''The First Sessions'' is a 2003 compilation album of early recordings by American rock musician

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All t ...

, including his short-lived

folk pop Folk-pop is a broad musical fusion genre that includes contemporary folk songs with pop arrangements, and pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Folk-pop has been popularized by mainstream media in recent years. Musica ...

duo lyme & cybelle.

Recording and release

''The First Sessions'' represents most of the early recordings from Zevon, when he was a member of the Los Angeles

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

scene of the 1960s, including his time in the duo lyme & cybelle with Violet Santangelo. The compilation is mostly made up of a series of singles the group recorded, along with scattered sessions that Zevon did as a solo artist. The final two tracks, "Song 7" and "Write If You Get Work", were recorded by lyme & cybelle after Zevon had left the duo, and Wayne Erwin had taken over as "Stephen Lyme". Zevon had no involvement in any capacity whatsoever on these tracks.

Reception

The editorial staff of

AllMusic Guide AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

gave the release three out of five stars, with reviewer

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

emphasizing how uneven the compilation is, going from "nice folk-rock-pop tunes" to "dull" ones. A review in '' No Depression'' calls the compilation "missed opportunities" that has several desirable qualities, from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

and design of the packaging, to Zevon's "rapier wit" and a "powerful solo" in "A Bullet for Ramona".

Track listing

Follow Me Follow Me may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Follow Me'', a 1969 film scored by Stu Phillips (composer), Stu Phillips * Follow Me! (film), ''Follow Me!'' (film), a 1972 British comedy-drama directed by Carol Reed * Follow Me (film), ''Foll ...

" (Violet Santangelo and Warren Zevon), by lyme & cybelle – 2:29 #"Like the Seasons" (Santangelo and Zevon), by lyme & cybelle – 1:54 #"

I've Just Seen a Face "I've Just Seen a Face" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in August 1965 on their album ''Help!'', except in North America, where it appeared as the opening track on the December 1965 release ''Rubber Soul''. Writ ...

" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

), by lyme & cybelle – 1:28 #" Peeping and Hiding" (

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...

), by lyme & cybelle – 2:30 #"

If You Gotta Go, Go Now "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" (sometimes subtitled "(Or Else You Got to Stay All Night)") is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1964. The first released version was as a single in the US by the UK group the Liverpool Five in July 1965, but this did no ...

" (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

), by lyme & cybelle – 2:46 #"I'll Go On" (Santangelo and Zevon), by lyme & cybelle – 2:33 #"

" (Santangelo and Zevon), by lyme & cybelle – 2:18 #"(You Used To) Ride So High (Glenn Crocker and Zevon), by The Motorcycle Abeline – 2:36 #"

Outside Chance ''Outside Chance'' is a 1978 American TV film starring Yvette Mimieux, directed by Michael Miller. It is a radical reworking of Miller's 1976 film ''Jackson County Jail (film), Jackson County Jail'', which Mimieux had starred in; it contains 30 m ...

" (Zevon), by Warren Zevon – 2:13 #"I See the Lights" (Zevon), by Warren Zevon – 2:15 #"And If I Had You" (Santangelo and Zevon), by Warren Zevon – 2:34 #"A Bullet for Ramona" ( Paul Evans and Zevon), by Warren Zevon – 4:03 #"Song 7" (Joe Glenn), by lyme & cybelle – 2:04 #"Write If You Get Work" (Joe Glenn), by lyme & cybelle – 1:45

Personnel

– vocals, bass guitar, guitar, except on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work",

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

on "A Bullet for Ramona" *Jim Bell – backing vocals on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *Ben Benay – guitar on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *

Lou Blackburn Lou Blackburn (November 12, 1922 – 7 June 1990) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Blackburn was born in Rankin, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his work in the swing genre but he also performed in the West Coast jazz and sou ...

– trombone on "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" *

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

– drums on "Follow Me", "Like the Seasons", "Peeping and Hiding", "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", and "I'll Go On" *

Curt Boettcher Curtis Roy Boettcher (January 7, 1944 – June 14, 1987), sometimes credited as Curt Boetcher or Curt Becher, was an American singer, songwriter, arranger, musician, and record producer from Wisconsin. He was a pivotal figure in what is now t ...

