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Pat Metheny Group — Last Train Home
Album: Still Life(Talking)
Avg rating:
7.3

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1650









Released: 1987
Length: 5:22
Plays (last 30 days): 1
(instrumental)
Comments (242)add comment
Love the understated rhythm cruisin' in the background
More. Pat. Metheny. Please!
My funeral music. 

❤️
His "First Circle" album is really, really good. 

I assume "First Circle" means "the Circle of Fifths"?  And if it don't...it should. C'mon. 
RP needs more Pat Metheny! I blame his "Imaginary Day" album for getting me interested in jazz. I was a high school student working at a local computer repair shop back in the 90s. One of the older employees gave me a copy of it, and I was immediately hooked. Don't know what ever happened to Dave, but I will be forever grateful to him for introducing me to such audible beauty. Just a fantastic album.
This is wonderful..
so lovely 💙
I've spent a lot of time with this album; it was on heavy rotation for a long time - classic. Great to hear it on RP - lots of memories.
A great example of why RP exists. General high praise for this from other listeners. Me?  It's like any piece you hear playing in a shop selling overpriced handmade jewelry and scented candles. 
Definitely seems like the last of the pure "smooth jazz" sound of the mid-1980s, the good progressive kind that's not defined by loud horns or strong percussion.  There's not much like this made anymore.
Easily gets a ten. What a classic tune.
This puts me back--
'87 ... my late 20's and  living in a cabin on the south central coast of Alaska.  No running water, no electricity, no telephone, only a bike for getting  in and out of town/ to my job.  Saving bucks so that I'd be able to go to college, which I would begin in just one more year.   Tiny propane stove to cook on, breadbox sized wood stove for heat, propane lights, and .... a music box that was rigged up to a deep cell marine battery.  The one luxury that had to be allowed into that primordial existence was the one that provided me with tunes.   And one of the few cassette tapes in that 8' x 10' place that had a loft was this one by Pat Metheny, with Last Train Home getting way more than its fair share of play time.  ... 35 years ago  .... I miss it.   All of it.   Bad.
I love the percussion. Pat uses such an inspired percussion over that sprawling guitar sound of his. There's always a "rock" in Pat's jazz.
Timeless classic😊
  Omg this is so delightful - and the snare !  We love you, Pat.
Fantastic track. Phenomenal artist. More Metheny, please.
This is for your soul, not your body.
 kingart wrote:

I have fallen out of touch with Metheny's recent music. He was one of my very favs in the late '70s through the '90s. His first Group album is superb. And 80/81 has one of the great all time pieces of music, Two Folk Songs: epic 20:00 jazz with an incredible opening and one of the most gorgeous of all guitar solos at the end. American Garage, First Circle and Offramp are very good too. I met him once, at a record store where I worked in Boston's Kenmore Square. I joked that he should pay me a few bucks in royalties since I was trying to get every customer to buy the first Pat Metheny Group album. I caught their concert a few nights later at Berkeley and the audience including me were lifted to the moon. 



I attended MassArt in the '70s, out Brookline Avenue from Kenmore Square back then. I was very into Pat Metheny. Hearing this just now reminds me why.
Pat Metheny's music grabs my whole being
I realize this is one of the few Metheny songs that had commercial success. After 35 years (2022) or so it still feels fresh 
I need to find this CD and play it again for the first time. 
 kingart wrote:

I have fallen out of touch with Metheny's recent music. He was one of my very favs in the late '70s through the '90s. His first Group album is superb. And 80/81 has one of the great all time pieces of music, Two Folk Songs: epic 20:00 jazz with an incredible opening and one of the most gorgeous of all guitar solos at the end. American Garage, First Circle and Offramp are very good too. I met him once, at a record store where I worked in Boston's Kenmore Square. I joked that he should pay me a few bucks in royalties since I was trying to get every customer to buy the first Pat Metheny Group album. I caught their concert a few nights later at Berkeley and the audience including me were lifted to the moon. 



Kingart, I just saw him on his tour with Side-Eye a couple of weeks ago (February, 2022).  They were great.  What amazed me was the fact that it was an older audience that listened intently without feeling the need to incessantly yell or stand, ruining the experience for everyone else.  His encore was an 8 minute acoustic solo which was played to perfection in total silence.  You could hear every note.  But he still plays that Ibanez at lightning speed. Go see him if you get the chance.  He's not slowing down.  And at 67 he still has great hair.
bill, 
you are the master. The way you put this puzzle piece in after dave Alvin's " king of California " and move us to another direction. 
One note and you know it's PM. Nice.
c.
 garyalex wrote:

This track is a bit of a high end audio show favorite.  It's down to that bass playing.  The test is to see if a speaker can cleanly reproduce that fast bass without it turning to mush.



My computer speaker is failing miserably....still sounds OK though.
I just realize why this sounds vaguely familiar, I have the CD since...gosh a long time....need to pull it out and give it a spin. See if my updated equipment can reproduce the bass as garyalex mentions below.

Thanks Bill and Rebecca for the daily soundscape, yinz are the bestest!!
This track is a bit of a high end audio show favorite.  It's down to that bass playing.  The test is to see if a speaker can cleanly reproduce that fast bass without it turning to mush.
Now up to 5 Metheny and collaborator albums and expecting to acquire more.

This song remains a favourite though.
I first listened to this song in first year university when I was trying to adopt  more worldly listening tastes beyond the Grateful Dead.
THANK YOU B&R FOR PLAYING THIS!!!! LONG LIVE RP!!!!
Superlative Pat Metheny. Check out his down to earth interview with Rick Beato on YouTube. He talks at length about putting down the tracks to this and his other early albums.
Timeless classic😊
How could I have forgotten Pat Metheny?
9 for sure.
Thanks RP
 sgaustein wrote:

Lyle Mays was awesome too. Sad to hear he died this year.




Lyle was integral to the Pat Metheny Group sound.
I love that RP reconnects me with the music of my youth.  Like many, I let my vinyl collection disappear and this is the only place I would hear playing it.  Great work Bill.
As Falls Wichita is in my opinion Metheny's most powerful and amazing work.  i love that album every time i hear it.  The late Lyle Mayes was an amazing contributor to the sound of the Pat Metheny Group.  RIP. 
 kingart wrote:
I have fallen out of touch with Metheny's recent music. He was one of my very favs in the late '70s through the '90s. His first Group album is superb. And 80/81 has one of the great all time pieces of music, Two Folk Songs: epic 20:00 jazz with an incredible opening and one of the most gorgeous of all guitar solos at the end. American Garage, First Circle and Offramp are very good too. I met him once, at a record store where I worked in Boston's Kenmore Square. I joked that he should pay me a few bucks in royalties since I was trying to get every customer to buy the first Pat Metheny Group album. I caught their concert a few nights later at Berkeley and the audience including me were lifted to the moon. 
 
Look after the king of R n R please 
 quietman wrote:
Thanks Bill and Rebecca. We don’t hear much of Pat here, but always welcome.

This is one of my many favorites of PMG. As a counterpoint, I also love Pat’s acoustic version of this song on One Quiet Night. It’s at a different tempo, much slower, but just as beautiful, played on his rich baritone guitar.
 
Amen.  I can remember when this was hot off the presses.  
 kingart wrote:
I have fallen out of touch with Metheny's recent music. He was one of my very favs in the late '70s through the '90s. His first Group album is superb. And 80/81 has one of the great all time pieces of music, Two Folk Songs: epic 20:00 jazz with an incredible opening and one of the most gorgeous of all guitar solos at the end. American Garage, First Circle and Offramp are very good too. I met him once, at a record store where I worked in Boston's Kenmore Square. I joked that he should pay me a few bucks in royalties since I was trying to get every customer to buy the first Pat Metheny Group album. I caught their concert a few nights later at Berkeley and the audience including me were lifted to the moon. 
 

