Zooglobble

Newly-shorn concert/potluck promoter Bill Childs recently wrote of his appreciation for the Replacements.

That discussion, along with comments in this Justin Roberts Pop Fly review about how people have "linked" me with Justin Roberts, made me think about musical antecedents and current influences. Who would be the most important musicians (of any genre) throughout your entire life -- the ones, even if you don't listen to them on a regular basis now, who profoundly affect who you listen to now and, heck, who you are, period? And who are the kids' musicians who have done the same?

My answers are after the jump -- hopefully yours will be in the comments.

Continue reading "How Did You Get Here?" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Elizabeth Mitchell made another appearance on NPR today, this time on their podcast/newscast/somethingcast The Bryant Park Project. The visit was ostensibly to plug the new CD from Mitchell and husband Daniel Littleton's band's Ida, Lovers Prayers. Oddly enough, though, most of the interview is spent talking about that kids career, rather than the new CD. Anyway, go here to listen to the interview and to hear Mitchell, Littleton, and their daughter Storey sing "Green, Green Rocky Road," which Mitchell says they "just recorded (with a VERY special guest) for [their] next children's record." It sounds suh-weet.

Update: Watch a video of the live recording here.

Update #2: Mitchell reports in her latest newsletter that their "VERY special guest" with whom they sing the song on the upcoming album is Dan Zanes. As I said, suh-weet.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High Meadow Songs is a collection of tracks from artists in New York's Hudson Valley to benefit High Meadow Arts, a local non-profit providing arts education for children and families.

When getting a bunch of local musicians together for a benefit album, it doesn't hurt if your definition of "local musicians" includes Elizabeth Mitchell, Dog on Fleas, and Medeski, Martin & Wood. And if the CD just consisted of the tracks from those artists or collaborators, you'd have a pretty nifty 9-track album. Dog on Fleas turn in a very Fleas-ian (and local) "Buffalo Gals" and sound a bit like The Band on "Jenny Jenkins." Mitchell covers Jane Siberry's sweet "When Spring Comes," while MMW offer their reworking of "All Around the Kitchen" (accented with kids' voices) from their upcoming Let's Go Everywhere CD.

Luckily there are a number of other tracks worth it for someone who's not from the area -- for example, Rebecca Coupe Franks & Her Groovemobile offer an original jazzy instrumental, "Ella Skye," and Abby Hollander and a whole bunch of High Meadow students perform Mark Morgenstern's story-in-song "Hudson River Girl." The album isn't so much an album of "kids music" as much as it is an album of kid-friendly folk music, "folk" defined rather broadly, as the album also includes a song from a musical comedy based on Beowulf ("True True Friend") and a couple of tracks from drummers Fode Sissoko and Toby Stover. As with any benefit album, especially a 65-minute one such as this one, the quality (or interest) of the tracks is not uniformly high, but the high points outweigh the rest.

You can hear the first three tracks in their entirety here or listen to samples at the album's CDBaby page. It's probably most appropriate for kids ages 5 and up. High Meadow Songs will appeal most to fans of Dog on Fleas and Elizabeth Mitchell, but I think any listener (or family) who's a fan of folk music will find many pleasures here. It's a testament to one particular community's creative vibrancy. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hear about a bunch of benefit albums. And a benefit album with tracks from Elizabeth Mitchell, Dog on Fleas, and Medeski Martin & Wood definitely piques my interest.

But any benefit album which includes songs like "True True Friend" from Dog on Fleas collaborator Debbie Lan with this description -- "This song was written for our musical last year (a collaborative piece, interpreted and adapted by Allison Uzzle and the 7th/ 8th graders – the challenge was to take the epic poem ‘Beouwolf’ and make it into a musical comedy!) and we needed a sweet song for four of our sweet girls, and so I wrote this for them. They did a sterling job. Thanks girls!! (Isabelle Lacedonia, Rebekah Underhill-Hval, Corin Mosack and Zoe Saridakis.)" -- well, I'm well beyond piqued.

Proceeds from High Meadow Songs benefits High Meadow Arts, Inc. a Hudson Valley non-profit organization "dedicated to providing excellent arts education to local children and families." Listen to 3 tracks -- Debbie Lan's soulful "I'm On Your Side," Dog on Fleas' typically Fleasian (that is, eclectic and fun) "Buffalo Gals," and the nifty "Hudson River Girl" from Abby Hollander, Lilly Morganstern & the Hudson River Girls -- here. The record release party is Sunday, Dec. 2 at 6 PM.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

News from Elizabeth Mitchell that she's spending the rest of 2007 finishing her next children's music album. "If you have any song suggestions, now is the time to let us know," Mitchell says. (For the lazy among you, that address is: mail AT youaremyflower DOT org.) If it's half as good as any in her You Are My... trilogy, it should be great.

And for those of you around New York City next weekend, Mitchell is playing Symphony Space November 10. How is that different from any of her other shows? Well, Mitchell's Catch the Moon compatriot Lisa Loeb and Laurie Berkner partner-in-crime Susie Lampert will be joining in on the fun. Admit it, those harmonies might be sweet.

Posted by SAShepherd at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A long-awaited Land of Nod Nodcast Podcast with Elizabeth Mitchell and Ella Jenkins is finally available. Daniel Littleton and daughter Storey join in on the fun. Elizabeth sounds pretty much in awe of Ella (a not uncommon condition when in the presence of Ella Jenkins, I assure you), but the four friends have fun. My favorite part? When Storey takes the "lead role" in "John the Rabbit," though Ella's and Elizabeth's duet on "Who's Gonna Be Your Man" that follows is very good too.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I originally talked about my latest piece for Education.com, "Albums To Tame the Savage Beast," with my editor there, she made it clear that she wasn't looking for a list of lullaby albums, because the site focuses on kids aged preschool on up.

So these are five albums designed for quiet time for slightly older kids. Raffi's Quiet Time makes the list, natch, but rest assured that all five CDs will work well for times when everybody needs to take it down a notch.

If you fall asleep on the couch while listening some afternoon and your kids pull all the pots and pans out of the cabinets while you're sleeping, I can't be held responsible.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ahhhh... a new Elizabeth Mitchell mp3, just in time for Mother's Day.

"Little Bird Hops" would've sounded great on You Are My Little Bird -- mellow, with nifty guitar work, and less than 90 second, pfft, it flies away.

Posted by SAShepherd at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Once again, somebody asked when the next entry in this series would be posted just as I planning the post. My readers are nothing if not persistent and possibly endowed with mind-reading abilities. Just another side benefit of reading this website.

With this entry, your opportunity to enter my contest to guess the Top 5 is rapidly disappearing. All entries are due before I post songs 16 through 20, which I expect to do this upcoming week. Winner gets a free CD. You might want to look at the previous entries...

Songs 26 through 30
Songs 31 through 35
Songs 36 through 40
Songs 41 through 45
Songs 46 through 50

25. "Teddy Bears' Picnic" - John Walter Bratton (music) / Jimmy Kennedy (lyrics): Amazing what you learn in putting these lists together. Did you know the music for this song was written exactly 100 years ago? And then when words were added 25 years later, the resulting recording sold more than one million copies? (Thanks, Wikipedia!) The lyrics are probably what amuses the kiddos, but I love the way the melody bounces up and around. Recorded by many (Trout Fishing in America and Garcia/Grisman, among others), but why not listen to the original million-seller here?

24. "We Are the Dinosaurs" - Laurie Berkner: Long after Jack's Big Music Show has ended production, long after CDs have stopped production for some method of music distribution we can't even fathom, little kids will be singing this song. The earworm-y beginning -- "we are the dinosaurs, marching, marching, we are the dinosaurs..." followed by the "WHADDAYA THINK OF THAT?!!" and the timpani drum is, well, the opening strains of Beethoven's Fifth of the late 20th century kids' music resurgence. (Watch Laurie's Noggin video here.)

23. "This Little Light" - Traditional: It's a Christian hymn, but it's been used in the civil rights struggle of the 1960's and in countless other secular situations. Can I hide this song under a bushel? No! (You can listen to one of my personal favorite renditions -- the very first song on Elizabeth Mitchell's very first kids' album You Are My Flower -- on Mitchell's website. Click on "flower," then "listen".)

22. "Row Row Row Your Boat - Traditional (lyrics), Eliphalet Orem Lyte (music): While I'm not quite sure I agree with Wikipedia's existential explication of the lyrics, it's definitely not the most mind-easing set of lyrics if the parent is really paying attention to the lyric. Luckily, the words are so ingrained in our brain we don't need to pay attention to it in order to sing it. (And, as a result, there is absolutely no need to give you a sound clip. It's already stuck in your brain now anyway.)

21. "Baby Beluga" - Raffi and Debi Pike: This is the biggest hit from the biggest children's musician of all time. Shouldn't this be, like, #2? I feel bad putting it at #21 instead of somewhat higher, but I don't think it's the easiest song for kids to sing by themselves. But there are a bunch of kids who are singing it with their parents (who sang it with their parents). (Listen to the song at Raffi's Myspace page.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By the end of March those of us in Phoenix are typically slathering on sunscreen and complaining that summer and 110-degree weather can't be far away. The fading days of spring would be made considerably more tolerable if we had a few Elizabeth Mitchell concerts to attend.

Unfortunately for us, Mitchell lives in New York state and as a result those folks get some sweet music to go along with their March (and April) snowstorms.

To wit: Mitchell and Uncle Rock will be playing at Levon Helm's awesome Midnight Ramble series on March 31st. The good news for the kids is that it's not at midnight, but rather at 2 PM. The bad news is that it's already sold out. (Unless you have tickets, in which case I ask you not to lord it over us.)

But fear not, Mitchell fans, for she's also helping to organize a Family Concert Series at the High Meadow School. Besides the wonderful Hayes Greenfield doing his Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz program, the series also features Peter Schickele, creator of PDQ Bach. (Classical geek note: I once owned the PDQ Bach "autobiography." Hi-larious.)

Oh, and Mitchell's playing a show with Dog on Fleas on April 15th. That would be worth driving through a snowdrift of some sort, to be sure.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A last-minute collection of songs for Groundhog Day, a short-but-sweet list:

"I Hog the Ground (Groundhog Song)" - Steve Burns / Steven Drozd: view the YouTube video for this awesome song here
"Oh Groundhog" - Elizabeth Mitchell / Lisa Loeb: Off their Catch the Moon album, this is a pleasant and mellow little ditty
"How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck?" - Danny Adlerman and Friends: It's not really a groundhog song, but this is a fun little ditty off their One Size Fits All disk that at least mentions groundhogs...

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

By the way, it's too late for Christmas, but the awesome cover to Liz Mitchell's awesome You Are My Little Bird CD is now available in a limited edition run of 250. It's autographed and comes with a copy of the CD. (Which, since you probably have the CD, you can give away to some other person who'll be blown away by the album.)

You can get the print through the cover artist Ida Pearle's website.

Posted by SAShepherd at 02:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So here's the first installment of my quixotic attempt to produce a list of the Top 50 Kids Songs of All Time.

In general this list is supposed to produce a list of songs familiar to a wide range of kids, at least in English-speaking North America. (OK, I realize that's not quite so wide.) As we approach #1, the songs are more likely to be "classics," recorded multiple times, and familiar enough to people for them to join in singing spontaneously. Which is not to say that more recent and more recording-focused tunes won't make the list, just that they're probably more the exception than the rule.

And remember, if you haven't entered the contest to pick the top five, go do so now.

Without any further ado, then, here we go...

50. "Bicycle" - The Jellydots: Did I say this song wouldn't make this list? OK, I changed my mind. Of course, a lot of the Jellydots' tunes were written to help teacher guitar to kids, so maybe 20 years from now some 10-year-old kid will jam out on her own guitar to this. (Listen at the Jellydots' Myspace page.)

49. "Tricycle" - Lunch Money: "This tricycle / Was my brother's tricycle / And that's why it has / This dent in the fender." Lunch Money's debut Silly Reflection is a small gem of a CD and I could've picked any one of a half-dozen excellent songs here, but this one is the most accessible and relatable to kids and their parents. (Listen at Lunch Money's lyrics page for "Tricycle".)

48. "Car Car" - Woody Guthrie: Hard to believe this song is, what, 50 years old? Covered by Elizabeth Mitchell on You Are My Sunshine (with a "beep beep" that still makes us swivel our heads every time we listen to it in the car), it's still timely today. (Listen to a sample of Woody's version here.)

47. "Yellow Bus" - Justin Roberts: Roberts is one of the top 2 or 3 crafters of kids pop tunes working today. This track is a fine example of his folk-pop talent merged with his ample sense of humor -- kids and parents might not necessarily sing his music on their own all the time, but they'll definitely sing along. (Listen to a sample here.)

46. "Trot Ol' Joe" - traditional: An excellent example -- the first of many -- of songs that have been shaped through the years to fit slightly different melodies and lyrics. Also an excellent example of songs to combine with physical movements with toddlers. Love the "whoooooaaa, Joe" part.

Final note: Note the common thread here? Yes, all these songs deal with modes of transportation. No, the rest of the list will not be organized quite so neatly.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

To those of you visiting here from Melissa Block's post on CDs her family's been enjoying, welcome. You'll find over 140 reviews of CDs here (all accessible from the artist links on the right-hand side of the page), plus news and interviews squeezed in whenever I can find the time.

For what it's worth, you can follow the links below to my reviews of the albums Melissa lists...

-- Catch That Train! - Dan Zanes and Friends (review / interview)
-- You Are My Little Bird - Elizabeth Mitchell (review)
-- New Orleans Playground - Various Artists / Putumayo (review)
-- Alphabet Songs - Steve Weeks (Vol. 2 review, Vol. 3 review)
-- The Johnny Cash Children's Album - Johnny Cash (review)
-- Whoever Shall Have Some Good Peanuts - Sam Hinton (review)

And thanks for stopping by!

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Want to rock out on "Little Liza Jane," just like Elizabeth Mitchell did with Daniel and Storey on You Are My LIttle Bird? (Handclaps optional.)

Well now you can -- sort of -- as Mitchell has put together chords and lyrics for 9 of the tracks off that stellar CD and matched them with lovely drawings from Ida Pearle (who did the artwork for the album).

Get the songbook here. Songbooks for the other Mitchell CDs (and perhaps more songs off this CD) are in the works.

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Heads up, people. Elizabeth Mitchell will be on the second hour of NPR's All Things Considered today (Friday). Go here later today for the link to the story.

Good on her.

Update: NPR interview here. My review of You Are My Little Bird here. And everything Elizabeth Mitchell here at the website (including my reviews of her other CDs for kids and families) here. And, if you're new here, once you finish with all that, explore a bit -- there's lots of other great music to be found here.

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There are two basic approaches to putting together a genre-specific compilation of music, approaches which for brevity's and wit's sake, I call Putumayo vs. Rough Guides. The former approach may not necessarily be an exhaustive look at a genre, but it sure results in a pleasant thirty-to-sixty-minute mix of music to someone unfamiliar with the genre. The latter approach is as much history lesson as mixtape and while you might not listen to it often, unless your expertise is such that you might have been asked to compile one of these yourself, you're bound to find something new and something really fabulous.

Bright Spaces 2 is Dan Zanes' Rough Guide to Family Folk Music.

Zanes compiled this 2006 collection, released last week, on behalf of the Bright Horizons Foundation. The Foundation sponsors the "Bright Spaces" program, which puts playrooms in shelters for children in crisis situations. He calls this collection a "musical scrapbook," and like many a scrapbook, it's a collection of snapshots (in this case, songs) that have significance to Zanes. His scrapbook might not be your scrapbook, but he's certainly taken a lot of pictures of family folk music.

Zanes pulls from artists young and old, famous and not. And unless your collection of family folk music is, oh, a thousand albums full, many of the tracks are likely to be new to you. Boston's Session Americana turns in a fabulously languid version of "Merzidotes," which is followed by "L'cha Dodi," a 16th century Jewish tune recorded by Craig Taubman. The Deighton Family, a real "family band" for whom Zanes has had many a good word, leads off the album with a happy "When You're Smilin'." And Zanes re-records his hit "Jump Up" with New York band Astrograss, putting a more muscular bluegrassy accompaniment to his tune -- I wouldn't buy the album just for that version, but it's good in its own right and different than the original. There are probably few tunes you already have in your collection -- Elizabeth Mitchell's version of "Little Sack of Sugar" and the Garcia/Grisman rendition of "Hopalong Peter" are the two most likely. If there's any downside to the collection is that it lacks some of the musical diversity that makes Zanes' own albums such adventures to listen to. The songs here fit more in the folk music mold, and if that's not your bag, you may be underwhelmed.

As an album of family folk music, it's really appropriate for all ages, though the tiniest ones may not be too interested. Call it ages 2 through 10. You can purchase the album at Amazon as well as on this page. You can hear the Astrograss/Dan Zanes track here.

In calling this the "Rough Guide to Family Folk Music," I've probably understated the mixtape qualities of Bright Spaces 2. There are good and excellent tracks collected here, and, if you have any affinity for Zanes' music-making, will without a doubt send you spinning off in at least one new direction you've not gone before. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I wouldn't be here if not for Elizabeth Mitchell. Not in a "here on this planet" manner of speaking, but here, writing about music for kids and families. A webforum's random note suggesting her kids' music debut You Are My Flower prompted an impulsive purchase; listening to the album, brief though it was, opened my ears to the possibilities in listening to (and making) music with kids. It and its successor, You Are My Sunshine, became beloved and well-worn recordings in our household.

I mention this for two reasons: one, to express my debt of gratitude to Ms. Mitchell for that first album; and two, to give you a sense of my bias heading into the review of Elizabeth Mitchell's 3rd solo CD for kids and her first for the venerable Smithsonian Folkways label, You Are My Little Bird (2006). The pairing is so obvious that it makes you wonder why nobody had thought of this sooner. Mitchell's previous kids' albums (including another album made with her college bandmate Lisa Loeb) always relied heavily on traditional songs discovered or made famous by such Folkways standbys as Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and Elizabeth Cotten. (She also liked covering Bob Dylan songs, too, part of the albums' unique charms.) The folk approach (homemade sound, often only accompanied by husband and musical partner Daniel Littleton) also made it sound very Folkways-like.

This album is loosely organized around the avian theme of the title, with songs such as the traditional "Little Bird, Little Bird" and the Spanish-language "Los Pollitos" (The Little Chicks). (The use of non-English-language tracks continues the trend seen in the Mitchell-Loeb Catch The Moon album.) The album also includes slightly less traditional (but no less avian) covers of Neil Young ("Little Wing") and Gillian Welch/David Rawlings ("Winter's Come and Gone"). Some songs encourage listener participation, such as on "Little Liza Jane," which names cities familiar to the artists, while one of the album's standout tracks, "If You Listen," a sweet folk-pop track, encourages the listener to search for certain sounds (birds, different instruments). If there's a key song thematically here, this is it.

Another one of my favorite tracks is the cover of the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On," which, well, rocks in a way few if any other Mitchell's kids' music tracks do. It fits in well with an album which takes the homemade sound of her previous CDs and builds upon it in different ways -- the significant (but not distracting) presence of daughter Storey, the gradual building of voices in the opener "Little Liza Jane," the banjo on "Little Bird, Little Bird" (recorded by another stellar kids' musician and banjo player, Pete Seeger).

I can't discuss this album without mentioning Mitchell's voice, which is the sweetest and best voice in kids' and family music today. The crystal-clear quality of her voice not only is pleasant to hear, it's also essential to understanding the lyrics so you can then sing the songs to the kids in your life. (In fact, if I have one complaint with the album it's that some of the non-Mitchell-penned liner notes take up valuable space which could've otherwise been used to print lyrics.)

Like the other Mitchell CDs, the sense of calm that permeates the album makes it appropriate for a wide age range, but it's probably best for kids ages 2 through 7. You can hear 5 of the songs (including "What Goes On" and "Three Little Birds") in their entirety at Mitchell's website (click on "Sunshine," then "Listen.") You can hear samples from all the tracks on the album at its Amazon page.

If, like me, you are familiar with Elizabeth Mitchell's work, you will not be disappointed by this latest album -- it retains the simplicity and homemade sound of the earlier albums while expanding upon it in new and delightful ways. If, like me a number of years ago, you are unfamiliar with Elizabeth Mitchell's work, You Are My Little Bird is an excellent introduction. The album is a gift to kids and adults alike. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I skipped July, didn't I? Slacker. Well, it would've been a short list (at the time, anyway). But August? August is shaping up as a little more crowded...

August 1: Go Baby Go - Baby Loves Jazz (Various Artists)
August 1: If I Could Be... - Meredith Brooks
August 8: A World of Music - Toucan Jam
August 8: What's Eatin' Yosi? - Yosi (national release)
August 22: Marvelous Day - Stevesongs (re-release on Rounder Records -- say that three times fast)
August 29: You Are My Little Bird - Elizabeth Mitchell (on Smithsonian Folkways)

But wait, there's more!

September will see the release of new stuff from Trout Fishing in America and ScribbleMonster (maybe).

And then there's October, October 3rd in particular, which is shaping up to be a very crowded release date. The third album from Milkshake, Play. [Edit: I've been told the album may come out just a leeeetle bit later.] The third album from The Sippy Cups, which has, hands-down, the best kids' music album name of the year, Electric Storyland. And the DVD/CD release from Ralph's World, Welcome to Ralph's World. Actually, I've seen that listed on various e-tailers' sites as both 10/3 and 10/10, so it could be either. We shall see...

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brady Rymer. Elizabeth Mitchell. Hayes Greenfield. I doubt another lineup will top this, the best one-day-only concert of 2006. Heck, it can even give those multi-day festivals in Chicago and Austin a run for their money. Pity our family has no plans to beanywhere near Long Island on August 27.

Oh, and Brady, you really should blog more often. That Clearwater Folk Festival entry was fun to read.

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Folk Playground is neither 'folk' nor 'playground' -- discuss."

The Putumayo label got its start a number of years ago putting together mix tapes for use in its clothing store. They have since abandoned the clothing store, focusing solely on music, and have developed a kids' music label, Putumayo Kids. The latest entry in the Putumayo Kids series of CDs is the 2006 release of Folk Playground, to be released on Tuesday.

The 33-minute CD may confuse folk purists while also confusing some parents new to the children's music scene. The key component in the definition of "folk" seems to have been whether or not acoustic guitar was included on the track. The "playground" songs -- "This Old Man," "Froggie Went A Courtin'," -- aren't necessarily "folk music" in execution (or, if they are, it sort of stretches the definition.) The term "Folk Playground" is marketing and stretches the definition of what's actually on here.

Now, if you are a devoted children's music listener, you may already have half the songs (or at least half the artists) already in your collection. The problem with the selections from the more familiar artists is twofold. In some cases, the selections are not very representative of the artist's work (Justin Roberts' "Roller in the Coaster," while a nice little song, is a less common type of song for him, compared to the rave-ups; Laurie Berkner has made a name for herself for her originals, not covers. Neither would be considered folk artists.) In other cases, the songs are more representative of the artists' overall work, but not necessarily a highlight from their catalog (Dan Zanes' "Hop Up Ladies," Trout Fishing in America's "Fill It Up," Elizabeth Mitchell's "Crawdad"). These songs are perfectly fine, but I could probably have come up with a half-dozen songs each that I'd've preferred to see on here. (I do think Brady Rymer's "It's All How You Look At It" is pretty good, though.)

Of the less familiar artists (kids' related -- Leon Redbone is hardly an unfamiliar artist), the clear standout song on the CD is Zoe Lewis' "Sheep," about her musings while seeing sheep from far above in an airplane ("I wonder what are you thinking as your little pink lips go round and round and chew / Does night time bring you dreams of spring, mutton, mint sauce, leg of lamb or stew? / (Sorry, sheep)"). It's a sprightly melody, sung with whimsy, and mixed with tin whistle, among other instruments. Forget about the less familiar artists -- it's the best song on the CD, period.

The album is probably most appropriate for kids age 2 through 8. You can download lyrics and listen to sound samples at Putumayo's page for the release.

In the end, after listing all my criticisms, you might be surprised to read that I like the CD. It's a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Putumayo's history as a mix-tape creator serves it very well here as Folk Playground is a CD which will serve as a very pleasant soundtrack to a session of coloring or game-playing. While there are few standout tracks here, the overall listening experience is nice.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In honor of the release of Dan Zanes and Friends' Catch That Train! (review here), I thought I'd list a few songs about trains for kids.

(Note: references to the Island of Sodor will be summarily deleted.)

(Last updated May 23, 2006)

"Catch That Train!" - off of Dan Zanes and Friends' (DZ&F) Catch That Train!, of course
"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" - also try DZ&F's Catch That Train!
"Wabash Cannonball" - many, try DZ&F's House Party
"Guysborough Railway" - try DZ&F's Night Time
"Rock Island Line" - try DZ&F's Family Dance
A whole bunch of songs on DZ&F's Parades and Panoramas
"Freight Train" - try Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are My Flower, also (reader-recommended) on Enzo Garcia's Breakfast with Enzo
"Little Red Caboose" - many, try Elizabeth Mitchell and Lisa Loeb's Catch The Moon
"I've Been Working on the Railroad - many, try Laurie Berkner's version on Buzz Buzz
"New River Train" - try Raffi's New River Train
"Choo Choo Train" - try Ralph's World's debut Ralph's World
"The Little Engine That Could" - try the Hollow Trees' self-titled debut (sorry, Greg!)
-- Yosi also has a "Train Medley" on Under A Big Bright Yellow Umbrella that includes some (if not all) of the songs listed above.
-- Reader BethBC also notes that James Coffey has an entire CD of train-related songs called My Mama Was a Train.

I'm sure there are more, but this is a decent start -- if you post 'em in the comments, I'll add them above.

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Or is it four? (Really, are full names one word or more? Any grammaticians out there? Any wordsmiths want to say if "grammaticians" is an actual word?)

In any case, Elizabeth Mitchell, one of the best children's music interpreters out there, announced via newsletter that she'll be releasing her new album in August. It's nice to have the news confirmed by the source.

Perhaps we'll have a "You Are My..." name-the-album contest...

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We cover the waterfront here at Zooglobble, news-wise. There is no expiration date for news here -- a week old, a year old -- if I haven't seen it before, I'm willing to pass it on.

I'm especially happy with these two bits of information, because they involve bands/artists in which women play major roles. My wife is happy, too -- upon hearing recently that we'd soon be getting a female-fronted CD -- she said, "About time!" (Or words to that effect.) Guess our female children's artists' section needs beefing up.

Aaaaanyway, the first bit of news comes from PBS Kids, which announces its Earth Day broadcast plans, including:

"the world premiere of three Earth Day-themed music videos from Milkshake, the
award-winning kids' rock band fronted by Lisa Mathews and Mikel Gehl that has
captured the ears – and the hearts - of kids and parents alike. The music
videos, which focus on taking care of the Earth and keeping it clean, were
written exclusively for PBS KIDS Share the Earth Day."

The second bit of news comes from an old article recently posted (and written) by John Mitchell about an Elizabeth Mitchell concert in June 2005. The whole article is a nice piece on Mitchell (Elizabeth, not John), but I'm particularly interested in the information below (emphasis added):

"Mitchell went on to release two more CDs, one with Lisa Loeb, and is now
working on another one. She has begun writing songs specifically for children,
but remains committed to unearthing lost musical treasures."

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We attended a singalong at our church tonight. Our church, which we joined a couple years ago, is part of a mainline Protestant denomination; like many such churches a sizeable portion of the congregation is aging. By hosting the singalong, I think the hope was to give pleasure to those parishioners who wanted to sing the "old favorites," while introducing a few of the newer hymns to the congregation.

I attended church rarely as a child, so I was pretty much an open book when my wife and I starting looking for churches to join. Besides such elevated things as "spiritual fit" and such practical things as "child care," I think I subconsciously wanted a church with a strong music program, singing hymns. Not praise bands, which I just cannot get into, but the old stuff. As a person who had a few years of organ lessons in my youth, I guess I have a deep-seated predilection for Bach. And the church we eventually joined definitely had a strong music program. A good choir and music director, a good organist, even the occasional bell choir performance. And no praise band.

The problem is, as someone who's sitting in the pews and not in the choir, there can often be a lot of silence surrounding me. Much like riding a bike you don't forget how to read music once you learn. And so even though I never had any choral training and don't have a "beautiful" voice, I feel like I stand out a bit, just because I'm actually singing. I hoped that many people who don't sing would attend tonight, but I'm not sure how successful it ended up being in that regard.

My other goal in attending was to have my daughter hear a whole bunch of people singing in packs. You see, church is almost the only place people sing together on a regular basis. If you play basketball or softball, you can join any number of city recreational leagues to play with others with similar interests. Scrapbooking? I gather there are parties where people can share their oddly-shaped scissors. Comic books (or, er, graphic novels)? Go to the comics store or even (now) the public library. But singing? Dan Zanes' talk notwithstanding, there's really nothing available for the recreational singer outside of a church setting. I wonder if there will be any church choirs 30 years from now if kids aren't singing on a recreational basis.

My daughter sat patiently through about 45 minutes of hymns she didn't recognize before begging to go to the playground, which we did. (Monkey bars rule, in her eyes.) I think she enjoyed the singalong, though I think she was disappointed that they didn't sing her favorite hymn, "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah," an African-American spiritual which is great for the young'uns because it's a simple melody with simple, repetitive lyrics. I hope she also enjoyed hearing her daddy and all the other adults (and the couple other kids) sing with loud voices and smiles on their faces. She may not like the hymns, but hopefully she'll continue to sing the first verse to "London Bridge Is Falling Down" over and over again.

Elizabeth Mitchell has two or three songs with religious/spiritual background on her two CDs. You can listen to "This Little Light of Mine" and "So Glad I'm Here" at her website. Great stuff, even if you don't care about church.

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was the first full day of spring. In most places, it's time for the onset of spring fever, but in the Arizona desert, it's a warning that the good times will soon come to an end. Temperate weather will soon be a distant memory. Our front flower bed can only go downhill from here.

I tried to find some songs about spring in my collection, but pretty much came up empty. Winter has no shortage of songs, as snow and the [pick-your-religion-winter-celebration] lend themselves to songwriting. The other three seasons have fewer songs (I can only think of Laurie Berkner's "What Falls in the Fall?" from Whaddaya Think Of That? as a specifically autumn-related song), but spring I think is particularly deficient. What happens in the spring? Not much visibly, compared to autumn (falling leaves) or summer (general goofing off).

Here, then, is a list of spring-ish songs. Flowers and bugs and a little rain. Rain isn't necessarily for spring alone, but we've gone without much rain this winter and spring and so it's a bit of wishful thinking.

Raffi, "Robin in the Rain" (Singable Songs for the Very Young)
Elizabeth Mitchell, "You Are My Flower" (You Are My Flower)
Laurie Berkner, "In the Clouds" (Buzz Buzz)
Elizabeth Mitchell, "Ladybug Picnic" (You Are My Sunshine)
Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell, "Butterfly" (Catch the Moon)
Ralph Covert, "The Ants Go Marching" (from Songs For Wiggleworms)
Dan Zanes and Dar Williams, "Wild Mountain Thyme" (Night Time!)
Dan Zanes, "On the Sunnyside of the Street" (Rocket Ship Beach)

I suppose there's always XTC's "Grass" or the Talking Heads' "(Nothing But) Flowers," but those aren't really for kids for assorted reasons, now are they?

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've talked before about Elizabeth Mitchell's first CD for kids, You Are My Flower. It's a great little CD. If there were any drawbacks to the CD, it was that it was too short (less than 25 minutes) and perhaps too "folk-y" for some tastes.

One her second CD, You Are My Sunshine, Mitchell says, "Hey, you, Mr. Daddy-Guy, I hear ya. I'm gonna make it longer and mix it up for you."

Uh, OK, she doesn't really say that. Or, at least, not that I'm aware of.

But her new CD is both longer and more diverse. And why wouldn't you want a longer CD when it includes great renditions of kids' songs traditional and un-? The alphabet song done in dub-reggae style. A Bo Diddley blues (sort of). Mitchell ups the young parent hipness quotient by covering both Sesame Street ("Ladybug Picnic") and Schoolhouse Rock ("3 Is The Magic Number"). And the covers of some traditional songs with religious backgrounds -- "So Glad I'm Here" and "Jubilee" -- make me happy every time I hear them. The first half of the CD is fairly varied in tempo; the second half is much more "folk" -- very mellow.

The CD is probably best for kids under age 6, but it's truly one of those albums you may find yourself putting on even when your kids aren't around. If you at all liked her first CD, you will like this one. If you've never heard Mitchell, I'd recommend this CD somewhat over the first one. If you hated her first CD, then I just don't know what to do with you. You probably shouldn't continue reading my reviews. The CD is available at the usual online suspects and at her website, You Are My Flower. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An increasingly popular approach to recording kids' CDs is packaging the CD with a book. In some cases, like Philadelphia Chickens and Rhinoceros Tap from Sandra Boynton or Bed, Bed, Bed by They Might Be Giants, the hardcover book is pretty big, and doesn't necessarily lend itself to play with a preschooler. But the ubiquitous "board book" format is beginning to become popular with recording artists.

Now, the first question with any of these book/CD combos is… "Where in the world do you file these things?" With the oversized hardcovers, it seems they get exiled to places far from the stereo or car CD player and just don't get much airplay. The board book versions (this CD, the Dan Zanes CDs) solve that problem by having books that are barely larger than the CD itself. Of course, filing them with the rest of the CDs means that they rarely get read. Oh, the waste!

Maybe I'm just too hard to please.

Well, not really. And this CD does have an advantage in that it is quite pleasing. Mitchell is known, of course, for her 2 children's CDs, You Are My Flower and You Are My Sunshine. Loeb is new to the children's music game, known best for, well, winsome pop. Together, they've made an album that isn't much different from Mitchell's two solo CDs, except that maybe it's a little more polished (but still somewhat winsome). It's also a little more international, as the album includes renditions of traditional Spanish, Japanese, and French songs. (They're pleasant enough, but don't have huge appeal to me.) That seems to be the Loeb influence; fans of Mitchell's out-of-left-field (though usually excellent) cover song selections for her kids' CDs will be pleased by the inclusion of Dylan's "New Morning."

The best track on the album by far is the title track, an original by Mitchell, Loeb, and Mitchell's writing partners. "Catch the Moon" isn't just a great kids' song, it's a great song, period. It's a gentle pop song that would be a minor Billboard hit in a more eclectic radio world.

The album is probably best for kids aged 2 years (or even younger) through maybe 5 years. The accompanying book is a nice addition. I would recommend the album to fans of Mitchell's other work, as well as to parents looking for a mellow, poppy, multi-cultural kids' CD.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Elizabeth Mitchell helped found the rock band Ida with her husband Daniel Littleton. Unlike children's artists who have given up their "adult" careers or artists like They Might Be Giants, who are now doing both under the same name, Mitchell has kept her "adult" and "children's" careers separate. I have never heard Ida, so I have absolutely no idea what they're like, but You Are My Flower, the children's CD the two of them recorded together, is wonderful. If you like simple folk tunes polished up just a bit to take the roughest of edges off, you probably will enjoy this CD, which includes renditions of a couple Woody Guthrie children's songs. They also cover a song by the blues artist Leadbelly and two by the Carter Family, so you know it¹s not a typical kid's CD. (In fact, this was one of the first children's music CDs I would play even if there were no kids around. The entire album is pretty mellow, but lots of fun (my favorite songs are "This Little Light of Mine" and "Freight Train"). The CD is appropriate for kids from birth to 5 or so. My only complaint is that the CD is only about 25 minutes long (but, hey, it makes up for the kids' CDs that are way too long). You can find more information on Mitchell, this CD, and their follow-up at http://www.youaremyflower.org.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)