LP #1 Daryl Hall & John Oates – Abandoned Luncheonette (1973)

There have been quite a few performers with long and successful careers who nevertheless never topped their debut albums – Marshall Crenshaw, Graham Parker, John Prine, and Sade come to mind. Hall & Oates, however, hit a home run with their second LP rather than their first. (Whole Oates, their debut, has a clever name and includes the brilliant “Fall In Philadelphia” but is otherwise pretty unremarkable.) Every song except for the final track is a pop classic, the production by the legendary Arif Mardin is impeccable, and the album cover is wonderful. I like a lot of their later stuff, but this is by far their best. (And you can still find the CD in some store bargain bins or at Amazon for $5.00!)

 

Favorite tracks:

She’s Gone

Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)

Had I Known You Better Then

When The Morning Comes

I’m Just A Kid (Don’t Make Me Feel Like A Man)

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Rams Head On Stage, 12/27/2015

Table 102, Row A, Seats 2 & 4

 

Rams Head has a row of 4-person tables right in front of the stage and perpendicular to it. Table 102 is dead center; we had the rear two seats, which was still as close as I’ve ever gotten to the stage at a show by a well-known performer.

 

Started by promising not to do any Christmas songs, but did begin with a great tune by the underrated 60s-70s soul singer William Bell, “Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday”

 

Personal favorites – best version of “Walk Away Renee” I’ve ever heard, plus a remarkable cover version of Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers To Cross” by keyboardist Jeff Kazee

 

Usual crowd-pleasers such as “Love On The Wrong Side Of Town”, “Broke Down Piece Of Man”, “Talk To Me”, and “This Time It’s For Real”. Also did some tunes from his new Soultime album – I particularly liked the disco-flavored (!) “Looking For A Good Time”.

 

Led up to “The Fever” with a nice sing-along on “Up On The Roof” (preceded by a few bars of “I Feel The Earth Move”), then concluded the main set by turning “I Don’t Want To Go Home” into a hilarious tale of an ill-fated trip to Vegas. Second encore (after over two hours of music) was “Without Love”, during which they put the main mic stand up on our table for an interlude by the three horn players and Southside’s final vocals. Amazing show!

 

Setlist

LP #2 Donald Fagen – The Nightfly (1982)

Steely Dan, the long-running collaboration between Fagen and Walter Becker, put out some great albums in their time, but Fagen’s first solo effort actually outshines the best of them. Fagen completely nails the loose concept that he puts forward in the liner notes: “The songs on this album represent certain fantasies that might have been entertained by a young man growing up in the remote suburbs of a northeastern city during the late fifties and early sixties, i.e., one of my general height, weight and build.” “Walk Between Raindrops” would have been a great song for Sinatra – it was actually recorded by Mel Tormé – while “The Goodbye Look” spins a wonderful tale of Caribbean political intrigue. Fagen also does what for me is the definitive version of the Leiber-Stoller classic “Ruby Baby”, eclipsing the fine earlier recordings by the Drifters and Dion.

 

Favorite tracks:

Walk Between Raindrops

The Goodbye Look

Ruby Baby

New Frontier

I.G.Y.

Celebrating Sinatra

Since yesterday was the 100^th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth, I figured I’d mark the occasion by listing my five favorite songs by the man who’s probably this country’s greatest singer ever, if not necessarily its most exemplary role model.

 

The Summer Wind (#11 on my list of all-time favorite songs)

All My Tomorrows

Softly As I Leave You

High Hopes

The World We Knew

 

“High Hopes” and “All My Tomorrows” were both featured in Sinatra’s 1959 movie A Hole In The Head, which I vaguely remember seeing as a kid. “High Hopes” was the anthem of legendary Phillies radio announcer Harry Kalas, so after Kalas’ untimely death on April 13, 2009 (as he was getting ready to broadcast the Nationals’ home opener with the Phillies, a game which we attended) I decided to watch the movie again. That is when I fell in love with “All My Tomorrows”, which plays over the opening credits and fits the movie perfectly. It’s one of the greatest songs to ever languish in near-total obscurity, and I admit to blubbering like John Boehner for some reason whenever I listen to it.

