Werewolves of London

"Werewolves of London"
Single by Warren Zevon
from the album Excitable Boy
B-side	"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"
Released	1978
Format	7" single
Recorded	1977
Genre	Rock
Length	3:27
Label	Asylum Records
Writer(s)	LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, Warren Zevon
Producer(s)	Jackson Browne, Waddy Wachtel
Warren Zevon singles chronology
"Hasten Down the Wind" (1977) "Werewolves of London" (1978) "Lawyers, Guns and Money" (1978)

"Werewolves of London" is a rock song composed by LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, and Warren Zevon and performed by Zevon. Included on Zevon's 1978 album Excitable Boy, it featured accompaniment by drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie of Fleetwood Mac. The single was released by Asylum Records as catalog number 45472. It entered the American Top 40 charts on April 22, 1978, reaching number 21, and remained in the Top 40 for six weeks.

According to Wachtel, "Werewolves of London" was "the hardest song to get down in the studio I've ever worked on."^[1] However, Wachtel "laid down his solo in one take, before he'd even had a chance to partake of the bump of coke and drink he'd placed in front of him."^[2] According to Jackson Browne (who was the producer for the recording), "Werewolves of London" along with "Excitable Boy" were written while work was being done on the album that preceded Excitable Boy but were not included on that album in favor of other songs.^[3] The song is in the key of G major, with a three-chord progression that runs throughout.^[4]

Other versions

• Jackson Browne performed the then-unreleased song on a September 7, 1975 live WMMR radio broadcast from The Main Point, which was located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
• T-Bone Burnett and members of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue played the then-unreleased song on several dates, including December 4, 1975 at the Montreal Forum. That version includes the Jack Nicholson reference, as well as Patty Hearst, Frank Sinatra, Rick Danko, Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, Lon Chaney, Sr., Lon Chaney, Jr., Sammy Davis, Jr. and Jimmy Hoffa, among others.
• The Flamin' Groovies released the song as a 7" vinyl single in June 1979 (Sire, SIR 4018).
• Dexys Midnight Runners covered the riff from the song as the musical backing for the song/dialogue "One of Those Things" on their 1985 album Don't Stand Me Down.
• In 1988, David Lindley and El-Rayo X did a ska-flavored cover on their album Very Greasy.
• Adam Sandler recorded a version for the tribute album Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon in 2004.
• Kid Rock interpolated the song with "Sweet Home Alabama" on his 2008 single "All Summer Long". Zevon's own Play It All Night Long from Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School references Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama", with the line "Play that dead band's song".
• Magnolia Electric Co. covered the song on the 2005 EP, Hard To Love A Man.^[5]
• Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) and Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) covered the song in the 2014 Glee episode "Old Dog New Tricks." The song is heard in the season 3 episode of That '70s Show "Eric's Drunken Tattoo."
• Masha covered the song for a Three Olives Vodka campaign. ^[6]
• In 2006, Jimmy Buffett recorded the song for the soundtrack of Hoot.
• The Grateful Dead performed the song live 13 times. During its spring and summer tours in 1978 the band played the song 9 times; then once in January of 1979. In 1985, 1990, and 1991 the band performed the song on Halloween.

Personnel

• Warren Zevon – piano, vocals
• Waddy Wachtel – guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums
• John McVie – bass

Reception

BBC Radio 2 listeners rated it as having the best opening line in a song.^[7]

References

1. Zevon, Crystal. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon, p. 138.
2. Browne, David (April 12, 2013). "The Knights of Soft Rock". Rolling Stone (1180): 58.
3. Zevon, Crystal. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon, p. 112.
4. Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis, pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-0-300-09239-4.
5. "Magnolia Electric Co. - Hard To Love A Man (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 2005-11-10. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
6. "AdWeek - Ad of the Day: Masha Sings a Sultry Remake of 'Werewolves of London' for Three Olives Vodka". adweek.com. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
7. Vine, Jeremy (May 2004). "Greatest Opening Song Line – The Winner!". BBC Radio 2. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2014.