“Excitable Boy” by Warren Zevon

"Excitable Boy" is the title track of Warren Zevon's third album, which Asylum released in January 1978, and some critics heard it, like its album mate "Werewolves of London", as a shot of macabre humor. Zevon wrote it with LeRoy P. Marinell and sits at the piano, with Waddy Wachtel on guitar, Bob Glaub on bass, Russ Kunkel on drums and Jim Horn on saxophone, while Linda Ronstadt and Jennifer Warnes join Wachtel on backing vocals.

Jackson Browne and Wachtel produced it, with Dennis Kirk and Greg Ladanyi engineering. The album it named is the one that got Zevon noticed by the wider record-buying public, and it is still the best seller of his career.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.