Excitable Boy
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Excitable Boy
| type = studio
| artist = Warren Zevon
| cover = Excitable Boy cover.jpg
| alt = A closeup photo of the artist, wearing glasses and a black sweater, in front of a red background.
| released = {{start date|1978|1|18}}
| recorded = {{start date|1977}}
| studio = The Sound Factory (Los Angeles)
| genre = Rock
| length = 31:29
| label = Asylum
| producer =
| prev_title = Warren Zevon
| prev_year = 1976
| next_title = Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
| next_year = 1980
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Excitable Boy
| type = studio
| single1 = Johnny Strikes Up the Band
| single1date = 1978
| single2 = Excitable Boy
| single2date = 1978
| single3 = Werewolves of London
| single3date = January 18, 1978
| single4 = Nighttime in the Switching Yard
| single4date = 1978
| single5 = Lawyers, Guns and Money
| single5date = 1978
}}}}
Excitable Boy is the third studio album by American musician Warren Zevon. The album was released on January 18, 1978, by Asylum Records. It includes the single "Werewolves of London", which reached No. 21 and remained in the American Top 40 for six weeks. The album brought Zevon to commercial attention and remains the best-selling album of his career, having been certified platinum by the RIAA and reaching the top ten on the US Billboard 200. A remastered and expanded edition was released in 2007.
Music and lyrics
"Excitable Boy" and "Werewolves of London" were considered macabrely humorous by some critics. The historical "Veracruz" dramatizes the United States occupation of Veracruz. It was the first song Zevon wrote with Jorge Calderón. Likewise, "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" is a fictionalized account of former mercenary David Lindell's experiences in Africa. "Lawyers, Guns and Money" is a tongue-in-cheek tale of a young American man's adventures in Cold War-era Latin America. In addition, there are two ballads about life and relationships ("Accidentally Like a Martyr" and "Tenderness on the Block"), as well as the funk/disco-inspired "Nighttime in the Switching Yard".
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|author=Mark Deming |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/excitable-boy-mw0000652812 |title=Excitable Boy - Warren Zevon | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2015-10-23}}
| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide
| rev2Score = A−{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: Z|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=Z&bk=70|access-date=March 23, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com|title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies}}
| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
| rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=4th|isbn=978-0195313734}}
| rev4 = Music Box
| rev4Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|author=John Metzger |url=http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2007/warrenzevon-excitableboy.html |title=Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (Album Review) |publisher=Musicbox-online.com |access-date=2015-10-23}}
| rev5 = PopMatters
| rev6 = Rolling Stone
| rev6Score = (favorable){{cite magazine|author=(Posted: Mar 23, 1978) |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/warrenzevon/albums/album/113421/review/5941212 |title=Warren Zevon: Excitable Boy : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=1978-03-23 |access-date=2015-10-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602150134/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/warrenzevon/albums/album/113421/review/5941212 |archive-date=June 2, 2008 }}
| rev7 = Uncut
| rev7Score = 9/10{{Cite magazine|title=How to buy Warren Zevon |magazine=Uncut |date=October 2023 |page=71}}
}}
Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote:{{cquote|The further these songs get from Ronstadtland, the more I like them. The four that exorcise male psychoses by mock celebration are positively addictive, the two uncomplicated rockers do the job, and two of the purely 'serious' songs get by. But no one has yet been able to explain to me what 'accidentally like a martyr' might mean—answers dependent on the term 'Dylanesque' are not acceptable—and I have no doubt that that's the image Linda will home in on. After all, is she going to cover the one about the headless gunner?}}
