Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah

• Artist: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
• Rating:
• Release Date: October 19, 2004
• Type: Live, Enhanced CD-ROM
• Genre: Rock

Review

America's greatest cover band keeps finding new worlds to conquer, and on their fifth album Me First and the Gimme Gimmes present a unique ethnomusicological document -- a field recording of our heroes performing at an actual Bar Mitzvah celebration in Malibu, California (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah features the Gimme Gimmes performing a selection of classic rock standards as only they can (fast, loud, and with a high snot factor) as they roar through "Come Sail Away," "The Longest Time," "Take It on the Run" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" for a seemingly puzzled audience of thirteen-year-olds and their parents. Of course, these guys make it their business to have something for everyone, so they also throw in a little bit of country music ("Delta Dawn"), an old Italian favorite ("O Sole Mio"), and not one but two versions of "Hava Nagila"! Pretty much everything is on-board reduced to a blurry haze of power chord hilarity, which is certainly true to form for the Gimme Gimmes, but the one-take live recording (complete with a set break) shows these guys have truly mastered their shtick by this point, and beneath the goofy surface of their style they have a strong grasp of what makes for a good hook and a cool tune, regardless of genre. It's not the same without the presence of the ice cream bar, but Me First and the Gimme Gimmes' Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah is the next best thing to being there (and the enhanced video track allows you to witness the action first hand). So how much do these guys get to play a retirement party? ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Jonny's Blessing		Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(1:04)
Stairway to Heaven	Jimmy Page, Robert Plant	Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:32)
Heart of Glass (Lyrics)	Debbie Harry, Chris Stein	Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:43)
Delta Dawn (Lyrics)	Alex Harvey	Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:41)
Come Sail Away (Lyrics)	Dennis DeYoung	Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:48)
O Sole Mio		Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:19)
Strawberry Fields Forever (Lyrics)	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:57)
Auld Lang Syne (Lyrics)		Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(1:48)
The Longest Time	Billy Joel	Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:30)
On My Mind (Lyrics)		Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:35)
Take It On the Run (Lyrics)		Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(2:44)
Superstar (Lyrics)	Delaney Bramlett, Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell	Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(3:20)
Hava Nagila		Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(3:41)
Hava Nagila [Christmas Arrangement]		Me First and the Gimme Gimmes	(15:24)

Credits

Ryan Greene (Engineer), Nate Weaver (Camera Operator), Nate Weaver (Director), Ren Messer (Camera Operator), Adam Krammer (Mixing), Lisa Johnson (Photography), Tim Beckett (Camera Operator), Richard Landers (Stage Technician), Jeffrey Shannon (Stage Technician), Scott Peets (Assistant Engineer), Jeff Keese (Assistant Engineer), Ryan Greene (Mixing), Brian Hodge (Editing), Alex Yeung (Editing), Joe Escalante (Director), Joe Escalante (Video Producer)

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