Stories for Rainy Days - Frank Luther

Hey, look! I'm on a roll for my second week in a row!!

Frank Luther is a great storyteller, even if he does change things around a bit. For instance, in this version of "Jack and the Beanstalk", the reason Jack and his mother were so poor was because the Giant stole their bag of gold, their magic harp, and their hen that laid golden eggs. So Jack was just getting his own stuff back! Uhhhh, right. Anyway, these are some fun stories and songs and I think you'll like them.

Here's the track list:

1. Jack and the Beanstalk
2. The Tick Tock Shop
3. The Raggleytaggletown Singers
4. The Ugly Duckling
5. Chicken Licken
6. Sleeping Beauty

Click here to download!

Some Great Stuff from Amazon.com!

After a week of new content on the blog, I feel I'm due for some plugging!

If you like the albums on my blog, here's some others from Amazon.com that you should enjoy too! (Some of these are CD format and the rest are mp3 format.) And if you click on the link here and end up ordering the album, I'll even make a little bit off of it! And if there's nothing here that interests you, remember that clicking that link on the left means I'll make a little something off of anything you buy from Amazon! Thanks!!

Stay tuned for more music next week!

Songs from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and Other Sweet Songs

The first half of this album features songs from "Willy Wonka". They even include "Cheer Up Charlie", the song that most kids will skip. They've also changed some of the words on the Oompa-Loompa song. I'm not sure why since the original was perfectly fine. The second half has songs with sort of a candy theme. They run out of candy songs by the end, and put in things like "Cindy" (the one from the "Songs That Tickle Your Funny Bone" album) and yet another version of "Big Rock Candy Mountain" (that doesn't mention cigarette trees, but does mention "al-kee-hol')

If I get the stuff written up soon enough, I'll have another two or three albums for next week. Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Oompa-Loompa-Doompadee-Doo
2. The Candy Man
3. I've Got a Golden Ticket
4. Pure Imagination
5. Cheer Up Charlie
6. I Want It Now
7. Big Rock Candy Mountain
8. Candy Store Owner
9. You Turn for Sugar and Tea
10. Raisins and Almonds
11. Strawberry Jam
12. Cindy
13. Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake

Click here to download!

Song Stories for Little Cowboys & Cowgirls - Mother Goose Orchestra & Players

This is an album that I actually grew up with. It's a two-record set of cowboy songs and stories. The first record is all done by the same guy (identified as Cowboy Joe), and he does a nice job. The second record is sort of a potpourri of people, and you can tell by the end that they've kind of run out of cowboy stuff, and resort to train songs like "Casey Jones" and "I've Been Working on the Railroad".

There's a lot of nice stuff here (especially on the first half). Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Cowboy Joe Rides Through the Night
2. Yipee-Ti-Yi-O (Get Along Little Dogies)
3. Make Me a Cowboy Again for a Day
4. Pony Boy/Cheyenne
5. The Legend of Crystal Rock
6. Whoa Mule Whoa
7. Red River Valley
8. Little Wahoo
9. The Strawberry Roan
10. A Cowboy's Prayer
11. Red River Valley
12. Old Chisholm Trail
13. Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
14. Home on the Range
15. Clementine
16. Casey Jones
17. Ten Little Indians
18. I've Been Working on the Railroad
19. Big Rock Candy Mountain

Click here to download!

Star Wars - The Kid Stuff Repertory Company

Here's another "classic" from the Kid Stuff Repertory Company. Looking at this cover, you might think it was the story of two little American kids who go up in a rocket and have an adventure on a strange planet with two robots, a Threepio and an Artoo ripoff. Except that just about everything on this cover is a lie. The only connection to "Star Wars" is that they play the theme song at the beginning of the record. After that, you get the story "Jack and the Flying Saucer", a sort-of "Jack and the Beanstalk" parallel. The difference is that Jack lives on the planet Boom Boom, a planet where everything makes a loud noise. He and his mother are poor, so she sends him to sell Pinky, their stuffem worm. Jack trades the worm for what he is told is a magic saucer. Mom is upset with Jack when he returns home and throws the saucer out the window. The next morning, it has turned into a flying saucer. He flies off into space, meets a space monster, and eventually lands on the planet Sshhhh which (as you might expect) is a very quiet planet. Jack goes to a castle, meets a giant and his wife, and you can pretty well guess how the story goes from here.

There are some interesting bits here. For example, for some reason the guy playing Jack does it with a Cockney accent. I have no idea why. Also, the story is narrated by Shadoe Stevens, a voice you might recognize from his radio work or from being the announcer on the latest version of the Hollywood Squares.

Anyway, this is a pretty odd one, and I hope you like it!

Click here to download!

Peter Cottontail and Other Easter and Springtime Favorites

Here's an Easter themed album featuring songs from Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, the Sandpipers, and Mitch Miller and His Orchestra. Unfortunately, the album doesn't tell you who did which song. I'm pretty sure songs 6-8 below are Roy and Dale, but your guess is as good as mine on the rest of them. Oh well, enjoy it anyway, and have a Happy Easter!!!!

Here's the track list:

1. Peter Cottontail
2. Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
3. Funny Little Bunnies
4. The White Bunny and His Magic Nose
5. Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?
6. Easter is Loving Time
7. Let There Be Peace on Earth
8. Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In
9. Easter Parade
10. Bunny Bunny Bunny
11. Eustace the Useless Rabbit
12. The Barnyard Song
13. Flippety Floppety Bunny
14. The Lively Little Rabbit
15. Pee Wee the Bunny
16. Easter Mornin'

Click here to download!

Happiness is a Peanuts Album! Songs from the Off-Broadway Musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"

You've heard a few different versions of songs from "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", on this blog, but this one is special to me because it's the first version of the songs I heard when I was a kid. You've only got two people doing the singing duties here, but they still do quite a nice job. Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
2. Little Known Facts
3. Suppertime
4. My Blanket and Me
5. Charlie Brown's Kite
6. The Baseball Game
7. Snoopy
8. Schroeder
9. Doctor Lucy
10. Happiness

Click here to download!

Bob Sings - Bob McGrath

Most people know Bob McGrath from his regular gig on a certain street we all know (even though we constantly have to ask directions on how to get there), but this album has an entirely different lineup of songs. There's some old-timey classics, tunes from "The Sound of Music", and even a few Stevie Wonder songs to be found here. I also could have done without hearing Bob singing "Muskrat Love". For some reason, it sounds even dirtier when you hear HIM sing it!

Bob sings a number of these songs accompanied by kids, and the funny thing about that is that he seems to keep pitching the songs higher and higher, until the poor kids have to squeak to keep up with his flawless tenor voice. By the way, one of those kids was Danielle Brisbois, who ended up doing some acting as well, including playing Archie Bunker's niece on "All in the Family".

Here's the track list:

1. Sir Duke
2. Do-Re-Mi
3. Muskrat Love
4. In the Good Old Summertime
5. Sunshine Medley
6. Jamaica Farewell
7. Getting to Know You
8. Isn't She Lovely
9. I Whistle a Happy Tune
10. Good Morning Starshine
11. Edelweiss
12. High Hopes

NOTE: This is now available for purchase from Amazon! You can get it here:

Down in Jungle Town - The Yum Yum Kids and the MGM Territorial Orchestra

I'm back with this fun album from 1966. I've always liked these kinds of records that have kids enthusiastically singing their lungs out, and except for a couple of choices here, we've got a really interesting lineup of songs here as well. I mean, how often are you going to hear a Noel Coward song sung by children? There's some great text on the back of the album cover too, which I've provided in the download. Enjoy, and I'm pleased to say that it won't be another month before you see something else new here. I've got two more posts scheduled for later this week, so stay tuned!