Best Music of 2015

Here’s my annual list of favorite songs and albums. I’ll update this post once the results are in from the three radio station polls in which I voted. [DONE]

 

Overall, not the strongest of years, with a few exceptions …

Songs (list I entered on WXPN) 

1. Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars (#11 WXPN Top 100)
2. All Your Favorite Bands – Dawes (#17 WXPN, #19 WTMD Top 89)
3. Stay Gold – First Aid Kit
4. Believe – Mumford & Sons (#44 WXPN, #85 WTMD)
5. Ship To Wreck – Florence + The Machine (#2 WXPN, #8 WTMD)
6. Kansas City – New Basement Tapes
7. Restless – New Order (#74 WTMD)
8. Make You Better – Decemberists (#84 WXPN)
9. Satisfy Me – Anderson East
10. Simple Machine – Guster 

Other Favorite Songs (not played on WXPN) 

1. Lips Are Movin’ – Meghan Trainor
2. Lean On – Major Lazer
3. I Don’t Like It, I Love It – Flo Rida
4. Cheyenne – Jason Derulo
5. Marvin Gaye – Charlie Puth f/ Meghan Trainor 

Favorite Albums 

1. All Your Favorite Bands – Dawes (#3 mvyradio Top 25)
2. Title – Meghan Trainor
3. Delilah – Anderson East
4. One Lost Day – Indigo Girls
5. Still – Richard Thompson
6. 25 – Adele

 

LP #3 David + David – Boomtown (1986)

David Baerwald and David Ricketts came seemingly out of nowhere to record this masterpiece, and seemingly disappeared almost as quickly. Baerwald subsequently released several solo albums, none of which met with much commercial success; Ricketts never released an album under his name. Both stayed in the music biz, however, writing and producing material for other artists. Baerwald is credited with co-founding the “Tuesday Music Club” that launched Sheryl Crow’s career and provided the title for her Tuesday Night Music Club album, for which both Baerwald and Ricketts co-wrote several songs.

 

Boomtown is the album that Daryl Hall & John Oates might have made had they grown up in L.A. and been heavily influenced by Tom Waits and the Police. Most of the tracks depict the seamy side of life in L.A. (or any big city), with characters who are “Being Alone Together” as they are “Swallowed By The Cracks”; the most upbeat track musically (“Ain’t So Easy”) is written from the perspective of a domestic abuser. (No, this is not the CD to put on during your next party.) “River’s Gonna Rise” has broader socio-political implications; it’s apocalyptically brutal, but redemption comes in the chorus (especially for those at all familiar with Greek mythology.)

 

Favorite tracks:

River’s Gonna Rise

A Rock For The Forgotten

Welcome To The Boomtown

Swallowed By The Cracks

Serendipity #53

Used To Rule The World – Bonnie Raitt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjdMEwYO2rg

Heard 12/7/2015 around 11:50, at Zoe’s Kitchen (Kentlands)

Serendipity #52

Money’s Too Tight (To Mention) – Simply Red

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrUB0g8Vjgg

Heard 11/28/2015 around 2:00, in the cafeteria at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Serendipity #51

The Bottle – Gil Scott-Heron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkSFBcjOKHY

Heard 11/23/2015 around 12:00, at Zoe’s Kitchen (Kentlands)

Serendipity #50

Mexican Radio – Wall of Voodoo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEexG9xjw

Heard 11/18/2015 around 6:00, at Jerry’s Subs (Fallsgrove)

Madeleine Peyroux, The Barns at Wolf Trap, 11/17/2015

Row L, Seat 106 (further back than usual, but dead center)

 

Nice show! Main level was pretty full (did have 3 empty seats next to me). Slightly smaller combo on stage even than I had expected, just Madeleine, plus two other wonderful musicians on guitar and upright bass, who also contributed harmony vocals on a few songs. (Sort of thought they might have someone on keyboards.)

 

Started with “Take These Chains From My Heart” (popularized by both Hank Williams and Ray Charles) and “Between The Bars”. Several songs in, paid tribute to the late Allen Toussaint with a politely funky version of “Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (From Now On)”, followed by a few songs with just Madeleine and her acoustic guitar. Other highlights included “Don’t Cry Baby” and Randy Newman’s “Guilty”.

 

Really kicked it into gear at the end, concluding with three tracks from her breakthrough Careless Love album: Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me To The End Of Love”, “Don’t Wait Too Long”, and the title track. They then encored with the final cut from that CD, “This Is Heaven To Me”. No intermission – whole show ran just under 90 minutes, meaning that I actually made it home around 10:00.

The Brothers Four, Bethesda Blues & Jazz Club, 11/12/2015

1960s folk legends the Brothers Four, still with one original member, had done a nice set in an area church a few years back; this time they occupied the much larger Bethesda Blues & Jazz Club for an enjoyable performance, with a two-hour show divided into two sets. Most of the tables were filled, although the theater-style seats in the rear were empty (as they don’t go on sale until the table seats have sold out).

 

The group’s trademark vocal harmonies worked well on such slow tunes as “Try To Remember” and two of their best-known hits, “Green Leaves Of Summer” and “Greenfields” (their next-to-last pre-encore number). The most enthusiastic crowd reactions, however, seemed to come on the uptempo numbers where Mark Pearson pulled out his banjo, such as their four-song “bluegrass medley”. Their two encores were a stunning version of “Shenandoah” and finally “Michael Rowed The Boat Ashore” (a personal favorite of mine from my childhood).