The Globe and Mail panned the album, writing that Zevon's famous friends contributing to "this improbable collection of tunes is a testament to the constant in-breeding among the California types that have so deteriorated the scene out there."{{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=Paul |title=Warren Zevon |work=The Globe and Mail |date=1 Mar 1978 |page=F2}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| total_length =
| headline = Side one
| title1 = Johnny Strikes Up the Band
| writer1 = Warren Zevon
| length1 = 2:49
| title2 = Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
| writer2 = David Lindell, Zevon
| length2 = 3:47
| title3 = Excitable Boy
| writer3 = LeRoy Marinell, Zevon
| length3 = 2:40
| title4 = Werewolves of London
| writer4 = Waddy Wachtel, Marinell, Zevon
| length4 = 3:27
| title5 = Accidentally Like a Martyr
| writer5 = Zevon
| length5 = 3:37
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| title6 = Nighttime in the Switching Yard
| writer6 = Jorge Calderón, Lindell, Wachtel, Zevon
| length6 = 4:15
| title7 = Veracruz
| writer7 = Calderón, Zevon
| length7 = 3:30
| title8 = Tenderness on the Block
| writer8 = Jackson Browne, Zevon
| length8 = 3:55
| title9 = Lawyers, Guns and Money
| writer9 = Zevon
| length9 = 3:29
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Bonus tracks (2007 reissue)
| title10 = I Need a Truck
| note10 = outtake
| writer10 = Zevon
| length10 = 0:50
| title11 = Werewolves of London
| note11 = alternate version
| writer11 = Wachtel, Marinell, Zevon
| length11 = 3:41
| title12 = Tule's Blues
| note12 = solo piano version
| writer12 = Zevon
| length12 = 3:13
| title13 = Frozen Notes
| note13 = strings version
| writer13 = Zevon
| length13 = 1:59
}}
Personnel
- Warren Zevon – lead, harmony and backing vocals, piano, organ, synthesizer
- Jorge Calderón – harmony and backing vocals, Spanish vocals on "Veracruz"
- Danny Kortchmar – guitar, percussion
- Russ Kunkel – drums
=Additional personnel=
- Karla Bonoff – harmony vocals on "Accidentally Like a Martyr"
- JD Souther – backing and harmony vocals
- Jennifer Warnes – harmony vocals on "Excitable Boy"
- Linda Ronstadt – backing and harmony vocals on "Excitable Boy"
- Jackson Browne – guitar, harmony and backing vocals
- Waddy Wachtel – guitar, synthesizer, harmony and backing vocals
- Kenny Edwards – bass guitar on "Veracruz", "Tenderness on the Block" and "Lawyers, Guns and Money"
- John McVie – bass on "Werewolves of London"
- Bob Glaub – bass guitar on "Roland the Headless Gunner", "Excitable Boy" and "Nighttime in the Switching Yard"
- Leland Sklar – bass guitar on "Johnny Strikes Up The Band" and "Accidentally Like a Martyr"
- Mick Fleetwood – drums on "Werewolves of London"
- Rick Marotta – drums on "Veracruz" and "Lawyers, Guns and Money"
- Jeff Porcaro – drums and percussion on "Nighttime in the Switching Yard"
- Luis Damian – jarana on "Veracruz"
- Arthur Gerst – Mexican harp
- Jim Horn – recorder on "Veracruz"; saxophone on "Excitable Boy"
- Greg Ladanyi – bells on "Nighttime in the Switching Yard"
- Manuel Vasquez – requinto on "Veracruz"
=Technical=
- Jackson Browne, Waddy Wachtel – producers
- Greg Ladanyi, Dennis Kirk – engineers
- George Ybarra, Serge Reyes – assistant engineers
- Jimmy Wachtel – album design, photography
- Crystal Zevon, Lorrie Sullivan – additional photography
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1978)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=348}}
| 9 |
| {{album chart|New Zealand|12|artist=Warren Zevon|album=Excitable Boy|rowheader=true|access-date=May 4, 2021}} |
| {{album chart|Billboard200|8|artist=Warren Zevon|rowheader=true|access-date=May 4, 2021}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1978)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| scope="row"| US Billboard 200{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1978/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1978|magazine=Billboard|access-date=October 29, 2021}}
| 54 |
{{col-end}}
Certifications
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Warren Zevon}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Albums produced by Waddy Wachtel
Category:Albums with cover art by Jimmy Wachtel