Search - Peter Gammons :: Never Slow Down Never Grow Old

Pretty Good Album

C. Dennis Burns | Cleveland, Ohio | 02/22/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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.

















"

A pleasant surprise from a talented sportswriter...

David Lerner | Columbia, MD USA | 07/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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..."

Multi-Talent At Work!

Winslow Bunny | Rockledge, Florida United States | 05/15/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."