Here's the track list:

1. Hooray for Captain Spaulding
2. I Went to the Animal Fair
3. Mad Dogs and Englishmen
4. Song of the Nairobi Trio
5. Down in Jungle Town
6. Napoleon Sailed the Ocean Blue
7. Tiger Rag
8. Aba Daba Honeymoon
9. How to Tell the Wild Animals
10. Under the Bamboo Tree
11. Abdul the Bulbul Ameer
12. Civilization

Click here to download!

The Square Song/Sesame Street

Well, I'm back again (hopefully for longer than just one record). Here's an album featuring songs from a number of different places, including "Sesame Street", "The Bugaloos", and some others that I don't even recognize.

I'd like to draw your attention to the part of the picture on the right side of the cover. Does it look familiar? Maybe it does if you remember this cover from a used album being sold on Amazon...

I mentioned it because the little boy on the left was featured on the cover of this album. Good grief, how many times are they going to recycle this (admittedly cute) picture??

Here's the track list:

1. Sesame Street
2. All Kinds of People
3. For a Friend
4. The Alphabet Song
5. The Animal Song
6. Clap Clap Clap
7. The Square Song
8. Hide and Seek
9. Time to Tell Time
10. Fork, Knife and Spoon
11. The Counting Song

Click here or here to download!

A Child's Introduction to Disco - The Kid Stuff Repertory Company

I wanted to put something scary here on the blog for Halloween, so I looked in the records I haven't put on here yet, and this is probably the scariest thing I've got. It's frightening enough to know the Kid Stuff Repertory Company is singing disco songs here, but that's only half the story. Before each song, a lady reads the lyrics to you first so you can follow along with the lyrics sheet in the album. Of course, some of the words are changed up a bit (no "burn that mother down" in "Disco Inferno" for example). It's just weird to hear some lady trying to extract some meaning out of stuff like "If I can't have you, oh-oh-oh".

Anyway, have a Happy Halloween!

Here's the track list:

1. Introduction
2. Same Old Song (lyrics)
3. Same Old Song
4. On Broadway (lyrics)
5. On Broadway
6. Last Dance (lyrics)
7. Last Dance
8. Night Fever (lyrics)
9. Night Fever
10. Disco Inferno (lyrics)
11. Disco Inferno
12. If I Can't Have You (lyrics)
13. If I Can't Have You

Click here or here to download!

Smokey Bear with Ranger Hal

Yeah, I know I keep saying I'll be right back and I keep disappearing, but I'm back (again) with this interesting album from Smokey Bear, Ranger Hal and their animal friends in this musical adventure. I hope they look better than they do on this cover though! Anyway, hopefully I'll be back with more stuff soon. Enjoy!

Click here or here to download!

The Aristocats and Purr-ty Pussycat Songs

Hey, I'm back! Yeah, I know I said that last month, but hopefully I mean it this time. I finished with school, but now I'm trying to catch up with things that weren't getting done while I was in school. This is one of them.

This is a bit of a cheat, considering there's only two songs from "The Aristocats" on here. But the rest of the songs actually are about cats, so it has that going for it. It also has "The Alley Cat Dance" that I think is on one of the other records I have on here. Plus "Puss N Boots" was really more of a story than a song. And finally, I think that's the cutest cover I've ever seen of a butler stealing cats, don't you? The other reason I wanted to put this up today is because some websites are doing "A Day Without Cats" today, and I thought I'd fill the void. I'm an ornery cuss sometimes!

Anyway, I'm going to be off through next week so (among the other things I have to do) I want to get back to a more regular schedule here. Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. The Aristocats
2. The Cat's Me-ow!
3. This Beautiful Creature
4. Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat
5. Three Blind Mice
6. Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat
7. The Alley Cat Dance
8. The Three Little Kittens
9. Puss 'N Boots

Click here or here to download!

But here's the best Puss in Boots of all!

