C90:Songs that are either about Baseball or mention Baseball

The B'z, "Real Thing Shakes" -- real good faux AC/DC from Japan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz0HgSvc_t0

Now available in the United States on the otherwise not especially rocking Daisuke Matsuzaka: Music Of The Mound eight-song mini-LP, compiled by EMI Music Special Products and put out via the Red Sox Foundation and the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. I'm not making this up. There is also a song called "Gyro Ball" that does not list the artist, and a sort of bubblegum Japanese folk-pop thing called "My Way" by Def Tech that also has a video up on youtube and which quotes "Give It Away" by the Chili Peppers. Plus contributions by Ugly Duckling and Ak'sent featuring Beenie Man, plus LL Cool J's great "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and Duran Duran's pretty good (one of my favorite songs by them actually) "The Wild Boys." Not being a Red Sox fan, I don't understand this thing at all -- do these songs all get played at the game, when Matsuzaka comes to the mound or something? I wonder if they ever put out an EP decicated to Luis Tiant's hesitation pitch. I do know that Warren Zevon had a song about Bill Lee once. Anyway, whatver. "Real Thing Shakes" is pretty rocking, if you ask me.

Not his best moment, but Gene Clark's "Home Run King" from Two Sides to Every Story.

posted on chitlin circuit soul thread earlier this year:

Also listening tonight to 2004 chitlin-circuit cdbaby soul (as in: everything from blues to disco to absolutely unabasedly schmoove-jazzed schmaltz) by Bobby Wayne; "This House is Haunted" sounds the best so far, but "Homestead Greys" (despite sounding curiously singer-songwriterly) rules by virtue of being the most blatant Negro League tribute I've ever heard:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/bobbywayne

Bob Dylan--Catfish

Diamond Cuts - Grand Slam" Vol. IV. Another musically diverse compilation, featuring 20 songs, brought to you by the non-profit group Hungry for Music. This 4th volume hits a grand slam, with songs about Bill Veeck, Mark McGwire, Denny McLain, Fred Merkle, Max Patkin, Earl Weaver, Christy Mathewson, Jack Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, reflections on little league, baseball as a metaphor for a broken relationship, bleacher bums and more!

There's a whole bunch of Diamond Cuts cds (with profits going to causes like buying music instruments for schools and stuff) available as well as other baseball related ones here:

http://www.cooperstownmusic.com/songs.htm

Kramer - The Greenberg Variations

Henry Wong - The Ballad of Gaylord Perry

In Wu-Tang Clan's "Clan in da Front," GZA makes a great baseball analogy in the last verse.

wtf @ the dice-K EP!

I'm guessing EMI Special Products (the Dice-K label) is one of the major label subdivisions that creates made-to-order limited edition comps, all of in-house artists, handling the packaging, licensing, etc. I think these things are usually made for conventions, little generic themed CDs to put in gift bags in the conventioneers' hotel rooms when they check in.

The Fiery Furnaces - 1917

Crooklyn - Crooklyn Dodgers

Earth Opera - "The Red Sox Are Winning"

Steve Goodman, "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request"

Skeletons, "That'll Work" (my girl likes to watch them cubs/knows every player and what each one does)

Steve Goodman also has Go Cubs Go and a version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame

"The Ball Game," by Sister Winona Carr
"The Carl Yastrzemski Song," by Jess Cain
"Joltin' Joe DiMaggio," by Les Brown & His Orchestra
"Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song)," by The Treniers
"Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?" by Count Basie & His Orchestra

Hold Steady - "How a Resurrection Really Feels"

and the Saint Paul Saints they waved me through

not especially rocking Daisuke Matsuzaka: Music Of The Mound eight-song mini-LP, compiled by EMI Music Special Products and put out via the Red Sox Foundation and the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. I'm not making this up.

i'll assume it's better than the peter gammons LP that features gammons along with bronson arroyo, jonathan papelbon, kevin youkilis and, of course, juliana hatfield.

I do know that Warren Zevon had a song about Bill Lee once

and there's the willard grant conspiracy's "eephus pitch" (which was mentioned somewhere upthread)

I didn't buy it, but I found this classical album in the used bin this weekend that fetured narration by the late Willie "Pops" Stargell

someone find this pls

Why narrate a symphony?

The dean believes that narrated works of classical music draw new audiences to the concert hall and fulfill a "need in the United States and beyond for American art that tells our story to ourselves and to the people around the world who both admire and despise us." A pianist by training, he had experimented successfully with a narrated symphony in the early 1980s, when he commissioned an orchestral work to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and talked Willie Stargell, then the Pittsburgh Pirates' first baseman, into narrating it.

Speaking of which, isn't there also some kind of Roberto Clemente LP for the benefit of Nicaraguan earthquake victims? Though I'm not sure if he sings on it, or talks on it, or just has his picture on the cover, or what.

