Have a Ball

Have a Ball
Studio album by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Released	1997
Genre	Punk rock
Length	28:48
Label	Fat Wreck Chords
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes chronology
Have a Ball (1997) Are a Drag (1999)

Have a Ball is the first studio album by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, released in 1997 on the Fat Wreck Chords independent record label. ^[1] The album is made up entirely of "Hits of the '60s and '70s", with the exception of Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl", originally released in 1983.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Maximum Rocknroll	(favorable) [3]
Nanaimo Daily News	[4]

Larry Katz of the Boston Herald said that the album was an "unforgettable" album of 1997, despite being relatively little-known, and that the band's gimmick of recording cross-genre covers was a "darn good" joke. ^[5] Noel Murray, writing in Nashville Scene , praised the record as being fun while not overly long, and said that the rearrangements of familiar older songs allowed listeners to better appreciate the writing of those songs. ^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original performer	Length
1.	"Danny's Song"	Kenny Loggins	Loggins and Messina	2:10
2.	"Leaving on a Jet Plane" (from Denver)	John Denver	John Denver	2:32
3.	"Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" (from Paul)	Paul Simon	Paul Simon	2:42
4.	"One Tin Soldier"	Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter	Original Caste	2:01
5.	"Uptown Girl" (from Billy)	Billy Joel	Billy Joel	2:22
6.	"I Am a Rock" (from Garf)	Paul Simon	Simon & Garfunkel	2:04
7.	"Sweet Caroline" (from Diamond)	Neil Diamond	Neil Diamond	2:53
8.	"Seasons in the Sun"	Jacques Brel	Terry Jacks	2:27
9.	"Fire and Rain" (from In Your Barcalounger)	James Taylor	James Taylor	1:24
10.	"Nobody Does It Better" (from The Spy Who Loved Me)	Carole Bayer Sager, Marvin Hamlisch	Carly Simon	2:28
11.	"Mandy" (from Barry)	Scott English, Richard Kerr	Barry Manilow	2:27
12.	"Rocket Man" (from Elton)	Elton John, Bernie Taupin	Elton John	3:15

Personnel

• Spike Slawson – vocals
• Chris Shiflett (a.k.a. Jake Jackson) – lead guitar
• Joey Cape – rhythm guitar
• Fat Mike – bass
• Dave Raun – drums

See also

• Me First and the Gimme Gimmes discography

References

1. Frampton, Scott (September 1997). "Best New Music". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 49. p. 13.
2. AllMusic review
3. Lujan, Ray (September 1997). "Music Reviews". Maximum Rocknroll . No. 172. Retrieved March 2, 2024– via Internet Archive.
4. Denomme, Terry (February 5, 1999). "Digging rock out of an early grave" . Nanaimo Daily News . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
5. Katz, Larry (January 4, 1998). "The great unknowns: These albums from '97 would be unforgettable, if you'd ever heard of them" . Boston Herald . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
6. Murray, Noel (December 4, 1997). "Records – LL Cool J, Mike Watt, and the Pulsars" . Nashville Scene . Retrieved March 1, 2024– via Access World News.