 

The previous time I saw them, they did a great, sad song about the end of an old family farm – I hadn’t heard it before, and they didn’t do any kind of introduction. Based on the lyrics, I was finally able to chase it down (I thought) on the Internet: “Time To Be Planting Again” by Leslie Eliel. They started into the song Thursday night, but once they got into the chorus, I wondered about whether I had found the correct song, despite the many similarities. Apparently Mark and Leslie wrote the song together but decided to go in different directions with the chorus, as the Brothers Four title their version “Heart Of The Heartland”.

Allen Toussaint

Legendary New Orleans songwriter, producer, and pianist Allen Toussaint died November 9 at the age of 77. Although a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Toussaint was certainly not a household word, although most folks would recognize some of the biggest hit songs he wrote – “Mother-In-Law”, “Southern Nights”, and “Yes We Can Can”, among others.

 

My favorite Allen Toussaint songs and versions:

On Your Way Down – Trombone Shorty (with Toussaint on piano)

A Certain Girl – Warren Zevon

All These Things – The Uniques

Working In A Coal Mine – Lee Dorsey

I Like It Like That – The Dave Clark Five

Freedom For The Stallion – The Hues Corporation

LP #4 The Beat Farmers – Tales Of The New West (1985)

While the Beat Farmers did a number of great songs after their debut album – most notably “Riverside”, “Road To Ruin”, and a great cover of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger” – they never put together an entire studio album nearly as great as this one. In addition to “Reason To Believe” (one of the few covers of a Springsteen song that completely surpasses the Boss’s original), the band also did nice versions of Lou Reed’s “There She Goes Again” and John Stewart’s “Never Going Back”. What really makes the album work, however, are the originals, written by current band members Buddy Blue and Jerry Raney, and close associate (and future member) Paul Kamanski. The production by Steve Berlin (of Los Lobos) and Mark Linett is also impeccable.

 

The Beat Farmers are one of the best exemplars of the 1980s “cowpunk” movement, although unlike bands such as the Long Ryders their music steered clear of political overtones. Allmusic.com probably summarized their sound best:  “country, rockabilly, and roots rock with punk energy and a raucous sense of humor.” While “Lost Weekend” is probably the song that best summarizes these elements, their best-known track is probably the short-and-strange “Happy Boy”, which was popularized by Dr. Demento and still gets some airplay today.

 

Favorite tracks:

Lost Weekend

Goldmine

Reason To Believe

Bigger Stones

Selfish Heart

California Kid

Shuffle #77 (November 10, 2015)

Shower The People – James Taylor

Rikki Don’t Lose That Number – Steely Dan

A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me) – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Help Me, Rhonda – The Beach Boys

Love And Happiness – John Mellancamp

The Mary Ellen Carter – Schooner Fare

Tears Dry On Their Own – Amy Winehouse

Bigger Stones – The Beat Farmers

Mr. Dream Merchant – Jerry Butler

Shuffle #76 (November 7, 2015)

Bring Me Some Water – Melissa Etheridge

Mixed-Up, Shook-Up Girl – Patty & The Emblems

Karma Chameleon – Culture Club

Raised By Wolves – U2

Silent Morning – Noel

The Price You Pay – Bruce Springsteen

Peaceful Easy Feeling – The Eagles

It’s Late – Ricky Nelson

Paradise -- Coldplay

Serendipity #49

Constant Craving – k d lang

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABYJo53mHHQ

 

Heard 11/6/2015 around 11:45, at Wegman’s (Germantown)

LP #5 Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run (1975)

There certainly was never any doubt that a Springsteen album was going to be high on this list. There was a lot of doubt, however, about whether it would be this one, or the previous The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle.

 

Let’s see: “Thunder Road” and “Jungleland” vs. “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” and “4^th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)”. “Born To Run” or “Kitty’s Back”. It was a close call, but as someone said recently, sometimes you gotta make the hard choices.

 

Favorite tracks:

Thunder Road

Jungleland

Born To Run

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Serendipity #48

Chasing Pavements – Adele

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08DjMT-qR9g

Heard 11/3/2015 around 12:10, at Café Rio (Germantown)

Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy, Birchmere, 10/29/2015

Canadian husband-and-wife fiddlers extraordinaire MacMaster and Leahy put on quite a show for a large, appreciative crowd – the CD-signing line after the show stretched from the entrance to the music hall all the way back to the opposite end of the pre-show waiting area. Including intermission, the show ran for over two hours. All instrumental with one exception, the show nevertheless packed enough variety to keep things interesting, with tunes bringing to mind chamber music and Jethro Tull interspersed among the more traditional Celtic tunes. The four-piece band (drums, bass, piano, and a jack-of-all-trades who alternated among guitar, flute, and bagpipes) also contributed greatly to the experience. In keeping with the tour theme “Visions From Cape Breton & Beyond”, there were several video interludes that traced the family and backgrounds of the two lead performers.

