As with all things Zevon, it's not quite that simple. Averse to doctors, Zevon, who famously admitted on the Late Show with David Letterman, "I might have made a tactical error not going to a physician for 20 years," was diagnosed with advanced mesothelioma in 2002. It's been theorized that he contracted it as a child playing in the asbestos-lined attic of the Arizona carpet store owned by his gangster father, Stumpy Zevon.
Hellbent on recording one last album, Zevon threw all he had left into The Wind, which reached #12 on the US album charts and for many would eclipse Excitable Boy. Laboriously constructed while its principal was fading fast (and falling off the wagon after 17 years), The Wind's notoriety was ensured by a guest list that includes Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, and Bruce Springsteen, who shared a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance for "Disorder in the House." Singularly poignant moments like a cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" ensured its fame. Released two weeks before his death in September 2003, The Wind was both showered with praise and draped in sadness. Original LP pressings as well as a 2023 limited-edition LP reissue have both lately grown ridiculously expensive ($100+) on the secondary collectors' market.
This story is from the September 2023 edition of Stereophile.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2023 edition of Stereophile.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Michael Des Barres and the Art of Aural Obsession
Listening to music inspires us to take action. Upon hearing an I.E.-Instant Earworm-we must then determine the best way we can go about listening to it again (and again) at our convenience.
PLANET OF SOUND
BLACK FRANCIS ON HARNESSING THAT MAGIC PIXIES DUST
T+A R 2500 R STREAMING RECEIVER PHONO MODULE
In my review of the T+A R 2500 R receiver (August 2024 issue), I covered many of its features and took as deep a dive as time and column inches allowed.
Audia Flight FLS10
The dogma of separates has long reigned supreme among audiophiles: If you're serious about sound quality, you're supposed to need a dedicated preamp and power amp.
Totem Acoustic Element Fire V2
Totem Acoustic was founded in 1987, in Montreal, Canada, by a former high school math teacher named Vince Bruzzese. The company's first product, the Model 1 loudspeaker,' impressed me so much I bought a pair.
MoFi Electronics MasterDeck
Get two mouthy jazz drummers in a room and watch the sparks fly. Talented turntable designer Allen Perkins, the brain behind Spiral Groove,2 Immedia's RPM turntables,³ and various SOTA models, is first and foremost a jazz drummer.
Soulution 727
AImost 14 years have passed since a review of a Soulution product appeared in the pages of Stereophile.\"
The Spin Doctor checks out the Kuzma Safir 9, a superarm from Slovenia.
The British audio scene from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s was pretty strange. Audio as a hobby was a big deal, with widespread appeal to a much younger crowd than today. Audiophiles were guided by a flurry of what my friends called \"hi-fi pornos,\" audio magazines that filled the racks at the newsagents.
Alex goes to Japan
Arriving in Japan from the United States is like being turned upside down. This condition lasts for much of the first week. When I visited in November, the time difference between Tokyo and New York was 14 hours. \"The floating world\" is a term for the pleasure-addled urban culture of Edo-period Japan, but it's also an apt description for the twilit and not-entirely-unpleasant weirdness of first arriving in Tokyo. Everything seems slightly unreal.
Wilson Audio Specialties The WATT/Puppy
Since the original WATT/Puppy concept kicked off in the late 1980s,' there has been a 40-year evolution leading to the latest version reviewed here.
