{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Have a Ball | type = Cover album | artist = Me First and the Gimme Gimmes | cover = Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Have a Ball cover.jpg | alt = | released = 1997 | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = Punk rock | length = 28:48 | label = Fat Wreck Chords | producer = | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Are a Drag | next_year = 1999 }} '''''Have a Ball''''' is the first studio album by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, released in 1997 on the Fat Wreck Chords independent record label.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Frampton |first1=Scott |title=Best New Music |magazine=CMJ New Music Monthly |date=Sep 1997 |issue=49 |page=13}}</ref> The album is made up entirely of "Hits of the '60s and '70s", with the exception of Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl", originally released in 1983.
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r276649/review|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]</ref> |rev2 = ''Maximum Rocknroll'' |rev2score = (favorable)<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lujan |first=Ray |title=Music Reviews |magazine=Maximum Rocknroll |date=September 1997 |issue=172 |access-date=2024-03-02 |url=https://archive.org/details/MaximumRocknrollNo.172sep1997/mode/2up |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> |rev3 = ''Nanaimo Daily News'' |rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Nanaimo News">{{Cite news |last=Denomme |first=Terry |title=Digging rock out of an early grave |newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News |date=1999-02-05 |access-date=2024-03-01 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/360990714/sem-2 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> }} Larry Katz of the ''Boston Herald'' said that the album was an "unforgettable" album of 1997, despite being relatively little-known, and that the band's gimmick of recording cross-genre covers was a "darn good" joke.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Katz |first=Larry |title=The great unknowns: These albums from '97 would be unforgettable, if you'd ever heard of them |newspaper=Boston Herald |date=1998-01-04 |access-date=2024-03-01 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/401704913/sem-2 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Noel Murray, writing in ''Nashville Scene'', praised the record as being fun while not overly long, and said that the rearrangements of familiar older songs allowed listeners to better appreciate the writing of those songs.<ref name="Nashville Scene">{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Noel |title=Records – LL Cool J, Mike Watt, and the Pulsars |newspaper=Nashville Scene |date=1997-12-04 |access-date=2024-03-01 |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/133B496B075C4700 |url-access=subscription |via=Access World News}}</ref>
==Track listing== {{track listing | extra_column = Original performer | total_length =
| title1 = Danny's Song | note1 = | writer1 = Kenny Loggins | extra1 = Loggins and Messina | length1 = 2:10
| title2 = Leaving on a Jet Plane | note2 = from ''Denver'' | writer2 = John Denver | extra2 = John Denver | length2 = 2:32
| title3 = Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard | note3 = from ''Paul'' | writer3 = Paul Simon | extra3 = Paul Simon | length3 = 2:42
| title4 = One Tin Soldier | note4 = | writer4 = Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter | extra4 = Original Caste | length4 = 2:01
| title5 = Uptown Girl | note5 = from ''Billy'' | writer5 = Billy Joel | extra5 = Billy Joel | length5 = 2:22
| title6 = I Am a Rock | note6 = from ''Garf'' | writer6 = Paul Simon | extra6 = Simon & Garfunkel | length6 = 2:04
| title7 = Sweet Caroline | note7 = from ''Diamond'' | writer7 = Neil Diamond | extra7 = Neil Diamond | length7 = 2:53
| title8 = Seasons in the Sun | note8 = | writer8 = Jacques Brel | extra8 = Terry Jacks | length8 = 2:27
| title9 = Fire and Rain | note9 = from ''In Your Barcalounger'' | writer9 = James Taylor | extra9 = James Taylor | length9 = 1:24
| title10 = Nobody Does It Better | note10 = from ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' | writer10 = Carole Bayer Sager, Marvin Hamlisch | extra10 = Carly Simon | length10 = 2:28
| title11 = Mandy | note11 = from ''Barry'' | writer11 = Scott English, Richard Kerr | extra11 = Barry Manilow | length11 = 2:27
| title12 = Rocket Man | note12 = from ''Elton'' | writer12 = Elton John, Bernie Taupin | extra12 = Elton John | length12 = 3:15 }}
==Personnel== * Spike Slawson – vocals * Chris Shiflett (a.k.a. Jake Jackson) – lead guitar * Joey Cape – rhythm guitar * Fat Mike – bass * Dave Raun – drums
== See also == * Me First and the Gimme Gimmes discography
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Me First and the Gimme Gimmes}}
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Category:1997 debut albums Category:Me First and the Gimme Gimmes albums Category:Fat Wreck Chords albums
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