Pink Panther Punk

I'm back, I'm done with school, and hopefully I can get the blog back on a semi-regular schedule again. I wanted to find something really fun to return on, and I think this little beauty from Kid Stuff Records might just fit the bill. The Pink Panther has a band here called the Pink Punks, and they get to play a few of their songs here. (I also find it interesting that two of the group members are named Itchy and Scratchy.) For some reason, the Pink Panther sounds like an old hippie. Meanwhile, he's being sought out by Inspector Clouseau, who even gets to sing a bit himself. The songs really aren't too bad here, especially for a Kid Stuff Records production. I tried to do my best to split the songs out from the story. Hopefully the transitions aren't too jarring. The thing I think I liked best about this is the album cover. I think it looks pretty cool, don't you? Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Pink Panther Theme


2. Pink Panther Punk Part 1


3. Another Brick in the Wall


4. Pink Panther Punk Part 2


5. Panther on the Prowl


6. Pink Panther Punk Part 3


7. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me


8. It's Punk


9. Pink Panther Punk Part 4


10. What a Fool Believes


11. Pink Panther Punk Part 5


12. Call Me


13. Pink Panther Punk Part 6


14. Rock and Roll Panther

Click here or here or here to download!

Big Hits from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - The New Christy Minstrels with Arthur Treacher

Hey Gang, I just wanted to get something new up here so you didn't think I forgot about you all!

Here's another collection of songs from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", this time by the pop/folk group The New Christy Minstrels. They're joined on a few songs by actor Arthur Treacher, who I know very little about except he had a chain of fish and chips restaurants in the United States and that he was somebody's second-banana on one of the talk shows (Merv Griffin?). I'm not quite sure what qualified him for the guest spot on this record. It certainly wasn't his singing ability!

Well, I've only got about another three weeks before I'm totally finished with school, and I'll get to graduate with my Masters degree in August. Once I get all that done I can go back to adding stuff here on a regular basis. Hooray!!

Here's the track list:

1. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
2. Posh! (with Arthur Treacher)
   
3. Hushabye Mountain
4. Medley: Doll on a Music Box/Truly Scrumptious
5. Chu-Chi Face (with Arthur Treacher)
   
6. Fun Fair
7. Me Old Bam-Boo
8. You Two (with Arthur Treacher)
   
9. Roses of Success
10. Lovely Lonely Man
11. Toot Sweets (with Arthur Treacher)
    
12. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Reprise)

Click here or here to download!

Children's Sing Along

Here's an album that, going by the cover, looks like another mishmash of songs from various sources. I mean, there's no photographs of the singers, just a plain picture. And the track list is actually printed on top of the title here, almost like an afterthought. But looks are deceiving here. Not only do all these songs sound like they are performed by the same children's chorus, but this is the same group with the same version of "Sidewalks of New York" that I enjoyed on this album that WAS from a mixture of sources. This is an entire album with these kids, and I really like it. I am reminded once again that "Jingle Bells" isn't really a Christmas song here, and there's some other really rousing songs as well, all done in that great spirited way as "Sidewalks" was. Take a listen to this one. I think you'll enjoy it!

By the way, I apologize once again for my absence. I have my thesis to do next week and I'm trying to prep for it!

Here's the track list:

1. Jingle Bells
2. Standing in Need
3. Banjo's Back in Town
4. Give Me That Old Time Religion
5. Sidewalks of New York
6. Bunker Hillbillies Theme Song
7. Oh Susanna
8. Buffalo Gals
9. Clementine
10. When the Saints Go Marching In

Click here or here to download!

Captain of the Starship - William Shatner Live!

