Warren Zevon’s recorded output prior to the acclaimed 1980 live album Stand In The Fire found him to be an excellent songwriter, a fine singer and a masterful selector of sympathetic musicians who could (and did) place his songs in the best possible settings. What those records did not do was let the listener in on the fact that Zevon could rock out, if he were so inclined. Put together from a five-day residency at the Roxy Theater in West Hollywood, Stand In The Fire proved without a doubt that Zevon could hold his own and then some in this environment.

Full of vim and elation, the band pours out the significant, biting verses with fire (“Jeannie Needs A Shooter”) and fuels the emotional inferno with high-speed bursts of rock (“Excitable Boy”). Zevon confirms his skills as a singer and songwriter in the ballad-like yet powerful “Mohammed’s Radio.” In a direct comparison to this number we have the forthright, no-nonsense hit “Werewolves Of London” with its close harmonies. Just how Zevon manages to succeed in getting his delicate voice and lyrics over to the public is shown in the powerful mix of heavy and honky-tonk (“I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”) and finally in the thunderous final number – “Bo Didley’s A Gunslinger” – with its percussive and metrically complicated antiphony.

Out of print on vinyl in the US since the 80s, Run Out Groove reissues Stand in the Fire: Recorded Live at the Roxy as a deluxe edition 180g 2LP set expanded with 4 tracks previously unavailable on vinyl and 6 tracks that are previously unreleased in any format. Remastered for vinyl with lacquers cut on the old Ardent Studio lathe at Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis. Deluxe tip-on style gatefold jacket packaging with previously unseen photos and an insert.