 

My only disappointment was non-musical; the Birchmere has apparently discontinued my favorite Margarita Chicken Salad, although it was still listed on their online menu. (It’s since been deleted.) Wound up having the Greek Salad instead.

 

Almost forgot to mention that Natalie and Donnell have six kids, the oldest of whom is just 9 years old. Four of them made appearances late in the first set and just after intermission, fiddling and step-dancing up a storm on a couple numbers, and taking a verse and joining in the chorus of the show’s lone vocal number (“Getting Dark Again”). There was also a nice duet featuring dad on fiddle and the oldest daughter on piano.

 

Wonder if have a really cool bus for touring, like The Partridge Family?

Shuffle #75 (November 2, 2015)

Willow Weep For Me – Chad & Jeremy

Ain’t That Peculiar – Marvin Gaye

Silhouettes – Herman’s Hermits

Peaceful Easy Feeling – The Eagles

Walls Come Tumbling Down – The Style Council

Life Begins At The Hop – XTC

Ya Ya (Next To Me) – Steve Forbert

That Girl Could Sing – Jackson Browne

Come As You Are – Nirvana

California Nights – Lesley Gore

Shuffle #74 (November 1, 2015)

Mama Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long – Bruce Cockburn

Breakout – Swing Out Sister

Theme From Shaft – Isaac Hayes

Walking In The Rain – The Ronettes

16 Candles – The Crests

Only So Much Oil In The Ground – Tower Of Power

Burning Down The House – Talking Heads

Gonna Move – Paul Pena

The Land Of Milk And Honey – The Vogues

Serendipity #47

Flake – Jack Johnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d18LEY_fO6I

Heard 10/30/2015 around 9:50, at Wegman’s (Germantown)

Serendipity #46

Better Be Home Soon – Crowded House

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQOlwMKpmvQ

Heard 10/20/2015 around 6:00, at Jerry’s Subs (Fallsgrove)

Shuffle #73 (October 4, 2015)

Gone Daddy Gone – Violent Femmes

We’ll Sing In The Sunshine – Gale Garnett

Turn Down Day – The Cyrkle

Pretty Good – John Prine

Cross My Heart – Billy Stewart

Turning To You – Charlie

Same Love – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

The Troubles – U2

Domino – Van Morrison

Don’t Wait Too Long – Madeleine Peyroux

Shuffle #72 (October 3, 2015)

Because – The Dave Clark Five

Paper Thin – John Hiatt

Piano Man – Billy Joel

Heartbreaker – The Crystals

Something About You – The Four Tops

Sunday Girl – She & Him

Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry

Bring Me Some Water – Melissa Etheridge

Plastic Flowers – Don McMinn

What About Me – Lake Street Dive

Havana Daydreamin’ – Jimmy Buffett

Spring Fever -- Orleans

September 27, 2015 – Phillies 12, Nationals 5 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/151934548/nats-stung-by-big-9th-in-loss-to-phillies

 

Attendance: 28,661

Game Time: 3:02

Weather: 69 degrees, cloudy

Wind: 6 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Bill Welke, First Base - John Hirschbeck, Second Base - John Tumpane, Third Base - James Hoye

Seventh-inning stretch song: Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars

 

Quite a Fan Appreciation Day, in the wake of the Nationals fragging their manager

 

Aaron Harang actually pitched well for the Phils, going 6 innings and only allowing back-to-back dingers in the second by Desmond and den Dekker … Gio blanked Philadelphia through 5, before exiting with the dreaded “Gonzalez pitched to 5 batters in the 6^th” (3 singles followed by 2 bases-loaded walks) … Nats retook the lead with 2 in the bottom of the seventh, but it quickly vanished half an inning later, when Casey (“I think I underachieved a little bit”) Janssen served up a two-run tater to Jeff Francoeur … Papelbon recorded the final out of the eighth, which meant he was in the dugout for the fateful tussle with Harper … Pap was sent back back out for the ninth and gave up a two-run shot by noted slugger Andres Blanco (10 HRs in 800+ major-league at-bats), as the Phils put up an 8-spot … in addition to the promotional item of the day (red Nationals gloves), I snagged one of the caps that they were tossing into the Red Porch area in CF after the game ended

Let the inmates run the asylum

Perhaps the only positive aspect to yesterday’s little Papelbon-Harper scuffle in the Washington Nationals’ dugout is that it diverted attention from the club’s deeper problems. These are best demonstrated by a column in yesterday’s Washington Post, in which several Nats players anonymously stab their manager in the back with a week still left to go in the season.

