You Gotta Have Faith

 Quick, shout out the first few adjectives that come to mind when you think of Santa!

"Jolly?" Sure. "Fat?" Of Course. "Pretend?" Shh. Don't Tell. "Giving?" Probably less common, but not inaccurate. 

How many of you said "Faithful"? How many other words did you get to before you got to "Faithful"? 

Well, Sammy Marshall, in his guise (for Ronnie Records) as Ben Tate, is going to tell you all about "Jolly, Faithful Santa". This being Ronnie Records, the band is, of course, almost frighteningly sterile in performance style, and the most interesting thing here may be that Sammy hits a few bum notes while (probably) site-reading the song - indeed, this is one of most low energy and generally poorly sung songs I can think of from Sammy. Anyway, can you imagine a child being captivated by any of this?

Download: Ben Tate - Jolly, Faithful Santa

Play: 

On to the next song, and I have this to say: Ronnie was the wrong label, and Sammy Marshall the wrong singer, to have sent a song called "The Blues and Me". This musicians are competent, and no doubt had an intellectual understand of what The Blues is - and perhaps even an appreciation of the genre. But they were in no way capable of producing a Blues number. See if that isn't clear within the first four bars of this track. 

And I have NO idea what the Blues "Usually Make a Home Run" means. 

Download: Ben Tate - The Blues and Me

Play: 

~~

I mostly posted this EP for the first song - I wanted to offer something Christmassy. And then there is the ridiculousness of that Blues song. But I have VERY little to say about the remaining songs. 

The two songs on the other side sound awfully to each other, at least to my ears. Neither has anything to recommend it. The first is "I'm Sitting Here Alone". 

Download: Ben Tate - I'm Sitting Here Alone

Play: 

"My Heart and I" is, as I said, similar to the above song, but it does have a nice, loping beat and as a result, it swings a little bit, making it, I suppose, my choice as the least-bad among four poorly written and performed songs. Even the guitar solo called for here seems to be more or less in this guitarist's wheelhouse. Or at least in that neighborhood. 

Download: Ben Tate - My Heart and I

Play: