Customer Reviews

Never Slow Down Never Grow Old

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I seem to be the only reviewer who isn't a fan of Peter Gammons, the sportswriter, so he isn't getting a "bonus" star from me. But, it's still a good CD. I can understand why other people equate his voice to Randy Newman, I thought Warren Zevon myself, although that might be too easy since the CD opens with a Zevon composition.

The biggest drawback is that it's a little uneven - two of the strongest tracks being the first two - Model Citizen & the self-penned "She Fell From Heaven", making it easy to get hooked early on. Then, it goes downhill a little until Tanqueray picks it back up. Basically, several great individual tracks, but the complete package doesn't make it for me.

I ordered this because I'm a huge fan of Peter Gammons, the sportswriter. Now, I am a fan of Peter Gammons, aging rocker.

I started listening to the disc with pretty low expectations, and when I say "pretty low," I mean "William Shatner-type bad." However, it only took a few bars of the first track for my expectations to be blown out of the water, and two songs for me to be hooked on the album.

I can't say that Gammons has a classically good voice, but he can carry a tune with a vocal style that's reminiscent of Randy Newman. His guitar playing, while not setting the world on fire, is certainly above average. His song choices are both eclectic and surprising, proving that he knows almost as much about old-school rock and roll as he does about baseball, which is a frightening amount.

I would generally give the album 3 stars because as a general rock and roll/blues album, it's straight-forward with solid, competent performances. However, the fact that it's Peter Gammons behind the mic and with a guitar in his hand is enough for me to give the album a bonus fourth star, for blowing my expectations out of the water.

I recommend it highly, not just for fans of Gammons' writing, but for fans of solid, good-time rock and roll everywhere. Here's hoping that it's not the last time we hear Peter put down the pencil and pick up the guitar...

This was an odd purchase, but not that odd. I'm a big baseball fan, and as such, you know all the national writers for the sport. One of the longest serving, and generally most respected is Peter Gammons. Gammons is most known for being a former Red Sox writer, and then ESPN guy. Well, in the 2006 offseason, Peter recorded this album. He apparently can play a guitar pretty well, and can sing well enough that he doesn't embarass himself.

He had a brain aneurysm in July of the 06 season, after this was recorded, but before it was released. So when it first came out, I wasn't thinking of buying it. But after he returned, the album was mentioned again, so I decided to look it up. Buying this album also makes a donation to a charity. It's got a bunch of baseball folks making backup vocal contributions. Some are people you wouldn't think would be on a record (NESN broadcaster Don Orsillo, several Red Sox players, etc). But there are people like George Thorogood (who has a similar feel to some of the tunes on this record), so it's not a complete baseball goof.

I don't think I was expecting something quite as bad as William Shatner's recordings, but I wasn't expecting much - I really figured it was a not so serious record. I was surprised by what I got - it was quite good. I can't sit here and tell you it's going to be the greatest thing you'll ever listen to, but it was a rather nice trip into the land of the Blues. If you're a baseball fan, and like the Blues, you might want to give it a try.

i love the sports work over the years peter has done and now the guitar? wow is all i can say.

I got this album almost as a joke because it was cheap and I wondered what a baseball icon was doing singing. Boy, was a surprised. Gammons has a soulful voice and the songs are catchy. Good, solid album for relaxing on a saturday afternoon or as background to a get together.

I bought this out of simple curiosity, as i have been a long time fan of Gammons since I was a kid going back to his days at Sports Illustrated in the 80's. I am shocked - Shocked! - at home good this disc is. "Cinderella Superstar" with Juliana Hatfield is great and the Zevon cover to kick off the record was a fine choice. I was dissapointed he fudged the lyrics on "Death Or Glory", as "He who sings punk later goes to church" doesn't quite capture the moment quite like the Strummer original. Anyhow, here's hoping Gammons' recovery goes well so he can belt these out live.

When I saw that my favorite (baseball) sportwriter/commentator/historian/etc. had released an album, I had mixed feelings about getting it: after all, excelling in one field doesn't guarantee excelling, or even measuring up to mediocre, in another. However, I got the CD and liked it very much. Gammons and his crew of baseball personalities, along with some serious musical help (i.e., George Thorogood on one track) do a fine job in their covers of a wide range of songs, from Warren Zevon's "Model Citizen" to a few Chuck Berry classics, and include an original composition by Gammons. Peter's singing voice has a strong hint of Randy Newman in several of the songs, interestingly enough. No less interesting is the liner notes, which give us some insight as to why these songs were chosen - I like to think that a good, serious musician chooses the songs that they put on their $15 CD rather carefully for us consumers, rather than picking 12 or 17 songs at random and singing them as if they were coming off the assembly line. Needless to say, we are able to share Gammons' thoughts on each of the songs, special to him, and a treat in a CD for us.

Peter hits a home run with his CD. My favorite song is the one he wrote, "She Fell From Heaven".

My kids like "Bad Teeth" and "Wake Me, Shake Me".

It's a CD you'll listen to over and and over again.

"The Commissioner" not only knows baseball, but music as well.

Who knew? Our favorite baseball analyst rocks! We really liked the bluesy "Tanqueray."

Get well soon! Your colleagues miss you.