Nah, looks like it was issued by the Pirates after he died:

http://www.goantiques.com/detail,roberto-clemente-memorial,745362.html?source=VYZ4474

And here's a later CD in memory of him:

http://www.amazon.com/Roberto-Clemente-Tributo-Musical-Tribute/dp/B000007SGB

Wish I had this one, too:

http://shop.vendio.com/oldfuzz/item/570616664/?s=1186308002

Lidell Townsell (Chicago house guy crossing over to Chubb Rock-style rap) -- "The Dugout" (1992)

Also, this all-baseball-song album feat. Peter Buck and Steve Wynn (which I wrote about at the link below) came out this year:

http://blog.rhapsody.com/2008/10/i-think-about-b.html

Barbara Manning... homage to Dock Ellis

RIP, btw. (Dock, not Barbara).

Via email, today:

The Baseball Project - Broadside Ballads

Having firmly established the previously unknown and unlikely marriage of Rock and Roll and baseball, the indie-rock supergroup known as The Baseball Project are now set to wed topical folk rock with sports journalism. In partnership with ESPN.COM, we now present to you Broadside Ballads, big league style: Phil Ochs steps up to the plate while Blind Boy Grunt twirls bats impatiently on deck. Ring Lardner pounds his typewriter keys, and Peter Gammons plugs in his Strat. Yes, it looks like Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, Peter Buck and Linda Pitmon will become a free-swinging musical blogging band this year when they release a series of download singles throughout the 2010 season. The band will be providing tuneful commentary on baseball events big and small, recording them in magical bi-coastal fashion (Linda and Steve in New York City, Scott and Peter in Portland and Seattle, respectively) and putting them up online while the ink is still wet. Best of all, the songs will be absolutely free, just a way for the band to thank fans for the overwhelming support of their debut album “Volume One: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails” while working on the Volume Two, due early in 2011.

The first track to be released is an optimistic, buoyant number called “All Future and No Past.” Says Scott: "I'd been reading all the pre-season reports and realizing that this is the time of year when every team has high hopes, no matter how unrealistic. Then I stumbled upon a saying from the great Indians player/manager Lou Boudreau: 'On opening day, the world is all future and no past'. And for me that really sums up the beautiful feeling that comes with spring training each year." The song was written, recorded and mixed in Portland and New York City, all in the space of about a week, setting a template for regular dispatches throughout the season.

And when will the next song come down the pike? Well, keep your eyes on ESPN.com’s ‘The Life’ section and YepRoc.com. When something glorious, stupid, heroic or hilarious happens in the baseball world this year it's very likely you'll be hearing more about it from The Baseball Project. Sportswriting has rarely sounded so good.

is that Baseball Project album any good? Sounds like they're having fun doing it, but I dunno if that makes it worth my time.

I actually thought some (not all) of the album was pretty good. Here's what I wrote about it, when it came out two years ago:

http://blog.rhapsody.com/2008/10/i-think-about-baseball-ill-swing-all-night.html

Big Dipper's "Lou Gehrig's Disease" is a pretty great song...connection to baseball slightly tenuous, but oh well...

natural resource - negro league baseball

ultramagnetic mc's - saga of dandy, the devil & day

Jerry Jeff Walker - "Nolan Ryan"

The Baseball Project - Broadside Ballads is free for download at their website:

http://thebaseballproject.bandcamp.com/

It's Lima Time!

"Say Hello" by Heart, on Little Queen (the album with "Barracuda" also on it) -- you can actually hear a presumably sandlot baseball going on mixed in at the beginning of the song, with somebody yelling out "batter up!," etc.

for morbs - "god bless america" bhy kate smith

by*

Liking a lot on this new album, especially the Fidrych and Conigliaro songs and the one Craig Finn sings about the Twins:

The Baseball Project (Members of R.E.M., The Minus 5, The Miracle 3) Make Follow-Up Baseball Rock Album Bring Along Craig Finn of The Hold Steady & Other Friends
Volume 2: High and Inside Due Out 3/1/11
Haw River, NC (January 6, 2011) – The Baseball Project returns with Volume 2: High and Inside, its second album of baseball-themed rock n’ roll on March 1st via Yep Roc.
Following the success of the outfit’s first album Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails – the band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, was featured in the official World Series Program and Sports Illustrated among others – baseball’s sardonic rock chroniclers are back with an even more detailed look at the stories behind the stories of America ’s Favorite Pastime.
Baseball fans may have already heard select tracks from the album during the 2010 playoffs. “Don’t Call Them Twinkies,” with lyrics & vocals by Craig Finn of The Hold Steady and music by Steve Wynn, made the internet rounds and rocked Target Field during the Twins’ ill-fated run, becoming the unofficial battle cry of the team’s playoff hopes. The McCaughey-penned “Panda & the Freak” accompanied the S.F. Giants’ more successful bid, following the team all the way to its World Series win. But Craig Finn isn’t the only rock royal (and baseball geek) to grace the tapes of Volume 2. The album also features guest appearances by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan, Chris Funk and John Moen of The Decemberists as well as longtime friend and musical collaborator Robert Lloyd.
While legends of the game like Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson ("The Straw That Stirs The Drink") and Roger Clemens ("Twilight of My Career") certainly get their due,Volume 2 finds band members Steve Wynn (Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3, The Dream Syndicate, Gutterball, Danny & Dusty), Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M.), Linda Pitmon (The Miracle 3, Golden Smog) and Peter Buck (R.E.M.) drilling down even deeper into the Byzantine, lore-laden annals of baseball history. On their sophomore effort the band examines growing older via fallen phenom Mark Fidrych (“1976”), details a tragedy of near-Greek proportion (“Tony”) and exposes the real story behind an infamous play (“Buckner’s Bolero”) – all while laying down riffs that stand alongside anything they’ve done in their myriad other projects.
The Baseball Project will devote much of 2011 to touring in support of this new release, beginning with a run of Cactus League appearances in Arizona during Spring Training and multiple shows during this year's SxSW Music Conference in March. Check www.yeproc.com for dates.

Volume 2: High and Inside tracklist:
1. 1976
2. Panda and The Freak
3. Fair Weather Fans
4. Don't Call Them Twinkies
5. Chin Music
6. Buckner's Bolero
7. Tony ( Boston 's Chosen Son)
8. Ichiro Goes to the Moon
9. The Straw that Stirs the Drink
10. Look Out Mom
11. Pete Rose Way
12. Twilight of My Career
13. Here Lies Carl Mays

"America's Favorite Pastime," by Todd Snider, another one about Dock Ellis
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/sports/baseball/05nohitter.html

German techno fiends Hardfloor did a whole baseball themed album. Think it was called Nolan Ryan.....

The Baseball Project is playing at the Hoboken Street Fair.

NY Times piece on ex-baseball player Bernie Williams's book Rhythms Of The Game: The Link Between Musical And Athletic Performance, "a grab bag of inspiration, self-help, history and anecdotes that focus on the kinship of baseball and music."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/arts/music/baseball-players-who-play-music-too.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=danieljwakin&adxnnlx=1309118915-/HBtW02XO+DM1DRCx6vx7w

Williams played jazz fusion or soft r'n'b, right?

I wouldn't have known the answer to that before, but the piece says "Mr. Williams, a thoughtful craftsman who speaks casually of Dorian modes and flatted seventh chords, plays in the genre of smooth or Latin jazz."

Bill Slayback - Move Over Babe (Here Comes Henry) (co-written by Ernie Harwell)
Buddy Johnson - Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?
Cal Tjader - Viva Cepeda
Chance Halladay - Home Run
Chip Monk - Mickey Mantle Rookie Card
Chuck Brodsky - Lefty
Cowboy Copas - Three Strikes and You're Out
Dan Bern - Johnny Sylvester Comes Back to Visit the Babe
Dana Cooke - Christmas Down in Cooperstown
Danny Kaye - D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh, Really? No, O'Malley)
Darryl Strawberry - Chocolate Strawberry
David Thomas Roberts - Roberto Clemente
Doc & Merle Watson - Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Dropkick Murphys - Tessie
Fall Out Boy - Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet
Garland Jeffreys - Color Line
Hoodoo Gurus - Where's That Hit?
Johnny Darling - Baseball Baby
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers - The Fenway
Kid Rock - Paid ('Hitting home runs like Rusty Staub')
Kuff & the Buttheads - The Ballad of Xavier Nady
Ladyhawk - The Dugout
Mabel Scott - Baseball Boogie
Marah - Rain Delay
Matt & Kim - Light Speed
Teresa Brewer - I Love Mickey
Miles Davis - Two Bass Hit
Nils Lofgren - Yankee Stadium
Ruth Brown - Baseball Boogie
Ry Cooder - 3rd Base, Dodger Stadium
Sam Bush - The Wizard of Oz
Skip Battin - The St. Louis Browns
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Cardinal Rules (about the Double-A Springfield Cardinals)
Sonny Rollins - Newk's Fadeaway
Steve Key - Shoeless Joe Jackson
Stormy Weather - The Land of Wrigley
Teddy Brannon Orchestra - Don Newcombe Really Throws That Ball
The Karl Hendricks Trio - Baseball Cards
The Nightmares - Baseball Altamont
The Swingtips - Let's Play Some Ball!
The Tinklers - Hank Greenbeerg and Jackie Robinson
The Tinklers - Little League

ILX POSTER Z S - Tom Pagnozzi

Nobody mentioned The Leaving Trains' 'Warning Track'.

Whatever happened to the Leaving Trains and their singer/songwriter Falling James Moreland?

I wonder if this site is up to date-
http://www.theleavingtrains.com/merch.html