Howie Newman – Trust Me You’ll Like It

Trust Me You?ll Like It
Independent Release
Major League Records 2006
45 minutes

Trust Me You’ll Like It. Howie Newman sure puts his money where his mouth and guitar are. I’ve never been a big fan of the funny song CD and this is perhaps why I really like this independent release CD: the songs here are well-written and orchestrated tunes with a definite sense of humor. There is also something very likeable about Howie Newman in these songs that makes you want to toe-tap as he sings.

Newman is sometimes an observational song writer. Trust Me You’ll Like It opens with a funny song titled Everybody’s Talking On The Phone. It is about the cell-phone age we live in. I particularly like the piano work by Jim Gambino on this one. A producer would have put the second tune, Big In Belgium a bit further down in the track list as it sounds a bit too much like the previous tune when it is right next to it. Although it reminds me of some of Martin Mull’s work, I was not really impressed by this one.

Skeptical is a song about a guy in love with a girl who is not so sure. The guy himself just serves as an intro to her problem. The song ends kind of abruptly but it is still enjoyable. Way Past My Bedtime, another fun song, is about Howie Newman getting a bit too old to stay up partying. This is a great tune to play at someone’s 40^th birthday as a joke. You could also play Pushin’ 30 if the person is ten years younger.

Having had the pleasure to do so, I particularly enjoyed Driving In Boston. This is a funny song Newman can probably take on the road and use as an opening simply by changing the name of the town. Weekend Warrior is a solid tune with a bit of a rock and roll feel about playing baseball on the weekend.

Having once spent a weekend in Boston when the weather people kept announcing a massive blizzard that turned into something very similar to that Dunkin’ Donuts commercial with the two snowplow drivers fighting over a single flake, I cannot find empathy with Newman and his Snow song where he sings about his experience in a Massachusetts blizzard but I like the tune.

My problem with funny song CDs is the tunes often seem to be about someone no one but the songwriter knows or cares about. Here, it’s Doug Mientkiewiz about some baseball player. Fortunately, it is the only such song on the CD.

The closing song, Never Say Never is not the theme song to the last Connery James Bond movie. It is a country western style tune about not hanging up your skates, closing your guitar case, or closing you heart. It is the most serious song here and quite enjoyable.

Trust Me You’ll Like It by Howie Newman is a great independent release fun song CD. The production values are there right down to the booklet that includes the lyrics to the songs, something few such releases include.

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