You guys probably think I'm a ginormous Popeye fan. I'm not really. I've just found a lot of interesting Popeye stuff lately. Like "Popeye's Zoo", this album features original songs and stories with Jack Mercer, the famous voice of Popeye himself. This one also includes Mae Questel as Olive Oyl and Swee'Pea. Wimpy's on it too, but I'm not sure who did his voice. Was that Mercer as well? Anyway, I believe adding the other characters does add more balance to the stories. Listening to a whole album of just Popeye's voice does get a bit grating on the ears. (Of course, Olive's voice can get a bit annoying as well, but it's a different kind of annoying!) There's some fun stuff here, including the sped-up sounding Popeye theme song that we've encountered around here before, a story and song where Popeye and Olive shoot a scene from the movie "Popeye the Sailor in Havana" where Questel shows off a very nice singing voice, and a story and song about the traditions in Japan (sung to the tune of "Titwillow") that actually makes it through without a single stereotypical Japanese vocalization! Anyway, there's a lot of neat stuff here, and I hope you enjoy it!
(NOTE: The song "Every State Is a Great State" had some bad skips in the middle of it, so I edited through the best I could. All you missed was Wimpy saying he wanted to visit Texas because (since everything's bigger in Texas) the hamburgers must be gigantic, and something about Popeye wanting to visit Tennessee because he thought it was near the sea. The next track had some skips as well, but except for a couple of spots I think I edited it pretty tight.)
Here's the track list:
- I'm Popeye the Sailor Man (Theme Song)
- Popeye in Cartoon-Land
- Strolling Through the Park
- Help, Help! and I Had a Hamburger Dream
- Home on the Range
- Television Night
- Never Pick a Fight
- Every State Is a Great State
- Take Me Out to the Ball Game
- The Emperor of Japan
- A Game for a Rainy Day
- Why Do You Answer a Question with a Question
Whoa! Blast from the past! I had this record as a kid. It led to Rock and Roll...
ReplyDeleteHi, Tony...this blog is fantastic! I just found you thru "I"m Learning to Share." I really appreciate all the care you put into these posts. These hard-to-find cartoon sounds are such a great surprise. Thank you Thank you Thank you!
ReplyDeleteQuote: "You guys probably think I'm a ginormous Popeye fan. I'm not really."
ReplyDeleteWell, even if you're, those of us who are really appreciate your efforts!
Thanks 1,000,000!
I also had this record when I was a child...in fact, I think I still have the vinyl, but I haven't seen the sleeve in many years...thanks for posting it!
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall having this one as a kid, Tony. Good times.
ReplyDeleteWow I loved that weird Popeye record! Hamburger Dream is just ... WEIRD. So was the Tit-willow / Japan number.
ReplyDeleteI just found this on Friday and I've already memorized some of the songs. The reason being my two-year-old son loves Popeye and I was looking all over for some sort of Popeye album for him considering I think the TV show isn't appropriate for him yet. He's listened to this a lot these past few days (his favorite is song no. 11). Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this! Many thanks!
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