Here's a special treat for you. This two record set features William Shatner speaking at Hofstra University sometime around 1978. For those of you who like to hear the Shat Man do dramatic soliloquies, you'll be happy to hear him perform pieces from "Cyrano de Bergerac", "War of the Worlds", and others. For those who want tidbits for the (at the time) upcoming movie, you've got that here too, even talking about why Leonard Nimoy was holding out for more money. (If I remember right, Shatner said the budget for the upcoming "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was around $8 million. It turns out that, according to the IMDB, it was really around $35 million.) And if you want some stories about how Star Trek changed his life, you've got that as well.

I think Shatner sounds sort of fun and bubbly when he's talking to the audience here. He seems to me like he's really enjoying the attention, before he became a full-on celebrity and (maybe) expected to be treated like a celebrity. Anyway, hope you enjoy this.

(And yes, the cover photo shows him menacing some off-camera alien with an upside down camera tripod!)

It all sort of meshes together, so the tracks are divided by side.

Here's the track list:

1. Earthbound/Go with Me/High Flight/The Flight of Man/Galileo
2. 6 Ways to the Moon/War of the Worlds
3. The Movie
4. SHORT TAKES: William Shatner - Audience/Starship's Facilities/Peter/Summer Spaceship/Three-way Alchemy - The Brain/Finale

Click here or here to download!

Trek Bloopers

Here's another Star Trek rarity brought to you courtesy of Blue Pear Records. (get it?) The story behind this is that these audio tapes were found in a garbage can by somebody who just wanted to use the tapes themselves. When they saw that "Star Trek" was written on the boxes, they decided to investigate further. People have seen the famous "Star Trek Blooper Reel", but it only covered the first two seasons. This is stuff from the third and final season. Is it funny? Well, it does suffer from lack of visuals. I really think of it more as a historical record of the time. Plus you get to hear the classic song "Hey Out There" a few times! How can you beat that?

Click here to download!

Oh yeah, if you haven't seen the Star Trek Blooper Reel, here it is!

Inside Star Trek

In honor of the new Star Trek movie, I'd thought I throw a few Trekkie type things up here. This album from 1976 is hosted by "Star Trek" creator (and Great Bird of the Galaxy) Gene Roddenberry. There's some live convention stuff with him, interviews with William Shatner about Captain Kirk, DeForest Kelley talks about the current state of medicine ("Too damned expensive.") and Roddenberry ask Mark Lenard as Sarek (Spock's dad) about Vulcan sex. (Guess Nimoy wasn't interested in participating.) Plus Isaac Asimov and his ginormous sideburns! Anyway, hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Inside Star Trek
2. Star Trek Theme
3. William Shatner Meets Captain Kirk
4. The Origin of Spock
5. Sarek's Son Spock
6. The Questor Affair
7. The Enterprise Runs Aground
8. McCoy's Rx for Life
9. The Star Trek Philosophy
10. Asimov's World of Science Fiction
11. A Letter from a Network Censor
12. The Star Trek Dream (Ballad I/Ballad II)

Well, it was pointed out to me that this album is actually included as a bonus CD on the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" CD box set, so I'm taking my links down. If you'd like to get it yourself, you can get it from the link below!

A Tribute to Mother - Wally Fowler

This one's a bit of a change of pace for me. I was actually working on getting a few Star Trek related albums on here to tie in with the new movie coming out, when I remembered that I bought this album specifically to put on here for Mother's Day. I don't know Wally Fowler myself, but according to the cover he's "Mr. Gospel Music" and "The Man with a Million Friends", which means some of you may be familiar with him. This is just a nice collection of gospel-tinged old songs about Mom featuring Fowler, the Sego Brothers with Naomi, and the J.D. Sumner Stamps Quartet. Enjoy, and have a happy Mother's Day!

Here's the track list:

1. Mother, Mine
2. Sweetest Mother
3. Wrinkled and Old
4. My Child, Welcome Home
5. The Chair That Rocked Us All
6. Mama Sang a Song
7. Rocking Along in an Old Rocking Chair
8. Mother's Gone
9. The Hands That Rock the Cradle
10. Precious Mother
11. If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again
12. Supper Time

Click here or here to download!