Expecting Rain

I'm just kind of curious.

Why did Bob opt to cover Warren Zevon's "Mutineer"?

Did he ever say anything about it?

Stupid question, I guess, but I was watching my new WZ bootleg DVDs (literally EVERYTHING that involves that guy's music and television, along with a bunch of taped concerts), and it kind of popped into my NyQuil battered brain.

I would guess Bob likes that song, hence he choose to cover it.

THAT MAKES NO SENSE.

No, that's not good enough, man!

He must have been trying to say something!

Something about seafaring discipline, I think.

Zevon was dying at the time as well, which could explain why Bob's mind was on him. He also covered "Accidentally Like A Martyr" and "Lawyers, Guns And Money" on that tour.

And 'Boom boom Mancini'.

With Bob covering him, you know a couple of bucks in royalties made their way to Warren Zevon's bank account, at a time when his family could use it. God love Bob - he's a stand-up guy in many ways, no matter what other things he's capable of. Dave Van Ronk pointed out that "Bobby" went over to visit Woody when Woody had been basically abandoned by people waiting for him to die so they could worship him; as far as Van Ronk was concerned, that wiped out a lot of "Bobby's" record-stealing and other bad behavior. A real mixed bag, like many of us, but ultimately a mensch where it counts. No wonder Jakob admires and respects his Dad..

Zevon was in the audience for one of the concerts when Dylan played his songs. Zevon was reported as saying this was almost worth getting cancer for.

Wow, never heard that one. Is that true? Source?

Well, while I wouldn't go quite that far it must be exhilarating to have something you wrote covered by the master [/u]

Crystal Zevon reported it in her oral history/biography of Warren, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead." I doubt he meant it literally.

I don't want to be rude, but what an odd question.


EDIT: I feel my original post was too harsh, especially as I didn't explain anything! I just thought it was an odd question as Dylan has covered hundreds of songs, surely the main reason is because he likes the particular song!? Also, as mentioned above, Dylan has covered quite a few Zevon songs, so why not ask about them?

Like I said, sorry, I feel my first post was a bit silly - it happens to the best of us!

Bob visited Zevon while he was in the recording studio after he heard of his cancer. Dylan had never met Zevon before but showed up to share some words with him. He gave him tickets to a show and said he'd be playing a few of his songs in upcoming shows.

Cool
This isn't a Long John trick is it?

Completely true.

Here's a bunch of Dylan's covers if anyone's interested.

http://www.humyo.com/164399%3AAudio%3Am ... A%20Martyr

http://www.humyo.com/164399%3AAudio%3Am ... 20Part%202

Thanks.
Good lil' website.

He played 'Mutineer' 31 times. 'Accidentally Like A Martyr' 22 times. 'Lawyers, Guns And Money' 4 times. 'Boom Boom Mancini' just the once.

Also, John McLaughlin points out that Zevon would get royalities for Dylan playing his songs live. Surely it doesn't work that way right?

Yes, it does, actually. I'm not exactly clear on all the details of the process, but basically artists are required to keep track of what songs they cover and submit a list at intervals (yearly?) to (I think) the venues, which in turn pay a fee to ASCAP or BMI, who ensure that royalties are paid to the artists whose work was covered. Or something like that. I think.

Cool, never knew that. Thanks for the info.

Well don't take it as gospel, though. Better check on it. I'm sure someone's just about to post about how inaccurately I laid it out!

Here is a little more info: ASCAP and BMI monitor the top 200 grossing acts according to Pollstar magazine and pay out based upon the number of times a song appears in the set lists of the people covered. ASCAP and BMI only cover the US. With other countries it depends on the local administrator in that country. ASCAP and BMI pay on a quarterly basis and their payments are based on the amount of times the tune was played nine months previous to the payout. I do not think Bob meant this as a source of revenue for Zevon more of as a tribute and support.

Excellent. Thanks for the info.

I'm a big fan of Zevon's stuff... he was a great songwriter... and here is a quirky titbit of a fact that will astound both Dylan and Zevon fans alike.

In the Zevon song 'Accidentally Like A Martyr' The big Z sings the lyrics "time out of mind"... the very words that Dylan later chose to use as the time of an album... what does everyone make of that?

Who used 'Time Out of Mind' first.... Zevon or Steely Dan (who have a song with the same title) ?

I think I'm right in saying that the phrase was probably first used in 'Romeo & Juliet'...?

Utter nonsense... I am a huge Dire Staits fan and know the Romeo and Juliet song backwards... nowhere does it mention 'time out of mind'.