When Terri Clark and Lainey Wilson took on Linda Ronstadt’s iconic hit “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” live, the energy was off the charts! The Warren Zevon-penned tune is a real corker, and the girls had so much fun with it, making the most of the sardonic lyrics while getting the whole stadium jumping. Clark opened the tune while rocking an acoustic guitar, and then when she sang the hook with Wilson, the chemistry was undeniable!
Wilson then got the chance to shine with a sassy second verse, and then it was time for another stadium-wide sing-along on that undeniable hook. In addition to all the gorgeous vocal harmonies, The Music Man has to give it up to the band, who cut a rollicking groove on the 1976 hit. The slide guitarist in particular was just on fire, living up to Waddy Wachtel’s searing licks on Zevon’s original recording.
Clark uploaded her duet with Wilson on June 26, 2024, and it has since hit 1.8 million views. Fans were digging seeing the two stars from different generations team up on the tune, and added comments such as “The ‘90s was the BEST country music era by far! Glad the younger generation is getting to see Terri Clark… She had a bunch of hits.” and “Lainey always sounds good, but you can’t deny Terri sounds #1 on this tune. The harmonies are crazy between these girls too. Great job!”
One of the best live cuts of “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” comes from Warren Zevon’s October 1, 1982, performance in Passaic, New Jersey. The late great Zevon was in fighting form that night, and his band from the ‘82 tour were totally firing on all cylinders. In addition to having one of the most distinctive voices in the business, Zevon is also a killer piano player, and he always brought the goods live!
Zevon wrote “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and released it on May 18, 1976, as the fifth track on his self-titled second studio album. The Music Man readers might be interested to hear that this version included Fleetwood Mac frontman Lindsey Buckingham on backing vocals.
“Poor Poor Pitiful Me” was produced by Zevon’s frequent collaborator Jackson Browne, who subsequently recorded his own version of the song, leaning into the country elements of the tune.
The best-known version of “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” is Linda Ronstadt’s 1977 recording. With the approval of Zevon, she completely rewrote the third verse and swapped the gender of the protagonist. Ronstadt’s version peaked at 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. Terri Clark also recorded the song for a 1996 release, and her version topped the Canada Country Tracks chart.