Agree, the first Pat Metheny Group album was the best!
Thanks Bill and Rebecca. We don’t hear much of Pat here, but always welcome.

This is one of my many favorites of PMG. As a counterpoint, I also love Pat’s acoustic version of this song on One Quiet Night. It’s at a different tempo, much slower, but just as beautiful, played on his rich baritone guitar.
Only 6 Pat tracks Bill?  More please {#Notworthy}
Really good drum work, fitting to the name of the tune. And a uniformly excellent album. Thanks for fitting in some Pat Metheny.
Lyle Mays was awesome too. Sad to hear he died this year.
A meandering troubadours journey of tracks, trials travels and tremendous joyful pacing. Love it 9 ❤️🚞
Primera vez de los años que vengo escuchando esta radio que subes a Pat Metheny,  oh sorpresa.....
 On_The_Beach wrote:
So beautiful.
Those warm piano chords; gotta be Lyle Mays?
 

Sure is.

This remains my favourite Metheny Group album, probably because it was the first one I owned. 

Saw PMG  at a live open-air concert in Montreal in 1989, for free, with over 100,000 fellow music-lovers. That was something. A jazz concert with a crowd that size. 
Pat Metheny et al provide terrific road music for navigating British Columbia's mountain roads.  Bought 3 PM albums a while back; time to buy a couple more.

Easy to get lost in the music, and then easy enough to pull out and focus on the road, wildlife, scenery and so on.
YAY- Pat Metheny was once the sonic Ritalin I needed to keep my shit together. I had a phase that included Lee Ritenour, Stanley Clarke and others plying the less traveled routes. Very fun to hear this. Thank you, Bill.
Bill. You make our lifes so much easier and nicer. A billion thanks. 
So beautiful.
Those warm piano chords; gotta be Lyle Mays?
Number one!
synchronicity... I rarely think of Pat Metheny or hear him (with the exception of backing Joni live). But I've been looking at buying a new guitar recently, and discovered this Linda Manzer, an impressive luthier who made some of Pat's guitars. Just a few hours ago I was watching him play one of her guitars... if you could even call it a guitar. 
 Isabeau wrote:

Same here. Been decades since I've heard him. 
Reason #34 to love RP.

 
Ditto!
 emcibulka wrote:
I'm a huge PM fan. Haven't heard you play much of him. Happy to hear it.
 
Same here. Been decades since I've heard him. 
Reason #34 to love RP.

I'm a huge PM fan. Haven't heard you play much of him. Happy to hear it.
MORE METHENY AND HIS COLLEAGUES! A great guitarist and composer who has worked with some of the best around. So many great cuts. Eighteen, American Garage, many more. To watch him play guitar in concert is to be totally transported. 
 Proclivities wrote:


I'm pretty sure that is an actual drummer playing that high-hat - perhaps a loop, but not a synthesized beat.
 

Duh, it properly evokes a fast train. I love this track and this album. Haven't heard it in ages.
Nice memories of my last year living at the beach before I had to move inland for a "real" job after my daughter was born.
His First Circle album form this same time period, is a very good album. Lyle Mays is great. 
@Pipes, @Proclivities: the drummer is playing a fast 16 pattern with a set of wire brushes on the snare drum. The effect is to simulate the sound of an old steam locomotive.
Long time since I've heard any of Metheny's work.  Thanks for playing such a nice selection.
 Pipes wrote:
Could he not find a real drummer instead of that annoying synthesized drum sound in the background doing the same thing throughout the entire song? Other than that, it would be enjoyable. :roll:
 

I'm pretty sure that is an actual drummer playing that high-hat - perhaps a loop, but it doesn't sound like a synthesized beat.
 IMGoph wrote:
Oh boy, it's the song from the Publix Christmas commercial. Takes me back to the early 90's when I was a kid in southern Georgia...
 I figured 10 years ago but by Goph's comment it had to be 15 years ago.

