"Carmelita" is a country rock song written by

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 originally recorded by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer

Murray McLauchlan Murray Edward McLauchlan, (born 30 June 1948) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player. He is best known for his Canadian hits "Farmer's Song," "Whispering Rain," and "Down by the Henry Moore". Early life Mc ...

on his self-titled album of 1972. Zevon himself recorded it four years later, in 1976, on his self titled album.

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 ...

recorded a well known version in 1977, and various covers have followed. These include a folk version by punk rocker

GG Allin Kevin Michael "GG" Allin (born Jesus Christ Allin; August 29, 1956 – June 28, 1993) was an American punk rock musician who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. Allin was best known for his controversial live performances ...

- a version rumored to feature Linda Ronstadt herself (under the soubriquet 'The Razor') on backing vocals - and a later rendition by the folk-punk group Lost Dog Street Band.

Flaco Jimenez José María Avizanda Glaría (born 24 May 1966), better known as Flaco, is a Spanish football coach and former player. He won the Norwegian Football Cup with Molde in 1994. Flaco has played for Rayo Vallecano from 1986 to 1990, where he was a t ...

( Texas Tornados,

Los Super Seven Los Super Seven is an American supergroup which debuted in 1998. According to Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "Los Super Seven isn't a band, per se – it's a collective, organized by manager Dan Goodman, who comes up with a concept for each ...

) recorded a version featuring

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and film director. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerabl ...

for his 1992 album Partners. More recently, it’s been recorded by punk bands The Copyrights and FIDLAR.

Izaak Opatz version

Izaak Opatz Izak is a given name. Izak may also refer to: * Izak catshark, a type of cat shark * Izak, a character in Suikoden IV * Piotr "Izak" Skowyrski, Polish esports commentator and streamer * Vian Izak, American singer/songwriter, producer, and audio ...

covered the song on his EP ''Mariachi Static B-Sides''. It was released July 13, 2018. After releasing his debut album

Mariachi Static Jasbinder Singh "Jas" Mann (Punjabi: ਜਸਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਮੱਨ, born 24 April 1971) is a British songwriter, musician, singer, record producer and film producer. He was lead singer of Babylon Zoo, known for their 1996 UK chart ...

in 2016, Opatz released a follow-up EP in July 2018. The album, Mariachi Static, got its title from a lyric in Zevon's Carmelita, and opens with, “I hear mariachi static on my radio, and the tubes they glow in the dark, and I’m there with her in Ensenada, and I’m here in

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known f ...

.” Opatz recorded his own take on “Carmelita,” which also appeared on Zevon’s 1976 self titled album. Opatz pays homage to the laid-back longing of the track, but adds a little rock and plenty of grit, bookending verses with crunchy guitar and employing a bare-bones production style that gives the listener the sense of being in the room as the band plays.

References

{{authority control 1976 songs Warren Zevon songs Linda Ronstadt songs Songs about California Songs about Los Angeles Songs about heroin Counting Crows songs The Wildhearts songs Songs written by Warren Zevon