Too much time and money spent on artificial life-support systems. focus on organizational longevity rather than impact. Unfortunately, too many business consultants and too many business owners, executives, managers, etc. And then there's the Catholic Church that's been around for approximately 1700, 1900, or 2000 years - depending on your interpretation of history.īut I would still question whether any organization or business will last forever, and 99.9999999999999999999% haven't lasted a century. Gary, get back to me in another thousand years on that one.īut, yes, there have been several small businesses that have lasted awhile - including a few hotels in Japan that have been around for 1300 years, a restaurant in Austria for 1200 years, and a pub in the UK for a thousand years (I think I played a gig there when it first opened). Factoid: the book title namechecks one of WZ's best songs. But he was able to inspire love and devotion in addition to exasperation and that comes through in his songwriting: his weaker songs - not that many of them, it has to be said - leave you frustrated because you know just how good he can be when he gets it right. He was not an easy man to live or work with: alcoholic, argumentative, opinionated, a bit selfish and restless. There's a book called, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead." by his ex-wife Crystal that is highly recommended. I proudly boast that with over 130 albums by people whose surname begins with Z I probably hold some kind of record. (Along with the Zappa and Zorn ones, btw. When I had my Big Vinyl Clearout three house moves ago, my WZ albums were amongst the first to make the "There's no way I'm ditching these ones" pile. I've loved Zevon since his debut album and have every one. Zevon’s most successful album "Excitable Boy"-which I highly recommend-was produced by Jackson Browne and Waddy Wachtel.
(In the past Zevon had frequently filled in for Paul Shaffer as the show’s band leader.) The show is available on Youtube.
David Letterman had Zevon on as the only guest for his entire show on October 30, 2002, during which Zevon discussed his cancer and performed several songs. Warren’s final recording sessions, for his last LP "The Wind" included guests artists (as seen in the video) Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy Schmit, Billy Bob Thornton, Emmy Lou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Rye Cooder, and Jorge Calderon (who co-wrote several of the tunes, including “Keep Me in Your Heart”). Warren died from peritoneal mesothelioma, a lung cancer associated with exposure to asbestos. I love that he gets to sing the second verse, which contains the line, “Dad, get me out of this.” Jordan Zevon, Warren’s son, is the one playing leftie guitar in the second clip. Our contributions, however, can be timeless. Whether as organizations or as individuals, we’re simply not “built to last.” (Lawyers, guns, and money won't change that.) Businesses and human beings all have expiration dates. Everything in the visible world has a life cycle. Check out this clip-with pictures from the VH1 doc on the final recording session of the great Warren Zevon.įor those of us who work at transforming-or in some cases resuscitating-organizations and businesses, the lesson is the same, however difficult it is to accept. But the most moving of his compositions, to my ears, was the lyrical “Keep Me in Your Heart” which he started writing the day he was told his cancer was inoperable. The difference this individual made as an artist is writing and recording some of the smartest (and most brilliantly satiric) songs in the canon of rock-including “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” “Werewolves of London,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” “Hasten Down the Wind,” and “Tenderness on the Block” (all covered by famous artists from Linda Ronstadt to The Wallflowers). (As he observed to David Letterman, "I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years.") But it’s a good reminder-whether we’re talking about individuals or organizations-that it’s not how long you stick around that matters, it’s the difference you make. Regrettably, he left us nine years ago after a bout with lung cancer. January 24th marks the birthday of one of rock’s most gifted singer-songwriter-musicians.
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