Pat Dailey - Great American Saturday Night (2000)

This CD is the ultimate mix of Pat's serious and fun sides. While his last CD was all fun with no serious material, this song has a nice blend of both (with the majority of the songs being fun).

His poignant and nakedly autobiographical Being Me was actually also the working title for this album. With hints of melancholy the song also captures Pat's laidback lifestyle as the Great Lakes answer to Jimmy Buffet:

I never set a clock to wake me up
I leave that to the coffee in my cup...

And as the world assembles
I will be the absentee
That's just what it's like
Being me

The similarly autobiographical Here In the North is as much an anthem for the Great Lakes region as Buffet's Margaritaville or Changes in Latittudes Changes in Attitudes are anthems for the Caribbean:

Here in the north
We're just further from the sun
But the geese still fly
And the rivers still run

As on many of Dailey's most recent albums, much of the material was either written or co-written by the late poet Shel Silverstein. The album was released shortly after Silverstein's passing in 1999 and is dedicated to him.

Silverstein's wit is most evident on Father's Last Words in which a father on his deathbed is giving his sons one last bit of advice... "Never turn down a chance to get laid" even mentioning at one point, "If she's ugly, son, just pull down the shade." and on You're There in which a man is torn between being pleased that his wife is always around when he wants/needs her to be and lamenting the fact that she's always there even when he doesn't want her to be around.

In July 2000 I had the chance to enjoy one of Pat's live concerts at the Beer Barrel in Put-In-Bay, OH. It was easily the best concert I've ever seen. I hadn't had that much fun in a long time and I look forward to someday going back to see Pat live at the Beer Barrel. While this CD is exceptional, I reccommend going to see Pat live if you ever get the chance. His CDs don't quite capture the energy and atmosphere of his concerts.