Description
Warren Zevon Explores Contrasts and Classical Flourishes on Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School, Which Includes Collaborations with Members of the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Other Luminaries.
Hear the 1980 Album in Audiophile Sound for the First Time on Vinyl:
Mobile Fidelitys Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Presents the Gold-Certified Record with Exceptional Presence, Detail, and Black Backgrounds
1/4 / 15 IPS Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe.
The regal strings and successive gunshots that announce the start of Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School encapsulate the contrasts Warren Zevon deftly navigates on an album that further telescoped his witty, neo-noir songwriting to a broad audience. Recorded as the Chicago native struggled to overcome toxic addictions and advance from a soured marriage, the 1980 record showcases his interest in classical arrangements and knack for incisive observation, tongue-in-cheek fun, and heartbreaking emotion.
Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelitys numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Zevons fourth album in audiophile sound. Co-produced by Zevon and longtime studio partner Greg Ladanyi, Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School benefits from key collaborations with ace musicians such as Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Ben Keith, Waddy Wachtel, J.D. Souther, and Eagles members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Don Felder. Their contributions, as well as the steadiness and punch of Zevons small combo, can be heard with unhindered detail, presence, and pacing.
You will experience wide instrumental separation; dynamic elements that underscore the depth of the rhythms; transparency that traces a through-line to the original sessions at the Sound Factory; warmth on a par with prized analog recordings; naturalism that elevates the body and tenor of Zevons vocals; and revealing levels of openness, balance, and imaging. Everything from the .44 Magnum that Zevon fired into a barrel of sand to capture percussive effects at the beginning of the title track to the variety of slide, pedal, lap-steel, and electric guitars used throughout comes through with engaging clarity.
Dedicated to crime-fiction author Ken Millar, who helped steer Zevon through his drying-out period, and distinguished by a back cover that famously features a disparate image a pair of ballet shoes resting alongside a machine gun and spent bullets Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School often reveals the singer-songwriter at his most personal. He pairs such unguardedness with two concise string interludes that evoke chamber-music aspirations and reflect his admiration for composer Igor Stravinsky, whom he once visited in Russia.
Thematically, the title song finds the then-newly divorced Zevon pledging to change. The high-and-lonesome T Bone Burnett co-write Bed of Coals extends that commitment. And the sweeping piano-based ballad Empty-Handed Heart witnesses Zevon at his most conciliatory and tender despite the fact the subject of his affection has moved on. On the latter tracks coda, a descant gorgeously sung by Ronstadt sends the tune into another orbit and affirms the deepseated levels of texture and touch widespread throughout Zevons work.
Those characteristics are also present on the Top 20 records rowdier fare. Partnering with his pal Jorge Calderon, Zevon delivers one of his classic mercenary tales on Jungle Work. Dense and damp, the song broadcasts an apt desperado vibe via a macho military-styled refrain and beefy tones. Joe Walshs memorable turn on lead guitar ups the risk factor. For the socially biting Gorilla, Youre a Desperado, Zevon lays down a melody that moves like a squeezed accordion. Henley and Browne join on the chorus, and the collective seemingly dances its way amid a vibrant landscape dotted with rubber-mask absurdity, humor, and commotion.
In addition to industry friends, Zevon draws major-league pitcher Bill Lee known for his unfiltered statements and outrageous personality into the mix by way of a namesake tribute on which the singers harmonica cleverly substitutes for off-the-cuff vocal remarks Lee would utter. And while Bruce Springsteen doesnt appear, a rousing anthem he co-wrote, Jeannie Needs a Shooter, makes a permanent mark by way of push-pull riffs, magnetic grooves, twinkling keyboard notes, tolling bells, and Walshs illustrative guitar lines. To say nothing of Zevons yearning vocals that somehow manage to remain controlled amid the tension.
By comparison, the singer lets loose with a few yelps on a snappy rendition of Allen Toussaints A Certain Girl complete with old-school-soul call-and-response exchanges and lithe rhythms and sends out the closing Wild Age with delirious excitement. By the time it wraps, what else, really, is there left to do but surrender to Zevons advice?
You know it well: Turn those speakers up full blast. And play it all night long.
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