 

Regardless of the job Matt Williams has done as manager -- and it's been far from perfect -- what does this say about the character of the team and its “veteran leaders”? If you’re unhappy about your boss, there are plenty of professional ways of dealing with the situation. This is clearly not one of them, and is the sort of thing that damages the organization both with the fans and in the eyes of quality players or other staff that the team might like to add.

 

Matt should take the high road and resign right after the season, apologizing for the team's failures and his contributions to them, and thanking Rizzo and Harper for their support. He should be thankful to be out of such a toxic environment.

 

Rizzo (assuming he still has a job after his inspired addition of Papelbon at the trade deadline) should then convene a meeting of the gutless wonders and let them pick their own manager for next season. That way, if they tank again the way they did for both Davey and Matt, they will have no one to blame but themselves.

September 20, 2015 – Nationals 13, Marlins 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/150648910

 

Attendance: 28,444

Game Time: 2:57

Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 3 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Adam Hamari, First Base - Angel Hernandez, Second Base - Chris Conroy, Third Base - Ted Barrett

Seventh-inning stretch song: It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones

 

Highlights – Judy Collins did the National Anthem and God Bless America … another dominating start by Strasburg (7 IP, 2 runs, 10 Ks, 1 BB, plus a hit and run scored as a batter) … on the second Sunday of the NFL season, Nats put up 2 FGs and a TD, stranding only 4 runners in the process … 2-run double by Werth in the first … after Marlins pulled within 3-2 in the top of the sixth, Nats put it away with 7 runs in the bottom of the frame, keyed by a 3-run Tyler Moore HR and later a bases-clearing double by Escobar (both with 2 outs) … catcher Pedro Severino had a major-league debut to remember, doubling and scoring in the Nats’ 3-run 8^th

 

Other – Ichiro struck out 3 times against Stras, marking the first time since June of 2010 that he had fanned multiple times in consecutive games

 

Another blown promotion: Nats had been aggressively running ads for this series in the Post, including $1 ice cream coupons. (I cut out 4 of them.) 35 minutes before the game even started, I went to one Nats Dog stand – no ice cream. They sent me to the stand in back of Section 314, where I was informed that the ice cream (for the weekend, apparently) was “all gone”. They did give out free small bags of salty snacks on the way out, perhaps in an effort to kiss and make up.

September 18 – Rays 8, Orioles 6 – Tropicana Field

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20150918150351032?game_pk=415846

 

Attendance: 10,697

Game Time: 2:51

Weather: indoors

Umpires: Home Plate - Sean Barber, First Base - Dale Scott, Second Base - CB Bucknor, Third Base - Lance Barrett

 

Section 104, Row M, Seat 7 – just to the right of home plate, about 8 rows from the field, second row back from the obviously-retrofitted luxury seats (wider, padded, with waiters)

 

Highlights – fan favorite Carlos Pena was honored before the game, after signing an honorary contract and officially retiring earlier in the day … Tim Beckham’s two-run homer in the bottom of the second took much of the sting out of J.J. Hardy’s 3-run blast in the top of the frame … Rays took the lead for good with 6 in the bottom of the fifth, pounding Tyler Wilson and Chaz Roe with a single and 4 doubles, with the biggest blow a bases-clearing double by Grady Sizemore out of the cleanup slot … Rays bullpen held the Os to one run over the final 3.1 innings to seal the win … rookie Mikie Mahtook went 5-5 with two doubles for Tampa Bay

 

Other – after fanning the first 4 batters he faced, winning pitcher Drew Smyly gave up the 3-run homer to Hardy in the second, and was lifted after Steve Pearce belted a 2-run shot in the sixth

September 17 – Orioles 4, Rays 3 – Tropicana Field

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20150917150141360?game_pk=415836

 

Attendance: 9,617

Game Time: 2:56

Weather: indoors

Umpires: Home Plate - Lance Barrett, First Base - Sean Barber, Second Base - Dale Scott, Third Base - CB Bucknor

Musical highlight – Melting Pot by Booker T. & The MGs, played during an 8^th-inning mound conference

 

Section 102, Row Q, Seat 1 – directly behind home plate, maybe 11 rows back from the field

 

Highlights – great start by Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore (7 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 9 Ks) … Rays scratched out 3 runs in the first 6 innings, including a John Jaso HR that got stuck in one of the catwalks hanging from the dome … former Nat Steven Souza Jr. played the whole game without an official at-bat, drawing 3 walks and getting hit by a pitch

 

