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Monday, January 21, 2008

The Johnny Cash Children's Album

This record stars one of my favorite artists singing some great kid's songs. The tunes come from all over the place. Some Johnny wrote himself. He wrote "Dinosaur Song" with June Carter Cash. "Old Shep" was written by Ozark Jubilee star Red Foley and had been performed by Elvis. And Jeff Moss, one of the creators of Sesame Street, wrote a couple of the tunes.

Of course, some of the finest sounds anywhere come when Johnny and June sing together, as is heard on "I Got a Boy (and His Name is John)".

Songs
Nasty Dan
One and One Makes Two
I Got a Boy (and His Name is John)
Little Magic Glasses
Miss Tara
Dinosaur Song
Tiger Whitehead
Call of the Wild
Little Green Fountain
Old Shep
The Timber Man

Bonus tracks
There's a Bear in the Woods
Grandfather's Clock
Ah Bos Cee Dah
Why is a Fire Engine Red

The Johnny Cash Children's Album is available in our store.

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Monday, January 14, 2008

Three is the Magic Number

There are a ton of great resources online for a Schoolhouse Rock nostalgia fix. You can read the lyrics, see the official site or dive into the history.

I like to compare the original songs to more recent remakes. For instance, check out these two versions below, first the original, then the remake.

Three is the Magic Number
Music, lyrics, & performance by Bob Dorough



Three is the Magic Number
Performed by Blind Melon on Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks


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Sunday, January 13, 2008

Free to be You and Me



Young Michael Jackson and Roberta Flack star in this 1974 flower child rock odyssey.

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Saturday, January 12, 2008

Artist: Dan Zanes

"ALL AROUND THE KITCHEN" from the Family Dance album. Former punk rocker with many stunning Children's CDs. Based in New York. Visit his web site.

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Friday, January 11, 2008

Artist: Raffi

Certified superstar and legendary kid's music troubadour. Based in Vancouver, B.C. Visit his web site.


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Thursday, January 10, 2008

Musician Websites

These musicians play music for the whole family. Kids and adults will find some musical favorites at these artist websites.

Dan Zanes
Former punk rocker with many stunning Children's CDs. Based in New York.

Sally Rogers
Connecticut-based, award-winning multi-instrumentalist playing folky, old-timey tunes.

Raffi
Certified superstar and legendary kid's music troubadour. Based in Vancouver, B.C.

Giant Kid
Fabulous website and fabulouser music from They Might Be Giants.

Barry Louis
A one-man symphony of comic anarchy. Music maker and video creator. Burtonsville, Maryland.

Gunnar Madsen
Multi-talented guy with Ants in his Pants. You've heard him in movies and on TV. He resides in Berkeley, CA.

Spaghetti Cake
The Young Person's Guide To The Rock Band. From Connecticut.

Billy Jonas
A percusive artist whos main instrument is the audience. Asheville, NC.

Nanna Unplugged
A silver-haired musical lady with sparkling eyes and a big kind smile.

Bill Harley
Slightly wacky storyteller, songwriter, author, playwright and performer from Seekonk, MA.

Tom Chapin
Rockland County, New York based singer songwriter with many albums and many awards.

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer
Multi-instrumentalists and award winners who have played over 10,000 shows!

Ralph's World
Quirky Chicago-based singer-songwriter with a ton of fun songs.

Trout Fishing in America
Music for people who take their fun seriously.

Laurie Berkner
Music and videos from a veteran New York performer.

Arlo and Anna
Spunky, silly and smart Chicago duo.

Zak Morgan
Hilarious interactive singer storyteller from Cincinnati.

Joel Frankel
Upbeat, charming, and whimsical performer from Chicago.

Mother Goose Rocks
Rockin' tunes by various artists.

Monty Harper
Stillwater, Oklahoma-based traveling performer.

Ian Johnstone
Delightful Nanaimo, BC-based banjo picker.

Jim Cosgrove
Jam with this interactive Prairie Village, KS-based performer.

Justin Roberts
Chicago-based folk-pop children's recording artist.

Rocket Baby
Music that gets you and your child out of your seats and dancing.

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Sunday, January 06, 2008

Lyrics & Chords

Have a sing-along. Check out these web sites for lyrics, notes, chords and all the info on your favorite family songs.

Music for Teaching: Using music to promote learning.
My-Edu Lyrics: Link page for lyrics.
The Ballad Tree: Links to song collections and indexes.
NIEHS Kid's Page: Midi melodies of classic songs with lyrics.
Songs2Play Lyrics-Chords: Directory of chords and lyrics to popular songs.
Judy & David Songbook: World famous online songbook for kids.
Kiddles
Lyrics Links
Becky's Campfire Songbook
Library of Congress
Cowboy Song Lyrics
Sea Shanty Songs
Big Eye Owl
Children's Music.org
Mama Lisa
Hebrew Songs
YMCA Campfire Songs
Guitar Tab Robot
OLGA Tabs
Temple of Tabs

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Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Our Family Friendly Digital Media

Sometimes I hook my laptop up to our home LCD TV and I watch videos and play games with my kids. One thing we’ve noticed is that it is often a challenge to locate appropriate music videos for the whole family. An innocent search for "Oh Suzanna" on YouTube.com might display a frat boy fart contest. We've been saving links to good videos on a new website we slapped together called FamilyMusic.tv.

Lately, rather than searching the web, we’ve been producing our own family-friendly digital creations. It is true that one of the drivers of user generated content has been users not finding what they want, so they create it themselves. Below is a sampling of our latest experiments. These were all created using consumer tools in our home. So, ah.. watch out!

The Mystery of Lazy Hill Farm
A music video made using toys and art supplies found around the house. The song was written by me and brilliantly brought to life by Ray, Zack and me at Andrew’s home studio.


The Camptown Ladies
A classic old tune spiced up by The Family Music Party Experience. Zack, Ray, and Todd played on this. Andrew engineered and produced.


Little Boxes
Written and recorded originally by Malvina Reynolds in 1962. I recorded it at Poolhaus Studios in Burbank, CA. I played all the instruments and sang all the vocals.


Faces on My Money
The kids and I tried to record a song and shoot and edit a music video in 4 hours or less...and it shows! I wrote the lyrics and part of a song and Ray supplied the better part of the melody and some real chords.

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Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Resources & Reviews

Below are some great resources for family music.

Best Children's Music

Playhouse Radio

Kid's Music Web

Children's Music Network

Kidz Music

Music for Little People

XM Kids

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