The commercial was produced by then West & Co, now 22 Squared, and featured a family traveling by train to Grandma's houseboat in Florida.  It was - and still is - one of my favorite uses of contemporary music with commercial enterprise. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTD96WhhC9w
 

Wow, not sure how I missed this one. I was familiar with it from either live album (Travels?) or the acoustic record he did 10 years back. great stuff.
His First Circle album is quite good.
PSD'd to this, arguably Metheny's finest moment.
Can't believe it's been taken out of rotation.
C'mon Bill, bring this train back home!
I have fallen out of touch with Metheny's recent music. He was one of my very favs in the late '70s through the '90s. His first Group album is superb. And 80/81 has one of the great all time pieces of music, Two Folk Songs: epic 20:00 jazz with an incredible opening and one of the most gorgeous of all guitar solos at the end. American Garage, First Circle and Offramp are very good too. I met him once, at a record store where I worked in Boston's Kenmore Square. I joked that he should pay me a few bucks in royalties since I was trying to get every customer to buy the first Pat Metheny Group album. I caught their concert a few nights later at Berkeley and the audience including me were lifted to the moon. 

I go very hot and cold on Pat Metheny's various projects. I'm not sure I was too crazy about the CD this is on, but this particular song always made me very homesick for Ohio while I was living in Chicago a few years ago. Brings back whistful memories...
There's a great jazz player in my town, Shane Conoway, who just nails this piece. He's a Metheny freak. Very cool.
thewiseking wrote:
we are just going to take a few xrays and then Dr Finkelstein will be in to do your root canal...
This is hilarious but totally incorrect. This a great song and I for one would love to get a root canal while this played in the background. Now sit there for five minutes while the anesthesia sets in.
Shouldn't there be an emergency phone in this elevator?
I was a big fan of Mr. Metheny years ago. Now I remember why. This is just what I needed today. c.
thewiseking wrote:
we are just going to take a few xrays and then Dr Finkelstein will be in to do your root canal...
One of the many Metheny songs that I use in my late night soundtracks. The vocals are really errie but seem to fit the mood of the song. Great song.....
bc wrote:
That overactive hi-hat seems incongruous with the rest of the song's instrumentation. It works with the title, but distracts from the rest of the piece. My $0.02.
I think it reflects the feeling of personal calm in a sea of frenetic energy. Like sitting in a kayak looking over at the traffic on Lake Shore Drive as the sun sets behind the Chicago skyline . . . Gawd I don't want to be at work today. Now we have $0.04!
thewiseking wrote:
we are just going to take a few xrays and then Dr Finkelstein will be in to do your root canal...
LOL...precisely!
This is terrible! Make it stop!!
This is an amazing track. Yes, there is a hi-hat, but most of what you're hearing is actually wire brushes on a snare. I find it provides the perfect complement to the rest of the track---the nostalgic reverb and bright chords offset the tension of the constant brushwork quite well. Great video as well. Even better live. In fact, PM is the most amazing group live
Yawn ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
bc wrote:
That overactive hi-hat seems incongruous with the rest of the song's instrumentation. It works with the title, but distracts from the rest of the piece. My $0.02.
Agreed. Could've been a great background for a high energy song.
That overactive hi-hat seems incongruous with the rest of the song's instrumentation. It works with the title, but distracts from the rest of the piece. My $0.02.
Pat is excellent..I discovered them from the Falcon and the Snowman soundtrack..a great vinyl disc from a long time ago.
we are just going to take a few xrays and then Dr Finkelstein will be in to do your root canal...
A great song from a great CD! I love Pat.
I love this song. One of his best tracks?
Brilliant! 9
An iconic track, mostly flawed by being played a little too much and its unfortunate proximity to the tragedy that is smooth jazz.
Geez, what an inspired set. From Kisses Sweeter than Wine(when I fired up Winamp) to Last Train Home, it's just incredible.
Alpine wrote:
I'm with ya man! I don't get why so many don't like Metheney. I've seen him twice. I guess some people have no taste.
If we liked what the "majority" likes, we'd be listening to Britney, Justin, or some American Idol star.... Let's give thanks to Radio Paradise for providing an alternative to commercial radio. Alvaro
This is probably my favorite Pat Metheny song. For you nay sayers, you need to check out Pat Metheny live. Here is this song live from youtube: (click here) Alvaro
jagdriver wrote:
A) Pat is not elevator music B) This is my favorite track by him, one I feel very strongly about having played at my funeral. Not that it's a dirge — from from it! Rather, it evokes very strong emotions in me that encapsulate who I am as a human being, my experiences, and those I've known.
I'm with ya man! I don't get why so many don't like Metheney. I've seen him twice. I guess some people have no taste.
thatch wrote:
I would keep the train and cut the vocals...It is very close to elevator music, as is much of Metheny's stuff.
But I LOVE those vocals! I find Metheny MUCH more interesting than muzak. Perhaps it's because I know what GREAT chops these guys have, and for ME (not you, obviously) it has SOUL.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........................
Stefen wrote:
It's better than the tree trimmers' chain saw outside my window.
I love the snarl and pop of a good running chain saw. Much more than this, anyway.
jagdriver wrote:
A) Pat is not elevator music B) This is my favorite track by him, one I feel very strongly about having played at my funeral.
Brilliant on both counts!
Heartland music!
The dentist will see you now.
A) Pat is not elevator music B) This is my favorite track by him, one I feel very strongly about having played at my funeral. Not that it's a dirge — from from it! Rather, it evokes very strong emotions in me that encapsulate who I am as a human being, my experiences, and those I've known.
Think I've got some Pat in my mp3 collection, its sorted under Elevator together with Brian Culbertson, Earl Klugh and Mars Lasar.
thatch wrote:
I would keep the train and cut the vocals...It is very close to elevator music, as is much of Metheny's stuff.
Yep! It's been in the tumble dryer with one of those anti-static & softener towels. It's all fluffy and soft-focussed...
Finally! Finally! Finally! Thanks Rebecca and Bill! They are one of my favourite bands. I could enjoy many awesome, great concerts of PMG.
Memories of moving from California to Colorado. For some reason this song gives me a sense of nostalgia that is hard to beat.
It's nice to hear a little PMG on RP, especially at a grey, rainy morning like this today over here. Thanks Bill!
Philippe, you were the one who made me know Pat Metheny's work. We miss you.
It's better than the tree trimmers' chain saw outside my window.
American Garage was my first intro to PMG Good stuff- give it a listen if you can
This song is, uh, transporting.
bcorcoran wrote:
I can see where he's coming from actually. If it wasn't for the synth keyboard I bet this song wouldn't have so many 1's. And they should have taken out the train sound-effect. Tacky.
I would keep the train and cut the vocals...It is very close to elevator music, as is much of Metheny's stuff.
It's great elevator music though
Older_Gentleman wrote:
Elevator music? Gotta get me some of what you're smoking.
I can see where he's coming from actually. If it wasn't for the synth keyboard I bet this song wouldn't have so many 1's. And they should have taken out the train sound-effect. Tacky.
always got give a shout for pat!
Thank you!
Never cared much for Pat Mehiney.
Ennis wrote:
Most definitely. Sorry folks, but I had to turn it off. It felt like elevator music / easy listening to me ...
Elevator music? Gotta get me some of what you're smoking.
Finally! The PMG in RP... Great!! Here is some more information: https://www.patmethenygroup.com/!
Keep waiting for Bruce Hornsby to start singing
I see Pat as a participant to the next "Survivor"...with "Yawn Man" as his nickname...
plaid wrote:
Less PMG please.
been listening to RP for almost a year and this is the first time i've heard this .. quite nice.