Do You Remember Cashman & West?

My lifelong passion for the Philadelphia Phillies is second only to my passion for music. For those of you not in North or South America, Japan, or South Korea, they’re a professional baseball team from The United States and currently the champions of the whole sport. Last week, for the second straight year, The Phillies qualified for The World Series and another chance to win it all. The Series begins Wednesday. I'm hoping they get to play the New York Yankees, winner of twenty-six Fall classics, so The Phillies, who have won only two, can show them who is the new boss.

The impending World Series got me thinking about baseball songs and Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and The Duke)" immediately flashed in my mind. From there my thoughts leaped easily to the early 70s pop duo Cashman & West. Cashman and Tommy West were soft-rock and pop singer-songwriters who are largely unknown today. The duo recorded three albums together but they were mostly known within the music business for writing songs for other artists and producing records for the late Jim Croce. Cashman and original partner Gene Pistilli, co-wrote "Sunday Will Never Be The Same," a hit for Spanky and Our Gang in 1967, and they also had a hit single themselves under the group name The Buchanan Brothers. Their song, "Medicine Man," went to #22 on the Billboard charts in 1969. Later they added West to the act, and after Pistilli left to join Manhattan Transfer, Cashman and West continued as a duo.

"American City Suite" opens side two of Cashman and West's first album, A Song Or Two (1972). It's a sad and moving set of songs about the decline of New York City in the 70s. It's lyrics are full of nostalgia and often border on maudlin. Still, the duo sincerely cares about their city and their old neighborhood. They long for what it once was, and are depressed over it's current state of affairs.

Cashman & West never recorded anything as serious as "American City Suite" again. The rest of their music was squeaky clean and often too saccharine for hard rocking music fans, yet I found stuff to enjoy on all of three of their albums.

Moondog Serenade followed A Song Or Two in 1973 and Lifesong, released soon after, completed their recording career as a duo. However, they still worked as a team behind the scenes. They started their own label, named after their last album, and signed Henry Gross who they sent into the top ten in 1976 with the song "Shannon." Cashman continued as a solo act and eventually released his well known baseball novelty song in 1981. He later recorded a version for every major league team in existence at the time. In the 90s, West opened his own record company and recording studio in New Jersey.

Today, the only way to get the music C & W recorded together is to purchase a single disc compilation titled The Very Best Of Cashman & West. The CD has songs from all three original albums. Unfortunately it contains one major flaw: a truncated version of "American City Suite."

Here are the lyrics to "American City Suite" and a YouTube clip of the entire performance.

Brandi Carlile - Give Up The Ghost (2009)

Twenty-eight year old Brandi Carlile just released her third CD last week to much deserved critical acclaim.

Unlike 2007's The Story, produced by T Bone Burnett, Give Up The Ghost, is a more rocking affair with Rick Rubin at the helm. The livelier first half of the disc trumps the more folky singer-songwriter oriented songs of the second half but that does not mean Carlile should have left the quieter stuff on the cutting room floor. To the contrary, the second half only pales by comparison. If tracks one through five were released as a separate EP, and songs six through eleven were issued the same way, and you listened to either one without ever hearing the other, you would still be very impressed by everything you heard.

The buoyant melodies, harmonies, and arrangements of the rockers may have you tapping your toes even while Carlile continues to be a serious songwriter. The opening track, "Looking Out" contains the heavy lines, "I laid a suitcase on my chest so I could feel somebody's weight." The tune ends with the declaration "Someone loves you," and because it does, we know it's OK for the song to sound so upbeat. "Dying Day," written by Carlile's guitarist and close friend Tim Hanseroth, offers more deep thoughts yet the song is never morose. It's rocking workout helps the listener understand that while Carlile is often "lost in a sea of drunken screams" we also know that everything will turn out fine because she is "gonna love you 'til my dying day."

Carlile's childhood idol, Elton John, who proves here that he has never gotten enough credit for his piano playing, is featured on the terrific "Caroline." The single, "Dreams," is about physical love, and "That Year" is about dealing with a friend's suicide ten years later.

Carlile relies on her two main sidemen, the Hanseroth twins, more than ever. This time around she only wrote three of the songs without their assistance. Amy Ray, Benmont Tench, and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers all lend a hand in the studio.

Give Up The Ghost, a late entry for album of the year honors, is a must for all lovers of Americana rock. No other label fits this hybrid of folk, modern country, and rock 'n roll that is a perfect backdrop for the singer's powerful and beautiful voice.

This album has it all.

John Mayall - The Turning Point (1969)

I've been hoping to discuss some current releases but not much new stuff has come my way lately, so let's take another ride on the Wayback Machine to talk about British blues powerhouse, John Mayall.

Mayall's most important gift to rock' n roll lies not with his own playing, singing, and songwriting but with his tremendous ability to discover outstanding talent. Among the all-stars and Hall of Famers whose careers he helped launch are Peter Green, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood who all eventually left to organize Fleetwood Mac. Mick Taylor left Mayall to replace Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones, and Andy Fraser started Free. His most illustrious 60s graduate, Eric Clapton, wrote on Mayall's website, "John Mayall has actually run an incredibly great school for musicians." Clapton eventually left Mayall too and formed Cream with Jack Bruce, another of the bandleader's prodigies.

We can debate forever what Mayall's best records are, and many blues lovers would easily choose the album he did with Clapton, Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton. However, his most famous work, even if it wasn't his best, came several years after Clapton left to become a major guitar hero. It was in 1969, not long after Taylor left, that The Turning Point was recorded live at the Fillmore East.

The Turning Point is unique because the concert and the subsequent album release featured an all acoustic quartet and no drummer, something unheard of in hard rocking 1969. Mayall played harmonica and acoustic guitar, Johnny Almond played sax and flute, Jon Mark played, according to Mayall, "acoustic finger-style guitar," and Steve Thompson was the bassist. Mark and Almond left not long after the album was released to form their own band.

Among the songs are the album's best known track, the exuberant classic "Room to Move," a piece that became famous for Mayall's mouth percussion gimmick, and there is the topical rant that opened the album, "The Laws Must Change," a song expressing his views on legalizing marijuana. However, the best tracks have bassist Thompson and woodwind player Almond stealing the show. Because this concert was "unplugged" (a term that was not yet used in 1969) the former's bass is front and center while the latter proved he can play with any bluesman or jazz band anywhere. Both shine on "Thoughts About Roxanne" and "California."

Mayall's vocals can be a distraction but once you get beyond them The Turning Point is definitely a very rewarding experience.