– backing vocals and production on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *

Dennis Budimir Dennis Matthew Budimir (June 20, 1938 – January 10, 2023) was an American jazz and rock guitarist. He was considered to be a member of the Wrecking Crew. Biography Budimir learned to play piano and guitar in his youth and first played profe ...

– guitar on "Follow Me", "Like the Seasons", "Peeping and Hiding", "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", and "I'll Go On" *Jules Chaiken – trumpet on "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" *

Mike Deasy Michael William Deasy (born February 4, 1941) is an American rock and jazz guitarist. As a session musician, he played on numerous hit singles and albums recorded in Los Angeles in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He is sometimes credited as Mike De ...

, Sr. – guitar on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *Joseph DiFiore –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

on "Like the Seasons" *Dawn Eden – liner notes *Jesse Ehrlich – cello on "Like the Seasons" *Wayne Erwin – vocals and guitar on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *Toxie French – drums on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" (possibly Jimmy Troxell) *Daniel Hersch – digital remastering *

Bones Howe Dayton Burr "Bones" Howe (born March 18, 1933) is an American record producer and recording engineer who scored a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, often of the sunshine pop genre, starting in 1965 with The Turtles (band), the Turtles cover o ...

– percussion on "Follow Me"; "Like the Seasons"; "Peeping and Hiding"; "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"; and "I'll Go On", drums and percussion on "(You Used To) Ride So High", production on "Follow Me", "Like the Seasons"; "Peeping and Hiding"; "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"; "I'll Go On"; and "(You Used To) Ride So High", compilation *

Larry Knechtel Lawrence William Knechtel (August 4, 1940 – August 20, 2009) was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles–based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Sim ...

– organ and piano on "Follow Me", "Like the Seasons", "Peeping and Hiding", "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", and "I'll Go On" *Dick Leith – trombone on "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" *Lynn Malarsky – violin on "Like the Seasons" *

Lee Mallory William George "Lee" Mallory (January 10, 1945 – March 21, 2005) was a singer, songwriter and guitarist who was part of bands including The Millennium (band), The Millennium and Sagittarius (band), Sagittarius. His most successful single was ...

– backing vocals on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *Cary E. Mansfield – compilation *

Ollie Mitchell Oliver Edward Mitchell (April 8, 1927 – May 11, 2013) was an American musician and bandleader. He was the son of Harold Mitchell, lead trumpeter for MGM Studios, who taught Ollie to play the trumpet. Career Mitchell would go on to play in big ...

– trumpet on "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" *Michele O'Malley – backing vocals on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *

Joe Osborn Joe Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

, design, artwork *

Lyle Ritz Lyle Joseph Ritz (January 10, 1930 – March 3, 2017) was an American musician, known for his work on ukulele and bass (both double bass and bass guitar). His early career in jazz as a ukulele player made him a key part of the Hawaii music scene ...

– bass guitar on "Follow Me", "Like the Seasons", "Peeping and Hiding", and "I'll Go On" * Sandy Salisbury – backing vocals on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *Violet Santangelo – vocals on lyme & cybelle tracks, photography (credited as Laura Kenyon) *Joe Saxon – cello on "Like the Seasons" *

Jerry Scheff Jerry Obern Scheff (born January 31, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley from 1969 to 1977 as a member of his TCB Band and on the Doors' '' L.A. Woman''. Biography Scheff grew up in Vallejo, California. After ...

– bass guitar on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" *

Tommy Tedesco Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wre ...

– guitar on "Follow Me", "Like the Seasons", "Peeping and Hiding", "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", and "I'll Go On" * Bob Thompson –

conduction Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Condu ...

on "Follow Me", "Like the Seasons", "Peeping and Hiding", "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", and "I'll Go On" *Jimmy Troxell – drums on "Song 7" and "Write If You Get to Work" (possibly Toxie French)

References

External links