Other – reliever Alex Colome wiped out Moore’s fine work in the eighth, giving up 4 singles with 2 out and 1 on as the Orioles took a 4-3 lead

 

Dome sweet dome -- It was good that the Rays could play ball indoors, as it was raining both when I walked to the Trop and after the game when I walked back to the hotel. The experience certainly wasn’t terrible: the seats were reasonably comfortable and the scoreboard actually provided more information (pitch counts for both pitchers visible at all times, type of pitch as well as speed) than at Nationals Park. The Cubano unfortunately was pre-made rather than grilled to order (pork BBQ Friday night was better), and the between-innings race between 3 bottles of different Pepsi products was not particularly inspiring. The fans who were there were enthusiastic; I imagine the noise level for a postseason game would be impressive.

Ruthie & The Wranglers, Shenandoah Run at El Golfo Restaurant (WFMA Showcase), 9/13/2015

Another nice evening of food (Salmon Pacifico, Masitas de Puerco) at the monthly World Folk Music Association second-Sunday showcase. Had seen local country/honky-tonk band Ruthie & The Wranglers on numerous occasions at outdoor shows (mostly at Rockville Town Square), but not previously indoors – was a little worried about the volume during sound check, but worked out fine. Featuring frequent solos from pianist Bill Starks and guitarist Andy Rutherford, the band highlighted a number of their most popular songs over the course of their 45-minute set, such as “All The Honky Tonks Are Closin’ Down”, “A Dime At A Time”, and the finale “Lost Ball (In The High Weeds)”. They also did a couple strong tracks from Starks’ recent solo CD (“I See Trouble” and “300 Miles (From Memphis To New Orleans)”).

 

I hadn’t seen the 9-member (!) folk ensemble Shenandoah Run before, but was actually pretty impressed; their main problem was fitting onto the relatively small stage. Featuring a full panoply of instruments (banjo, mandolin, upright bass, fiddle, multiple guitars) and multi-part vocal harmonies on most of their material, their highlights included the opening “Power And The Glory”, “The Sound Of Silence”, “Wild Mountain Thyme”, “I’ll Never Find Another You”, “Today”, and “Charlottesville” (which I thought might have been an original, but was written by Mark Erelli).

Shuffle #71 (September 13, 2015)

Good Times – INXS

Love On The Wrong Side Of Town – Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes

10 Rocks – Shelby Lynne

Please Come Home For Christmas – The Eagles

I’ll Go Crazy – Eva Cassidy & Chuck Brown

Oh No, Not My Baby – Maxine Brown

Almost Home – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Carmelita – Warren Zevon

Live To Tell – Madonna

It Don’t Bring You – Mary Chapin Carpenter

September 7, 2015 – Mets 8, Nationals 5 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/147870556/mets-rally-tops-nats-to-extend-nl-east-lead

 

Attendance: 34,210

Game Time: 3:26

Weather: 86 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 1 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Paul Nauert, First Base - Dana DeMuth, Second Base - Mike Estabrook, Third Base - Ed Hickox

Seventh-inning stretch song: Twist & Shout – The Beatles

 

Section 416, Row E, Seat 1 – exactly two rows behind my usual seat, seemed a little less breezy and hence more stuffy

 

Highlights – in the top of the first after Granderson reached third with no outs (double on a ball Werth lost in the sun followed by a pitch that got past Ramos), Scherzer kept the Mets off the scoreboard (medium fly to right by Wright, strikeouts of Murphy and Cespedes) … Nats erased an early 3-0 deficit with a 5-run bottom of the fourth, keyed by a Ramos grand slam

 

Other – after putting the Nats in an early hole by allowing solo homers to Conforto, Kelly Johnson, and Cespedes, Scherzer couldn’t hold the lead, giving up one run each in the fifth and sixth … Nats bullpen imploded again in the seventh, as 4 relievers conspired to give up 3 runs … Nats failed to score off the Mets bullpen over the final 5 innings after knocking out Niese

September 6, 2015 – Nationals 8, Braves 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/147724724/nationals-sweep-braves-gain-in-nl-east-race

 

Attendance: 29,281

Game Time: 3:06

Weather: 84 degrees, sunny

Wind: 6 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Andy Fletcher, First Base - Clint Fagan, Second Base - Paul Emmel, Third Base - Jerry Meals

Seventh-inning stretch song: It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones

 

Highlights – following the bottom of the ninth in the Mets-Marlins game by cellphone, which Martin Prado won for Miami on a walk-off sac fly after fouling off 6 straight 3-2 pitches from Clippard … 5-run second inning for the Nats to take the lead for good, featuring 2-run double by Taylor and 3-run homer by Werth … solo homers by Harper in the third and Rendon in the fourth … bullpen held the Braves scoreless over the last 4 innings … tried TaKorean for the first time (half-and-half bowl with brown rice, kimchi, and pork, plus a Jarritos lime soda)

