Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon

Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon
Greatest hits album by Warren Zevon
Released	October 2002
Recorded	1975–2002
Genre	Rock
Length	78:20
Label	Rhino
Producer	Gary Peterson Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon chronology
My Ride's Here (2002) Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon (2002) The First Sessions (2003)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	A
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide

Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon is a compilation album by American musician Warren Zevon, released in 2002.

Reception

Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "Although there was the double-disc set I'll Sleep When I'm Dead and a 1986 hits collection, there was no set produced during the CD era that chronicled not just [Zevon's] heyday, but his late-1980s comeback while cherrypicking highlights from the 1990s. This does exactly that over the course of a generous, sharply selected 22 tracks. Given the space, it's inevitable that some great songs are missing."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Warren Zevon

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Origin	Length
1.	"Poor Poor Pitiful Me"		Warren Zevon, 1976	3:05
2.	"The French Inhaler"		Warren Zevon	3:46
3.	"Carmelita"		Warren Zevon	3:34
4.	"Hasten Down the Wind"		Warren Zevon	2:59
5.	"Werewolves of London"	LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, Zevon	Excitable Boy, 1978	3:26
6.	"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"	David Lindell, Zevon	Excitable Boy	3:44
7.	"Excitable Boy"	Marinell, Zevon	Excitable Boy	2:39
8.	"Lawyers, Guns and Money"		Excitable Boy	3:30
9.	"Interlude No.1/Play It All Night Long"		Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School, 1980	3:17
10.	"A Certain Girl"	Allen Toussaint	Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School	3:06
11.	"Looking for the Next Best Thing"	Kenny Edwards, Marinell, Zevon	The Envoy, 1982	3:37
12.	"Detox Mansion"	Jorge Calderón, Zevon	Sentimental Hygiene, 1987	3:13
13.	"Reconsider Me" (Single Version)		Sentimental Hygiene	3:26
14.	"Boom Boom Mancini"		Sentimental Hygiene	4:48
15.	"Splendid Isolation"		Transverse City, 1989	4:28
16.	"Raspberry Beret" (Hindu Love Gods)	Prince	Hindu Love Gods, 1990	3:53
17.	"Searching for a Heart"		Mr. Bad Example, 1991	4:16
18.	"Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead"	Marinell, Wachtel, Zevon	Mr. Bad Example	2:52
19.	"Mr. Bad Example"	Calderón, Zevon	Mr. Bad Example	3:21
20.	"Mutineer"		Mutineer, 1995	3:16
21.	"I Was in the House When the House Burned Down"		Life'll Kill Ya, 2000	3:03
22.	"Genius"	Larry Klein, Zevon	My Ride's Here, 2002	5:01

Personnel

• Warren Zevon – synthesizer, harmonica, piano, keyboards, electric piano, vocals, synthesizer strings
• Bill Berry – drums
• Charlie Bisharat – violin
• Roy Bittan – piano
• Jackson Browne – harmony vocals
• Peter Buck – guitar
• Lindsey Buckingham – harmony vocals
• Linda Ronstadt – harmony vocals
• Rosemary Butler – harmony vocals
• Jorge Calderón – bass guitar, guitar, harmony vocals
• Mike Campbell – guitar
• Larry Corbett – cello
• Joel Derouin – violin
• Kenny Edwards – harmony vocals
• Don Felder – guitar
• Anton Fig – drums
• Mick Fleetwood – drums
• Glenn Frey – rhythm guitar, harmony vocals
• Bob Glaub – bass
• Richard Hayward – drums
• Don Henley – harmony vocals
• Jim Horn – saxophone
• Jim Keltner – drums
• Bobby Keyes – saxophone
• Larry Klein – bass
• Craig Krampf – drums
• Russ Kunkel – drums
• Kipp Lennon – harmony vocals
• Mark Lennon – harmony vocals
• Michael Lennon – harmony vocals
• David Lindley – fiddle, guitar, slide guitar, lap steel guitar
• Rick Marotta – drums, harmony vocals
• John McVie – bass
• Mike Mills – bass
• Graham Nash – harmony vocals
• Jeff Porcaro – drums
• The Sid Sharp Strings – strings
• Leland Sklar – bass
• JD Souther – harmony vocals
• Benmont Tench – organ
• Waddy Wachtel – guitar, harmony vocals, 12 string acoustic guitar
• Jennifer Warnes – harmony vocals
• Winston Watson – drums
• Evan Wilson – viola
• Jai Winding – piano
• Neil Young – harmony vocals
• Larry Zack – drums
• Jordan Zevon – harmony vocals

Technical

• Warren Zevon – compilation producer, producer, mixing, string arrangements, art direction, phtogoraphy
• Gary Peterson – compilation producer
• Duncan Aldrich – producer, engineer, mixing
• Niko Bolas – producer, engineer
• Jackson Browne – producer
• Paul Q. Kolderie – producer, engineer
• Greg Ladanyi – producer, engineer, mixing
• Sean Slade – producer, engineer
• Andrew Slater – producer
• Waddy Wachtel – producer
• Richard Bosworth – engineer
• Matt Chiaravasll – engineer
• John Cutler – engineer
• Michael Delugg – engineer
• Marc DeSisto – engineer
• John Haeny – engineer
• Andy Jackson – engineer
• Rob Jacobs – engineer, mixing
• Dennis Kirk – engineer, mixing
• Richard Landers – engineer
• Michael McDonald – engineer
• Tim Mulligan – engineer
• Kent Nebergall – engineer
• Jim Nipar – engineer
• Fritz Richmond – engineer
• Rail Jon Rogut – engineer
• Will Schillinger – engineer
• Noah Scot Snyder – engineer, mixing
• Bob Vogt – engineer
• Rob Jaczko – mixing
• John Beverly Jones – mixing
• Shelly Yakus – mixing
• Teresa Caffin – remastering
• Bill Inglot – remastering
• Mike Engstrom – product manager
• Randy Perry – project assistant
• Hugh Brown – art direction and design, photography
• Bryan Lasley – design
• John Austin – licensing
• Cory Frye – editorial supervision
• Tim Scanlin – liner notes coordination
• William Lee Self – liner notes

Charts

Chart (2003)	Position
US Billboard 200	168
US Top Internet Albums	168