The album opens with its title track, or rather the song
that comes closest to being the title track, “Streetlife Serenader.” This is a
song which begins beautifully on piano and never fails to work for me. Here is
a taste of the lyrics: “Streetlife
Serenader/Never sang on stages/Needs no orchestration/Melody comes easy.” I
love his vocals on this song, but it is the instrumental sections that really
move me. There is some nice, pretty work on keys here.
That is followed by “Los Angelenos,” a song which I
appreciate even more now that I live in Los Angeles. It begins, “Los Angelenos/All come from somewhere/To
live in sunshine/Their funky exile.” I like that phrase, “funky exile.” I also like these lines: “No one ever has to feel/Like a refugee/Going
into garages/For exotic massages/Making up for all the time gone by.” And
he sings those lines with a bit of a silly accent, adding to the playful tone
of this tune. “The Great Suburban Showdown” has a line that always strikes me
as funny: “And I know it should be fun,
but I think I should’ve packed my gun.” I also always liked the line, “I’m only coming home to say goodbye.”
But one of my favorite tracks is the instrumental “Root
Beer Rag.” It’s a fun, fast-paced ragtime little gem. It never fails to put a
smile on my face. The album contains a second instrumental track, “The Mexican
Connection,” which is fun once it kicks in. I like it, but I wonder if it
wouldn’t be better to end the album with “Souvenir.” “Souvenir” is another of my favorites. It’s a
beautiful (and short) song, featuring the line, “Every year’s a souvenir/That slowly fades away.”
Another of the CD’s highlights is “The Entertainer,” a wonderful
look at the music industry from an insider’s perspective. Here is a bit of the
lyrics: “I am the entertainer and I know
just where I stand/Another serenader and another longhaired band/Today I am
your champion, I may have won your hearts/But I know the game, you’ll forget my
name/And I won’t be here in another year/If I don’t stay on the charts.” Another
verse refers to the shortening of “Piano Man” for radio play: “It was a beautiful song but it ran too
long/If you’re gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit/So they cut it down to
3:05.” This song also features Tom Whitehorse on banjo. “The Entertainer”
was the only single from this record, reaching #34 on the Billboard Hot 100.
CD Track List
- Streetlife Serenade
- Los Angelenos
- The Great Suburban Showdown
- Root Beer Rag
- Roberta
- The Entertainer
- Last Of The Big Time Spenders
- Weekend Song
- Souvenir
- The Mexican Connection
This special limited edition of Streetlife Serenade was released on May 26, 2015 through Audio
Fidelity.
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