 

Other – Joe Ross, showing signs of fatigue after a long season, wasn’t able to last 5 innings to get the victory … sloppy game overall, with 4 errors charged, plus a passed ball on a third strike

Shuffle #70 (September 7, 2015)

Love’s In Need Of Love Today – Stevie Wonder

And When I Die – Blood, Sweat & Tears

A Hazy Shade Of Winter – Simon & Garfunkel

Happy Hour – The Housemartins

Somewhere In America There’s A Street Named After My Dad – Was (Not Was)

So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad) – The Everly Brothers

Mutineer – Warren Zevon

Back To School Days – Graham Parker

Fields Of Gold – Eva Cassidy

This Train Revised – Indigo Girls

Shuffle #69 (September 6, 2015)

These Arms Of Mine – Otis Redding

Quittin’ Time – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Hope In A Hopeless World – Phil Roy

Cheeseburger In Paradise – Jimmy Buffett

Elevation – U2

Tell Mama – Etta James

Too Nice To Talk To – The English Beat

I’ve Seen All Good People – Yes

Shining Star – Earth, Wind & Fire

Shuffle #68 (September 5, 2015)

Kid – The Pretenders

Calgary, My Home Away From Home – Schooner Fare

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey – Paul McCartney

Party Doll – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Love Song – Sara Bareilles

Stolen Car – Bruce Springsteen

Rosalita – Bruce Springsteen

August 29, 2015 – Trenton Thunder 3, Altoona Curve 1 – Peoples Natural Gas Field

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150829&content_id=146184048&fext=.jsp&vkey=recap&sid=t452

 

Umpires: HP: Dan Merzel. 1B: Brian Peterson. 3B: Alex Tosi.

Weather: 83 degrees, clear.

Wind: 9 mph, Varies.

T: 2:36.

Att: 8,120.

Seventh-inning stretch song: Just “God Bless America” (Kate Smith recording) and “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”

 

Highlights – nice post-game fireworks show for the large, appreciative crowd … very good grilled chicken sandwich … excellent late summer weather … Curve scored in the bottom of the seventh on an Adam Frazier double and a Max Moroff single to avert the shutout

 

Other –Thunder nicked starter and LP Matt Benedict for single runs in the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th … Curve stranded 12 base runners

August 27, 2015 – Nationals 4, Padres 2 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/145787146/joe-ross-strong-for-nationals-in-win

 

Attendance: 28,908

Game Time: 3:01

Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 6 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Hunter Wendelstedt, First Base - Marvin Hudson, Second Base - David Rackley, Third Base - Bob Davidson

Seventh-inning stretch song: Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars

 

Highlights – just when we had given up on any 400-level love, everybody in our section (416) won free buffet tickets from Maryland Live Casino … another excellent start for Joe Ross, who in 6 innings allowed just 1 (unearned) run and 1 (questionable) hit, while walking 2 and fanning 7 … Nats started off the bottom of the fifth by loading the bases with nobody out, then grabbed the lead by scoring two runs … Werth and Zimmerman added solo blasts in the sixth and seventh … great play by Rendon at 3B to save a run and end the top of the seventh … bullpen held the lead for the final three frames, with Pap converting a rare save opportunity … spent most of the game socializing with our “pet calendar” friends … was bold enough to drive down and back on a weekday (with navigational help), with both trips and the parking being blessedly uneventful

 

Other – Escobar left the game after getting hit on the wrist, and Taylor departed after running into the outfield wall … with Span unavailable (and later placed back on the DL), Nats were forced to use Fister as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, and finish the game with a defensive alignment that included Espinosa in LF

August 25, 2015 – Nationals 8, Padres 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/145349540/stephen-strasburg-strong-in-nationals-win

 

Attendance: 34,199

Game Time: 3:08

Weather: 82 degrees, clear

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - David Rackley, First Base - Bob Davidson, Second Base - Hunter Wendelstedt, Third Base - Marvin Hudson

Seventh-inning stretch song: It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones

 

Section 106, Row N, Seats 10-13 (left field, just on the fair side of the foul pole)

 

Highlights – another strong post-DL start for Strasburg (6 innings, 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, 7 Ks), marred only by a 2-run second-inning homer by Jedd Gyorko … 2-run homer in the bottom of the second by Ramos to tie the game … grand slam by Zim in the 6^th to pretty much ice things … great weather once again … arrived in time to get the Anthony Rendon Garden Gnomes, despite spending about 15 minutes figuring out how to get DC to take our money for parking

August 23, 2015 – Nationals 9, Brewers 5 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/144856846/nationals-win-second-straight-over-brewers

 

Attendance: 28,039

Game Time: 3:03

Weather: 81 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 1 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Rob Drake, First Base - D.J. Reyburn, Second Base - Joe West, Third Base - Clint Fagan

Seventh-inning stretch song: I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown

 

On a perfect day for baseball, the struggling Nats desperately needed a win, coming off a disastrous 3-7 West Coast road trip and a split of the first two games of the series against the woeful Brewers. Things certainly did not start off well, as Nats-killer Scooter Gennett led off with a single to center and Jonathan Lucroy followed with a round-tripper, putting the home team in an immediate 2-0 hole off Jordan Zimmermann.

