'The Golden Voice of Vin Scully,' in song
An album review of "Dan Bern - Live in Los Angeles" by Matt Melis on ConsequenceOfSound.net (linked here) landed today includes these paragraphs:
Bern is later joined by Los Angeles-based folk-pop group Common Rotation and an assortment of other friends on several numbers, including two of the record's most memorable performances.
Common Rotation perfectly backs Bern on the gorgeous, mid-tempo "The Golden Voice of Vin Scully", which features Bern sharing vocal duties with several others.
"Sometimes I feel almost out of range," sings Common Rotation's Adam Busch, "I head south of the valley, and I pick up the game
"I pull off the road, jump out of my lane
"And lean against the hood, it's still hot from the drive
"Trees fade out in the black of the night
"Sometimes it don't hardly seem worth the fight
"But at least tonight I get to hear the golden voice of Vin Scully."
However, the most striking part of the song actually comes after the final chorus. The band continues to play, as Bern begins to impersonate Scully doing the play-by-play of a Dodger game from August 4, 1965, in which Sandy Koufax is pitching.
The band's sound, particularly Jordan Katz's horn, comes across like the roar of a baseball crowd backing Bern's play call.
It's one of the more innovative live performances I've ever heard and fittingly concludes with the music ending abruptly and Bern remarking, "The mound tonight at Dodger Stadium must be the loneliest place in the world."
The song can be found on Dan Bern's website and uploaded from there (linked here) ... and hear a snippet of it here (linked here)
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