
  

    
I want to see a Warren Zevon book.
  

    
Me, too. A fascinating life. Wonder if anyone is writing one? I am not
aware of such a book in development but it would make a great story.
  

    
So, what's stopping you?
  

    
Sharon, John,

The following book deal was announced back in April of 2004:

Crystal Zevon's I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD: The Life and Times of Warren
Zevon, a memoir of her ex-husband, the rock musician who spent three
decades writing dark, acerbic songs that pre-saged his death this year
from inoperable lung cancer, to David Hirshey at Harper for Ecco, in a
pre-empt, by Marian Young at The Young Agency.

I think this book is due out sometime before the end of 2005 or early
2006.  Am not sure if Crystal is collaborating with a journalist on the
book, which may also include some of Warren's diary writings.

But I think there is still room for a true biography of Zevon, though,
with insights from Jackson Browne, David Lindley, Danny Kootch, David
Letterman, and others.
  

    
Thanks for that update, Dave. Much appreciated! I'll look forward to
picking up that book when it hits bookstore shelves.
  

    
cool!

Then there's always Stevie Nicks' biography...
  

    
Oooooh. "Just like a white-winged dove....."
I'll leave that one to somebody else.
  

    

"White Light" arrived last week, been listening to it, it is a bit
more coherent than Echos. Doesn't knock your socks off right away
though, its almost minimalist folk-rock.  The lyrics are very good
metaphor rich and pituresque. It does not have the vitrol of much of
Dylan. Ironically hearing about the hard knocks of Gene Clarks life,
lyrically it is remarkablty life-affirming.  It does not have the
dynamism of the Byrds, Carla Olson/Clark or what I remember of Dillard
& Clark, so in a way easy to hear why it wasn't promoted better in its
time. 

Unpretentious, simple, reminds a bit of J.J. Cale, in how songs all
have a musical sameness to them. Still makes me think that all Clark
needed most of the time was a guitar, tamborine and harmonica to get
across, so like Echos the arrangements don't really add much.
  

    
Most Clark fans lean towards White Light as their favourite. It's
lyrics are life-affirming because he was in a positive place and space
in his life: in love (about to marry Carly McCummings), living up in
Albion (Mendocino), happy, healthy. 
  

    <scribbled by jonsson Wed 1 Jun 05 01:05>
  

    

Finally got a hold of a copy of "Mr Tambourine Man" and it made for a
facinating read. Was particularly interested in the early chapters
which depict the shaping of Clarks early imagination in the rural
south. As one listens more to Clark's lyrics it is hard not to be
struck but what either Einarson or somebody in his book describes to
the effect of painting words with brush strokes. Einarson ascribes
Clark's imagination in part to the spacious forests that Clark grew up
in playing with his 13 siblings. It was enlightening to find Clark had
Catholicism and American Indian in his background as well. Still if
Clark was not reading much literature there must of been some rich
spinning prosaic oral culture going on with the English language around
Tipton, MO. It is harder to fully speculate what must spawned his
painterly use of words the more you read Clark's lyrics.

Part of this is explained by Clark's work methods. Einarson informants
describe Clark's marathon allnighter lyric composition sessions that
sound vaugely like the sort of tweaked state computer programmers used
to get into with 36-48 hour programming sessions.

The book certainly enhances the listening material. If I can bother
mentioning lyricism again by the time I read the notes above in
inkwell.vue "Mr Tambourine" conference I was projecting all kinds of
drug imagry into my first listen of 'No Other'. To the extent that when
you listen to 'Silver Vial' where they sing 'for gain' I thought they
were singing "Cocaine".  So it was intriging to find out the real story
behind many of those songs which really seem to be from the same
fountain of dreams many surrealist derive their work from.
Einarson also interviews someone who says Clark used to walk around
Mendocino at night composing, although I'm not clear if he was writing
things down or simply composing in his head.

The part about of McGuinn and Clark deconstructing the Beatles sound
and finding a common thread between skiffle and american folk music was
interesting. I'm not sure if I still understand exactly how the
married these affinities into the Byrd's sound, but from the book you
get the sense that it was intense process combining both Roger & Gene
working from internalized and studied musical sources.

The catapult from MO to Hollywood success is depicted well in both its
glory and wierdness along with the combined patterns of addicition and
foibles of the music industry that retarded the man's career.

There are 300+ pages of details, including notes on how the Byrds
constructed their harmonies and how Crosby later improved on vocal
harmonies in CS&N.

You almost want to read the last chapters with one eye shut though, as
things get really grisly towards the end. It does not sound like
Einarson is raking any muck, but simply reporting the various spins on
Clark's last days is almost a mystery novel in itself.

One thing that isn't a mystery when you get done reading the book is
how Clark's career seemed to be in a cycle of crashes and near
resurections, it is very hard not to damn alcohol and cocaine for the
entire debacle, including Clarks stuborn innability to get help.

I quess if JE checks back in here at some point, what remains
mystifying is where Clark came up with his more abtract lyrics which
are far removed from any sort of naive art that one might expect from a
mostly unread person. I was wondering if there were any further
insights into that, either from your speculations or that of the people
you interviewed?
  

    
Hello John,
 On a website, which I can't find now, it mentioned that Gene Clark's
solo version of Mr. Tambourine Man (from the Firebyrd LP) was Bob
dylan's favorite cover version.
Problem is, I can't seem to find this now!
  Can you give me any info on this subject.
     Thank You, 
           Steve