Rockin’ the Kids’ Music World

Need a song, or two, or seventy? I was casting around for some tunes to sing and play, and I must have typed in” campfire tunes” and KABOOM (or KA-GOOGLE) I found The Virtual Campfire.

I ignored the fact that somehow the idea of a virtual campfire is a little pitiful and clicked onward…to find…lot’s of songs! Not only lots of songs, but lots of songs sung by British people around a real campfire…crazy, but just so crazy that it works.

To give you a sample, here’s that well-known favorite, Chicken on a Raft.  OK, so maybe it’s not your favorite song, but it’s a darn good song, worth singing, and it’s some indication of the depth of Virtual Campfire’s library…it’s big, and fun, and goofy at times, but definitely worth perusing and singing along.

p.s. If you do sing along, try to light a real fire so you’re not so pitiful…or if you’re entirely comfortable with the virtual world, play this video of a virtual fire and then sing-a-long - with your virtual friends.

Twinkle Twinkle.mp3

After writing about this song (here), I set to work recording it - you may have been one of the few lucky ones to have downloaded the now rare (and deleted) version that I posted earlier today - I tried to clean it up, and offer this version now - Mozart did 12 variations on this tune - I’m on my second, and may try a few more before it’s all said and done. It’s an interesting song - weird that I could do a bass line that isn’t too far from Pachabel Canon in D - Anyway, enjoy this variation - I’m going to shoot for at least 10 more. Look for them to pop up every now and again.

Oh yeah, here’s the entire poem…if you wanted to keep singing -

The Star

OK, let’s talk, for a moment about Twinkle, Twinkle…every kid loves it (and, because it’s such an easy hit, so does every kids’ singer). It is a song with some serious kid song mojo. 

Rumor has it that Mozart wrote the tune, but Mozart himself debunked that myth by titling his piece, “12 Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je mama” - the source was a French folk song - here’s a great page with Mozart’s version - Mozart’s 12 Variations on Ah vous dirai-je maman - it is fittingly manic (as Mozart seems to have been) but I’d like to suggest that it’s not as successful as the eventual variation that Mozart never heard - “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”

The text for the now famous version of this song was written in 1806 (15 years after Mozart died) by Jane Taylor in England. We’re not really sure how the melody and the poem got together - but generation upon generation of children are happy that they did. It truly is a melody and poem that were star-crossed - the Romeo and Juliet of the Music world…

Twinkle, Twinkle, little song…

And yes, I am aware of the implications of that metaphor - just like Romeo and Juliet, there were forces trying to pull these two apart. This brilliant (and anonymous) melody has been courted by a whole lot of other lovers - “ABCD” and “Baa, Baa Black Sheep” use it, as well as the the German song “Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann“and the Hungarian Christmas carol “Hull a pelyhes fehér hó“, and the Dutch “Altijd is Kortjakje ziek“. In addition to Mozart, Franz Liszt, wrote “Album Leaf: ‘Ah vous dirai-je, maman’

Suffice to say, this song rocks…I guess it’s time for me to set my star with the greats and record my own variation. Stay tuned, I’m dusting off the 4-track as I finish this…a few days later…finished it  - Check out the results - my Twinkle Twinkle Free MP3 here! 

Here’s a great old tune - “Side by Side” performed by Paul Whiteman and the Rhythm Boys recorded in 1927 and featuring a 24 year old Bing Crosby on vocals.

Side by Side.mp3

Bing loves ya, baby - Side by Side!

Here are the lyrics - seemed appropriate for V-day to me…

Oh, we ain’t got a barrel of money
Maybe we’re ragged and funny
But well travel along
Singing a song
Side by side

I don’t know whats a-comin’ tomorrow
Maybe its trouble and sorrow
But well travel the road
Sharing our load
Side by side

Thru all kinds of weather
What if the sky should fall
Just as long as were together
It doesn’t matter at all

When they’ve all had their quarrels and parted
Well be the same as we started
Just traveling along
Singing a song
Side by side

Will someone tell me what it is about Reggae that enchants children so? Something tells me it’s not the choice of colors. (although they are appealing):

No, it is the music that captures kids - and I will admit, for me as well, reggae is enchanting…I’ve spent more time in my life than I probably should have at Jimmy Cliff concerts, reggae fests, Wailers shows (Bob had died by then, alas), UB40 shows, Toots and the Maytal shows, English Beat/General Public shows, etc., etc…I get it - and so do kids, from the womb, it would seem (maybe the reggae beat mimics the mothers’ heartbeat…Mom’s Heart - Bob Marley?) .

I’m not kidding here - try it. A friend of mine told me about a reggae album he had for kids - it’s titled “Reggae for Kids” (wow, the originality is overwhelming, there). My response is, why bother? Just put on Peter Tosh (OK, skip “Legalize It” if you want to avoid a strange conversation with your six year old), Bob Marley, Steel Pulse…it doesn’t matter, kids hear that characteristic ‘chunk-kunk, chunk-kunk” (here it is from Peter T. - Pick Myself Up.mp3), or that rhythmic lead in on the high timbale (here it is from Steel Pulse - Steppin Out.mp3), and they’re dancin’…

I have experimented with this a bunch, in my own music…here’re a couple of clips of our attempts at reggae:

• Aquarium.mp3
• Puddles.mp3

…and with my own kids - here, as evidence that Reggae works, are some photos of Gus, who had been sitting at the table painting, but couldn’t helped being moved to dance right in his seat…irie!

“Don’t worry….

…about a thing…

“…cause every little thing…”

“…is gonna be alright!”

For some reason the other day, I thought of Easy Reader…come on now, you remember him that super cool, funky, far-out guy on “The Electric Company.” I just had to pay Youtube a visit and take a walk, or should I say a ‘trip,’ down memory lane. Just to get you in the groove, here’s a little Easy Reader to help you remember…

Yes, my friends, that is Morgan Freeman, otherwise known in Hollywood these days as ‘God’ (”Bruce Almighty,” “Evan Almighty” and of course the ominous voice from above in “March of the Penguins…”). So before he was God, he was Easy Reader…”Top to bottom left to right reading stuff is out of sight…”

Like my parents and millions of other parents did in the ’70’s I’m going to ignore the obvious and somewhat problematic fact that Morgan Freeman, as much as portraying a reader in these skits, was portraying a reading junkie - he needs his reading ‘fix’ - then his man (or etch-a-sketch) on the street, Stanley, always cuts him off, ‘just as he’s getting into the groove.’ Then he starts looking around desparately for his reading fix - a match-book, a dollar bill, you name it. I’ll ignore all that, and focus instead on the message…See, I agree with Easy’s message, ‘reading IS out of sight…’ OH, and then there’s the music…

In addition to Easy Reader, I got a few other Electric Company Skits for the kids, and, like everything else in the show, the music is a constant of stream of either funkadelic 70’s or “Free To Be You and Me.” One particularly psychedelic musical moment prompted Isabel to ask, “Why is the music so weird…?” You would have thought we were listening to Pink Floyd - “The Wall.” Here’s one example…

How about that soundtrack? 

Then there’s the opening credits…”Moving out in a new way, moving out in a new way…we’re gonna turn it on, we’re gonna give you the power…” You get the idea.

OK, so I have to say, in spite of the fact that the Electric Company overdid it on the psychedelia at times, I love this stuff. It has it all, great music, and unbelievable cast (Gene Wilder, Joan Rivers, Mr. Freeman, etc.) and it’s hilarious. I’m pretty certain Saturday Night Live owes a lot to The Electric Company…at the very least Lorne Michaels and the early SNL cast were big fans, I just know it…so, I’ll leave you with the lyrics to the first “Sign Song” from the Electric Company…out of sight!

I like fish food. You do, too.
Don’t look now; your hair is blue.
Walk right in and see the zoo.
Up is down, and I love you.Stop and go and dance a dance,
All the way from here to France.
Day and night, all bright and new.
Left is right, and I love you.

Bruce Springsteen’s 2006 release, The Seeger Sessions is a great CD for kids - try it some time. Recently Abe and I were listening to it as background music. “Froggie Went a Courtin’” came on - I’m sure you’ve heard it somewhere along the way, lots of kids singers have done very vanilla versions of the song, but not Bruce - not the BOSS. He does it like it ought to be done (of course), and Abe was groovin’ to the tune. If you’re familiar with the song, you know how it goes - Froggie goes a courtin,’ woos Miss Mousie, they have the wedding and then we get a list of all the guests…”First to come in was a flyin’ moth, she spread out the table cloth…” and so on.

“Next to come in was a BIG BLACK SNAKE!”

I want to pause for a moment here - and say two things. First, our kids are pretty naive. I wish I could tell you it’s because we knew what we were doing. Truth is, it was because of inertia. When Isabel went to pre-school, we had never moved beyond Sesame Street - why would we when it worked so well? (OK, I do need to admit that it took me awhile to get over Baby Bear’s speech impediment.) I’ll never forget ‘Daddy Pizza and Movie Night’ when we went to the pre-school with all the other kids and dads. The movie was “Finding Nemo,” and Isabel didn’t make it past the first scene (by the way, what’s Disney’s issues with Mom’s?) All the other kids wondered why my daughter was crying and saying “I want to go home…” At the time, I felt like saying, ‘It’s because the kid’s/fish’s mother was just killed - the biggest crisis she’s ever had to deal with on TV is Big Bird having trouble finding Ernie!!!’ I didn’t say that to all the jeering four and five year olds, though, I just picked up my crying little girl and left. The second thing I need to tell you is that Abe is a lyrics-hound. He listens intently and repeats lyrics to himself. He likes the sound of words. Sometimes, days after we see a movie, we’ll hear Abe repeating the lines…a little like the guy I hung out with in college who used to repeat Caddyshack lines…scary.

