Music of the Day, 14 June 2024

don't take much to blow away

My son sparked a Warren Zevon song playing in my mind this morning. It isn’t today’s MotD though, because it doesn’t fit my mood. The next one the radio station in my mind started to play does. Here’s the studio version of it.

Prior to today, the only version of “Heartache Spoken Here” I’d heard was from a live show. It has spare instrumentation, but Zevon played up the country vibe with his voice. Even so, I wasn’t prepared for how country the original is. The pedal steel guitar (played by Dan Dugmore) is simply lovely, and Dwight Yoakam¹ providing harmony is a deft touch.

Given that nearly every time I’ve mentioned country music in this space has been to say how little I like it, I’m surprised that I like the studio version much better. “Heartache Spoken Here” is a tender song that Zevon sang sincerely in the studio, and the full-on country music matches it perfectly. I even like the guitar solo by Waddy Wachtel, who also produced the album the song is from (Mr. Bad Example, released in 1991). I do understand Zevon not wanting to be so vulnerable singing “Heartache Spoken Here” straightforwardly night after night on the road, but to my ear his voice overdoes the country, presumably trying to capture the tone of the studio version.

I’m enough of a Warren Zevon fan to know one can’t judge an entire album by just one song. “Heartache Spoken Here” is so luscious, though, that I’m strongly tempted to make Mr. Bad Example my next acquisition from his discography.

1. Yeah, I didn’t recognize his voice, but I know of him