SPORTS SONGS AND BEYOND
PHIL COLEY
The team of Joe Pickering Jr. and Phil Coley that brought us
Baseball Songs Sports Heroes is back, this time with a new compilation entitled
Sports Songs and Beyond. Mr. Pickering's
song writing talents and the musical talent of Phil Coley may just have another
hit on their hands.
While their first album dealt mainly with baseball this CD goes beyond baseball and sports for that matter. The CD consists of 24 tracks and only ten deal with the national pastime. Joe Pickering Jr. is as big a Red Sox fan as I am a Yankee fan so naturally he uses the album to celebrate the Red Sox 2004 triumph. He does so in fine fashion with the two opening tracks. Joe uses his wit, knowledge and love for the Sawks in the first two tracks, Hell Freezes Over! And Wait ‘Till Next Year (a slogan once copyrighted by the Brooklyn Dodgers, another Yankees foe). Hell Freezes Over! The author celebrates the end of the 86-year skid and the end the end of the Curse of the Bambino and the start of a new life for the Red Sox fan.
Wait Till Next Year on the other hand ponders how the Red Sox Nation will cope now that the Red Sox are a winning team. Lyrically clever I really love the sound of the guitar on this song as it has a slight jazz, hollow body flair to it. Of course he takes a shot at the Yankees (doesn't everyone). To some it up the song brings out “there is nothing worse that winning in the fall”, and that the RSN will have a hard time living with success.
Say It Ain’t So Baseball pays homage to White Sox alleged bad boy legend Joe Jackson ala Jimmy Buffet. The calypso(ish) number pleads with baseball to put Joe in the Hall of Fame.
Jackie Mitchell was a 17-year-old female pitcher on a Tennessee Baseball team that who struck out some very famous baseball legends. Like any good country tune Who's The Best Female Pitcher? tells the story perfectly while entertaining the listener. It made me want to go out and find out more about this female phenom.
If you ever lost a loved one this next song will be very emotional for you. The ballad “This Is Your Season To Remember” is simply a tribute to Joe’s late mom, also a big Red Sox fan. A noble tribute it is.
I could go and on and on and praise his baseball and sports music and deservingly so as Pickering puts on the shoes of fans from every and all sports. I just love the way he can put himself of the heads of any teams fan. When you listen to his witty lyrics you can’t help to see (or hear) a bit of yourself in them. Besides telling you about all the “curses” in the sports world. He made laugh out loud by attacking a curse of the entire state of Pennsylvania in The Curse of Billy Penn.
The author does pay tribute to baseballs ultimate bad boy in They Called Him Charlie Hustle as he runs the gambit in The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. And don’t forget my favorite track The Curse of The Bambino is Back. I am just wondering if the Babe has cursed the Yankees as well now. Check out the lyrics:
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO IS BACK!
CHORUS
SOME BELIEVE THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO’S THROUGH
THE SOCKS IN THE SOX WILL TURN BLACK AND BLUE
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO IS BACK ON THE ATTACK
THE BABE AND YANKS WILL HANG THE SOX ON THE RACK
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO IS BACK!
WILL THE BABE APPEAR AT OUR SEANCE TONIGHT?
THIS WAS OUR WISH AS WE HELD OUR HANDS TIGHT
IN A MOMENT THE BABE’S GHOSTLY FORM CAME
THE BABE HAD THE LOOK OF A CHILD IN SHAME
HIS VOICE CHOKED AND WE FELT HE WOULD CRY
HE GATHERED HIMSELF AND SAID WITH A SIGH
I DIDN’T GO TO THE GAMES AT THE HOUSE I BUILT
MY DEAR YANKEE FANS I FEEL A GREAT GUILT
REPEAT CHORUS
I LAUGHED WHEN THE YANKEES WENT THREE UP
CELEBRATING EARLY I TOOK MORE THAN A CUP
SURE THE SOX CAME BACK TO WIN THE NEXT TWO
BUT LOSING BIG IS WHAT THE SOX ALWAYS DO
I WEAVED OVER TO THE SOX DUGOUT FOR A LARK
I SNOOZED OFF THEN WOKE SMILING IN THE DARK
WHY NOT LIFT THE CURSE AND SEE WHAT THEY DO
I NEVER BELIEVED MY YANKS WOULD LOSE TWO!
I FELT PITY FOR THE SOX WHAT A MISTAKE
I GAVE THAT BAND OF IDIOTS A BIG BREAK!
IT’S PAINFUL TO SEE ALL THE TEARS IN YOUR EYES
I PROMISE TO BRING YOU BASEBALL’S BIGGEST PRIZE!
Repeat chorus two times and fade.
Joe Pickering Jr. Songwriter King of the Road Music BMI publisher and copyright owner © 2005
As far as the Beyond part goes there are some good old fashion middle of the road country tunes, what I mean by middle of the road is that they can be cross played in other formats, about anything from rodeo to Christmas. As a big collector of Christmas music they finale of tunes are worth the price of admission on their own.
What is next from the magic of Joe Pickering Jr. and Phil Coley? I don’t know, but if it's like the first two albums it has to be fun and entertaining. This CD is a must for all fans of baseball, sports and music and would deserving earn a spot in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.