 

The Nats got one back in the bottom of the inning. Werth led off with a double, and Rendon got him to third with a grounder to second. Matt Garza then fanned Harper for the second out, but Zim picked him up with a double to center, scoring Rendon to cut the lead in half.

 

The Nats took the lead for good in the third, which started inauspiciously as Garza fanned the first two batters. He then walked Rendon with Harper on deck – generally not a good idea. Bryce doubled down the left field line, sending Rendon to third. Garza then walked Ryan Zimmerman (semi-intentionally?) on four pitches to bring up Desmond. Ian hit a high chopper to the right of the mound which Garza couldn’t handle to tie the score, and Danny Espinosa had the biggest hit of the game, just missing a home run on a double to right-center that cleared the bases.

 

The Nats extended their lead with another 4-spot in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Ramos homered, Michael Taylor drew a walk, and Zimmermann sacrificed him to second. The Brewers’ decision to lift Garza at that point backfired, as reliever Corey Knebel walked Werth on four pitches, then served up a homer to Rendon.

 

Zimmermann wasn’t at his sharpest but managed to get the win, giving up single runs in the fifth (a Gennett homer) and sixth before being taken out with two down in the sixth. Rivero, Janssen, Storen, and Papelbon got the Nats to the finish line, with the only damage being a Khris Davis four-bagger on the first pitch Drew threw in the eighth.

 

The Clara Barton Parkway route (leaving at 11:15) again worked reasonably well; despite a bottleneck on Independence Ave. (the Kutz Bridge was down to one lane) and a wrong turn on my part which took me onto Maine Avenue, I still made it in 40 minutes.

Shuffle #67 (August 22, 2015)

Without Love – Tom Jones

Born In The U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen

Morningtown Ride – The Seekers

Man In The Mirror – Michael Jackson

Redemption Song – Bob Marley & The Wailers

Baby, It’s You – The Shirelles

Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Spencer Davis Group

Love’s In Need Of Love Today – Stevie Wonder

Lyle Lovett & His Large Band, Wolf Trap 8/14/2015

Row D, Seats 42-43

 

Another year, another excellent show from Lyle and the crew, most of whom seem to have been with him for 10 years or longer (in some cases, much longer). The inimitable R&B singer Francine Reed was heavily featured this year, standing in the front line of performers after she entered down the left aisle while singing “Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues”, following the usual opening instrumental “The Blues Walk”. As usual, Lyle also gave longtime members Luke Bulla and Keith Sewell a chance to showcase one song each from their solo recordings. The somewhat sedate audience certainly got its moneys worth, as the band came on at 8:00 and didn’t finish until around 10:40. As usual, the musicianship was superb, with everyone getting solos at one point or another.

 

The band certainly hit most of the favorites in the Lovett songbook – “Here I Am” near the beginning, and “If I Had A Boat”, “She’s No Lady”, and “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)” just before the end. Personally, I was equally impressed by a number of songs that I was not especially familiar with, notably “Family Reserve” (a Twitter request he neglected to respond to in his previous show), “South Texas Girl”, “Don’t Touch My Hat”, “I Will Rise Up”, and “All Downhill”. While he frequently closes his main set with an upbeat gospel-tinged number, this year’s selection of “Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior” was slower than the usual, although with a set of superb vocal solos it brought the crowd to its feet for the first time in the show. (I later discovered it could be found on a CD called Ultimate Gospel Hits, Vol. 1, in the company of “Gonna Build A Mountain” by Sammy Davis Jr. and, even more oddly, “People Get Ready” by Lee Atwater.) Appropriately enough, the encore was “Closing Time”, the final track from Lyle’s debut CD.

Setlist

Shuffle #66 (August 15, 2015)

I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better – The Byrds

Fate’s Right Hand – Rodney Crowell

I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) – Eddie Floyd

Slum Baby – Booker T. & The MG’s

Summerfling – k.d. lang

Walk On – U2

Tears Dry On Their Own – Amy Winehouse

No Fair At All – The Association

I’ve Got Sand In My Shoes – The Drifters

The Way – Ariana Grande