DISC ONE:

1. Simple Man, Simple Dreams (WMMS-FM 1976)
2. Cadillac Ranch (Metro, Boston MA 9/29/1982)
3. Before They Make Me Run (Bottom Line, NYC 2/22/82)
4. Trouble (ditto)
5. Around And Around (Peabody’s Downunder, Cleveland OH 1985)
6. Dancing With Myself (Rockefellers, Houston TX 6/18/1986)
7. Bo Diddley’s A Gunslinger (Landmark Theatre, Syracuse NY 10/6/1987)
8. Junko Partner (2/22/1988)
9. Travelin’ Riverside Blues (ditto)
10. Winter Wonderland (Hammersmith, London 2/25/1988)
11. I Still Miss Someone (Parkers, Seattle WA 1988)
12. Mannish Boy (5/12/1988)
13. Drop Down Mama (County Warehouse, Rochester NY 11/25/1988)
14. What’s New Pussycat (Rauls, Portland ME 11/30/1988)
15. Wild Thing (???)

DISC TWO:

1. Barricades of Heaven
2. From A Distance
3. Hand of Fate
4. Ramrod
5. Back In The High Life Again (Irving Plaza 11/2/1999)
6. Atlantic City
7. If You Don’t Love Me (Club Bene, South Amboy NJ 3/18/2000)
8. Dark Eyes (Great American Music Hall, SF 3/23/2000)
9. Jackson
10. I Kissed A Girl (Caravan Of Dreams, Ft. Worth TX 4/8/2000, w/Jill Sobule)
11. 5D (Fifth Dimension) (Belacourt Theatre, Nashville TN 4/11/2000)
12. Santa Can’t Stay (State Theatre, Falls Church VA 11/30/2000)
13. Chimes Of Freedom
14. Up Where We Belong (Stone Pony, Asbury Park NJ 12/5/2000)
15. Honky Tonk Women
16. You Were On My Mind (Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro NC 12/8/2000)
17. Wooly Bully (King Cat Theatre, Seattle WA 7/28/2000)

DISC THREE:

1. Raspberry Beret
2. Stop Breakin’ Down (Trax, Charlottesville VA 1/1/1990)
3. One Woman Man (Ft. Lauderdale FL 12/28/90)
4. Into The Mystic
5. First We Take Manhattan
6. That’s Amore (Woodstock, NY 1/1992)
7. Not Fade Away (5/21/1993)
8. Lakes Of Ponchartrain (Mountainview CA 10/16/1993)
9. Jole Blon
10. Why Can’t This Be Love (Stone Pony, Asbury Park NJ2/12/1994)
11. I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better (Allentown PA 2/15/1994)
12. A Certain Girl (Barrymore Theatre, Madison WI 7/25/1995)
13. Something Else (Riverfest Theme Park, Wakesha WI 7/29/1995)
14. Summertime Blues (???)
15. Bundeslied (The New Bar, Raleigh NC 2/7/1996)
16. My Way (The Backstage, Seattle WA 10/8/1996)
17. Ring Them Bells
18. Surfin USA
19. You Don’t Know What Love Is (The New Bar, Raleigh NC 2/7/1996)

[Note: songs with ??? after them have no source info listed)

If nothing else, three discs’ worth of the late, great werewolf performing other artists’ material offers irrefutable proof that lurking within every great songwriter is an equally inspired stylist – to know how to write a song you gotta study songs, eh? So despite some reservations I have about this three-CDR set, I’m absolutely drawn to the idea of Zevon covering, say, Van Morrison (“Into The Mystic”), Leonard Cohen (“First We Take Manhattan”), Prince (“Raspberry Beret” – the song he absolutely nailed during his collaboration with members of R.E.M. as The Hindu Love Gods), Springsteen, Stones and the Byrds (several cuts) and of course various blues and early rock ‘n’ roll icons. Also dotting this collection are some genuine oddities (“That’s Amore,” complete with a spoken intro concerning Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and pop music) and outright howlers (“What’s New Pussycat” of course – and Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself” -- brilliant). Fascinating stuff, frequently humorous, and quite revealing as well for anyone interested in delving a little deeper into what made Zevon tick beyond his officially released albums and the occasional full-concert bootleg. When it comes time to do the Zevon box set, someone really, really needs to make sure that there’s at least one full disc of nothing but covers.

Sound quality, as might be expected, varies pretty wildly here; with just a couple of exceptions these are all audience recordings, and it’s rough going in a few spots – caveat emptor. Also note that while the material is generally presented in chronological order on the discs, you have to go from Disc One to Disc Three and then to Disc Two to retain the correct time progression. My main complaint is the lack of additional source and performance intro. For example, I have no idea who the other male is that Zevon verbally swaps quips with during the “That’s Amore” intro, and if I hadn’t known that “I Kissed A Girl” was originally done by Jill Sobule I might not have realized that she’s the female heard dueting with Zevon on that song. (I’m betting that these discs were a fan-based project that got treed via the Internet and subsequently picked up by the bootleggers, who simply copied the set without adding any info.) Nominal artwork for the two tray panels, with no booklet. --OSWALD