POOR POOR PITIFUL ME | Linda Ronstadt
What did David Geffen see in the pulpy, alcoholic musings of a former student of Ogor Stravinsky?
Aside from the fact that Geffen signed Warren Zevon to his Asylum label, Frank isn't quite sure. At that time, Asylum was a vibrant home for artists like Linda Ronstadt, J.D. Souther, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, and Glenn Frey (whom Geffen encouraged to form Eagles).
Maybe the question should be, what did Linda Ronstadt see in a Warren Zevon song?
Linda covered several of Warren’s songs — HASTEN DOWN THE WIND and CARMELITA, as well as updating POOR, POOR PITIFUL ME. Obviously, she recognized a terrific tunesmith tapped into a dark edge of the zeitgeist.
In 1976, while cutting his second album for Geffen, Warren Zevon penned POOR POOR PITIFUL ME. Over the years, it has been rumored that the song was a friendly jab at his producer on this project, Jackson Browne. Browne had a tendency to write songs that were somewhat depressing and downright dreary. So, Zevon decided to poke fun at the “oh woe is me” school of songwriting with a piece that describes a miserable man who, soon after failing at suicide, gets involved with two more women (who are, of course, up to no good.)
It may sound bleak, as explained here by Frank, but with lines like this, the song is quite loveable:
She really worked me over good
She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender…
That Waring blender line gets Frank every time.
And maybe it worked for Linda Ronstadt as well. Because two years later, here she comes. With so many of her hits covers of pop songs that would end up in the Great American Songbook (likely due to her covers), Linda was a master songstress who could hue close to the original (HEATWAVE) or create her unique take (TUMBLING DICE). For this, she revved up the song with a slightly harder and crisper sound.
In addition to switching the gender of our hero from male to female, she didn’t want to sing the third verse as it was originally written.
Warren’s original third verse went like this:
I met a girl at the Rainbow Bar
She asked me if I’d beat her
She took me back to the Hyatt House
I don’t want to talk about it, hey…”
Even though it was nearly a half-century ago, it easy to see why she wouldn’t want to talk about hitting women. So, Linda changed the lyrics:
Well, I met a boy in the Vieux Carres
Down in Yokohama
He picked me up and he threw me down
He said, “Please don’t hurt me, mama”
Listeners agreed.
Warren’s version, featuring vocal arrangements by Beach Boy Carl Wilson, never reached the charts.
But, Linda’s hard-rocking rendition of POOR, POOR PITIFUL ME peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100, #26 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #27 on Billboard’s Easy Listening list. It also landed at #46 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. All of this is pretty impressive for a song whose initial intent was to poke fun at Jackson Browne.
By the way, fast forward two decades, and in September of 1996, Terri Clark recorded her own slightly countrified version of POOR, POOR PITIFUL ME, using Linda Ronstadt’s lyrics. Terri’s version was the best-performing of all, shooting all the way to #5 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Did this song have any descendants?
Of course.
Frank would say most likely Olivia Newton-John’s A LITTLE MORE LOVE. In this 1978 hit, the experience of being romantically entangled with someone who's both irresistible and a snake turns our heroine into a pleading pile of need that seems intent on going back for more heartbreak. Desperate at times, and as if this mess were her fault, Olivia wonders if there's a way to curb the deceit. But be warned, this lacks the humor of Zevon:
Would a little more love make you start depending?
Would a little more love bring a happy ending?
Would a little more love make it right…
Another child of POOR, POOR PITIFUL ME is The Smiths’ PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE LET ME GET WHAT I WANT. First appearing on their 1984 compilation album, Hatful of Hollow, and clocking in at under two minutes, the ballad is a brief, poignant plea by one Steven Patrick Morrissey for a change of luck in life. Soaked with melancholy, Moz’s amazing voice, along with the strings-nuanced melody, give the song a gentle and silky smooth feel to his (tongue-in-cheek) desperation and disappointment.
Other Trivia
With fantastic production by Peter Asher, POOR POOR PITIFUL ME was the second track on the b-side of Simple Dreams, Ronstadt’s eighth studio record. The album features many Ronstadt regulars: Dan Dugmore and Waddy Wachtel (who also appears on the Warren original) on guitar, Kenny Edwards on bass, and Rick Marotta on drums.
One of the most successful albums of Ronstadt's career, Simple Dreams spent five continuous weeks at number one on the album chart in late 1977, replacing Fleetwood Mac's Rumours after it had held that position for a record-breaking 29 weeks. It also knocked Elvis Presley out of the number one position on the Billboard Country Albums chart after The King had held it for fifteen consecutive weeks following his death in August.
Simple Dreams was such a success that Ronstadt became the first female artist —and the first act overall since The Beatles— to have two singles in the top five at the same time: BLUE BAYOU (#3 Pop, #3 Adult contemporary, and #2 Country) and IT’S SO EASY (#5 Pop).
IT’S SO EASY was originally recorded by Buddy Holly in 1958 but had failed to chart. It was Ronstadt's second cover of a Holly song to become a hit in as many years; she had taken a rousing cover of THAT’LL BE THE DAY to #11 Pop in 1976, using a similar arrangement.
Bonus Material
Here’s Linda Ronstadt, in Atlanta, basically test-driving POOR POOR PITIFUL ME. This would be before she puts the song down on wax. Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by. And stay safe out there.