So, back to “Froggie Went a Courtin.’ As we made our way through the wedding, we eventually came to the line that Abe would repeat again and again. He’d listen to it with the same sort of glee that someone might go into a haunted house at an amusement park . The line is of course, “Next to come in was a Big Black Snake - chased them all into the lake…” Here it is, that line is, from Bruce, in all it’s glory - Springsteen Froggie Clip - For a coupe of weeks, that snake was the villain in our games, he woke up Abe (and, consequently Tonya and me) more than once in the middle of the night…to have the imagination of a child. Strangely, though, this song has intrigued a lot of people over the years…

Here’s one loyal Springsteen fan’s attept to list all the other recordings of the song - Versions of Froggie Went a Courtin’ . Another devotee of the song has listed the over 170 verses of the song that have been written or sung since it’s first printed incarnation in 1611 here - Froggie Verses . The song’s one drawback…it’s repetitive. Man, is this song repetitive - but that, of course, cuts both ways. It drives us adults crazy, but sucks our kids in - it’s probably the reason why this song has lasted so long, and probably why, 400 years after it was first written, it can still give a little boy the chills.

Just thought I’d share a song that I have come to love -it’s Cluck Old Hen by Fiddlin’ Powers and Family. It was originally recorded in 1925 on an Edison Diamond Disc test pressing. It’s currently open source audio - enjoy it, play it for your kids and remember that rock and roll is a state of mind…and these guys sure had it!

Cluck Old Hen.mp3

“You want some of this?!?” -Fiddlin’ Powers and Family -1925

For your entertainment and erudition, I reworked my reworking of You Shook Me All night Long - Please Sleep All Night Long.mp3 - same lyrics, slowed down a bit for the lullaby effect (sing it to your kids tonight and take glee in the fact that you’re singing them a little AC/DC)…and I added the full version of Abe’s Lullaby to the list of downloadable (and free) mp3’s (Abes Lullaby.mp3). If you have a son named Abraham, who is under the age of, oh, I don’t know, 17, sing it to him tonight before bed. Alternatively, any three syllable name would work - Caroline, Isabel, Stephanie, Sabrina, Christopher, Jaqueline, Miranda (Did you ever notice there are a lot more three-syllable girls’ names than boys’ - interesting.)

p.s. Promise, I’m done with the lullabies - everything I said here is still true!

Pretty much as long as I can remember, I’ve paid .99 for a song. I remember saving up my allowance to buy a 45 at the record store. The first record I bought, I’m very embarrassed to say, was John Travolta’s “Let Her In” - HOLD ON! Before you stop reading this blog forever, let me explain. I actually thought I was buying Paul McCartney,’s “Let ‘em In…” (You remember, “Someone’s knocking at the door, Somebody’s ringing the bell, Someone’s knocking at the door, blah, blah, blah - blah, blah, blah…AND LET ‘EM IN.” I don’t really recall John Travolta’s song - not surprisingly.

These days, iTunes has revived the .99 tradition (You can find my CD’s there: Dreher on iTunes). Somehow, though, I can’t imagine that today’s kids, clicking their way through a sale at iTunes on their parents’ credit card, will ever remember that transaction as fondly as I recall running down the street in 1976 with a few quarters and change clutched in my little hand on my way to a date with Paul McCartney…or John Travolta.

An easy mistake to make….

Anyway, if you’re willing to step even a little further back than 30 years (and leave the 70’s for awhile) - if you’re willing to step, say 95 years back, there’s a treasure trove of music that’s absolutely free because it’s in the PUBLIC DOMAIN. That means it’s yours, it’s mine and most importantly, it’s our kids’. Think of all the great music - Stephen Foster’s stuff, “Oh Susannah,” “Camptown Races,” “Hard Times Come Again No More…” all public domain. “Frogie Went a Courtin -” public domain, “Frankie and Johnie - ” public domain, “All the Pretty Horses - ” public domain - you get the idea. There’s so much great stuff that you can sing, perform, record…for free.

Probably the best website that I’ve come across for Public Domain music is (appropriately enough) Public Domain.org. Not only has its founder, Benjamin Robert Tubb, listed hundreds of songs that are in the public domain, he’s tracked down lyrics and played them all in midi files!!! He’s got them catalogued by author, by genre and by year. If I weren’t a happily married man, I might just fall in love with the guy for all the efforts he’s made for the common good. You really need to check out his site. At minimum, you’ll get a few songs you can sing with your kids. Possibly, you get a major history lesson in the cultural trends that have shaped our country. Mr. Tubbs does go to great pains to point out that his performances of the songs are copyrighted. In other words, I can’t put them on my next CD. At the same time, he puts them all up for free - to listen to, download, take on a car ride…he’s my hero.

I might as well put in a shameless plug at this point. Since I just happened to mention my next CD, I thought I’d add that it will feature some great, and often unknown, public domain music. The whole project started when I found my great grandmother’s 1st grade school book - published in 1891. There were, of course, a bunch of songs in it, some well known, others lost in obscurity, all public domain. One jumped out, “Weaver John.” Here’s a demo of the song that I played with Gavin, my bassist and back-up singer, and Dave and Chris, my percussionists - Weaver John - you can listen for free.