"Mohammed's Radio" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

. The song was released on his 1976 album ''

''. The song was featured on '' A Quiet Normal Life: The Best of Warren Zevon'' and several other greatest hits-type albums by Zevon. Fleetwood Mac members

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

and Stevie Nicks are also featured on this recording, as are

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

, and

Waddy Wachtel Robert "Waddy" Wachtel (born May 24, 1947) is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work. Wachtel has worked as session musician for other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Kim Carnes, Randy ...

. By one telling, the title of the song was inspired by a Halloween parade Zevon witnessed in Aspen, Colorado in 1973. However, by another telling, Zevon simply liked the sound of the two words together.George Plaskeyes, ''Warren Zevon: Desperatiado'' of Los Angeles, p. 30. In any case, the song has multiple levels of meaning, starting with the redemptive power of rock music, but extending to notions of escapism, cultural mixing, mysticism, and whether rationalities exist below the surface level of society. It features some of Zevon's trademark mordant irony. By another interpretation it is a negative portrayal of life in Los Angeles. The song has been interpreted by other artists as well, most notably by

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

on her 1978 album ''

Living in the USA ''Living in the USA'' is the ninth studio album by American singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1978. The album was Ronstadt's third and final No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Release The album was originally released by Asylum in the L ...

'', a track that gained airplay on

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...

radio formats.

Critical response

Music critic

John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to '' Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ...

devotes pages to the song – both the Zevon original and the Ronstadt rendition – in his contribution to the

Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biography Marcus wa ...

-edited 1979 collection of essays ''Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island'', where among other things Rockwell describes it as "an artistic breakthrough" for Ronstadt.John Rockwell, "Living ing in the U.S.A.", in ''Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island'', ed. Greil Marcus (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979)
pp. 215-18
/ref> A number of other books have yielded significant commentary on the song such as ''Philosophy Americana: Making Philosophy at Home in American Culture'', ''Rolling Stone Interv - Rolling Stone Magazine'', All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul
Briefer references note that the song inspired an independent film in 1995 of the same title, and critic Dave Marsh put it near the top of a list of "best songs about radio".Dave Marsh and James Bernard, ''New Book of Rock Lists'', p. 164
/ref>

Personnel

– Vocals, piano * Stevie Nicks – Backing vocals *

– Guitar, backing vocals *

– Saxophone *

– Bass guitar *

– Guitar * David Lindley – Lap steel guitar * Larry Zack – Drums, percussion

Technical

* Jackson Browne - Producer *

Ken Caillat Kenneth Douglas Caillat ( ) is an American record producer. He is best known for engineering the Fleetwood Mac albums '' Rumours'', ''Tusk'', ''Mirage'', ''Live'', and '' The Chain Box Set''. Life and career Caillat was the president of 5.1 Ent ...

- Engineer

References

{{authority control Warren Zevon songs Songs written by Warren Zevon 1976 songs Linda Ronstadt songs Songs about radio