Ol' Diz: A Musical Baseball Story - a Songwriters Work In Progress

Maverick Magazine Review of OL' DIZ

     

David Olney & John Hadley
OL' DIZ
Deadbeet Records
3 out of 4 stars

by Arthur Wood

"A folksy charm embedded recording, which baseball fans will doubtlessly find engaging and enlightening."

"If you've devoured the contents of Olney's CD liner booklets in the past, you'll immediately recognise Hadley's name as a regular co-writer. This former University of Oklahoma arts professor, now Nashville-based, has also written with Kevin Welch, jim Stafford and others.

"Don't go expecting a conventional Olney album, as this is a side project featuring 'themed' songs co-penned by the duo for Ben Jones' one-man play 'Ol' Diz: A Musical Baseball Story'. Back in the 1980s, Jones played Cooter Davenport in the Dukes of Hazzard television series, then served terms as a Democrat Congressman before returning to acting and writing. Ol' Diz, Arkansas born Jay Hanna 'Dizzy' Dean (1910-1974), was a Depression-era star pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and led the 1934 World Series winning team. Nicknamed the Gas House Gang because of their dishevelled appearance and roughhouse tactics, Jay's younger brother Paul (aka Daffy) was also a member of that team.

"On this bare-bones eleven-song recording, banjo or acoustic guitar accompany Olney and Hadley's vocals and narrations. Olney's voice should be well familiar to readers, and Hadley's voice possesses a similar lived-in quality. Employing a biographical or storytelling style, there's recall of the passing of Jay's mother when he was aged seven: 'Precious Memories To Alma Dean,' the Depression, President Roosevelt and baseball: 'The Cards Are Pitching Dizzy Dean Today,' and the 'hardball well-oiled baseball machine': 'The Gas House Gang'. 'Heaven's Game' is a gospel styled number, the ballad 'True To My Pat' recalls Dean's no-nonsense wife -- 'He's my pride and joy, He's an overgrown boy, A kid with a ball and a glove,' while in 'Hall of Fame,' which closes the album, Hadley references highlights in this sometimes boastful but nevertheless talented player's career and his 1953 election to Cooperstown's National Baseball Hall Of Fame.

"There is a folksy charm embedded in this recording and baseball fans will doubtless find it engaging and enlightening. It is the second release on David's Deadbeet Records and is a limited edition release in CD form, but the collection is also available from numerous well-known download sites."