Bella Notte/Les Poissons - On the Record Cast

It's the fifth Friday of the month and that means that I am going to fulfill a reader request. The first request I got was one from an anonymous reader asking for covers of Poor Unfortunate Souls and Les Poissons, obviously this person is a Little Mermaid fan.

Well, I don't really have any covers of either of these songs, except a version of Poor Unfortunate Souls by the Jonas Brothers. But I do have this one from the Disney's On the Record Broadway musical. It is a medley of Lady and the Tramp's Bella Notte and Les Poissons. Is this an unusual pairing for a medley? Yes. But it is part of the seventh session in the musical that features songs about animals (Bella Notte is a little bit of a stretch because it's not really about animals).

Take a listen anyway. It's cool how they mash these two songs together. And I don't really have anything to say about the history of this song or the performers or anything, except that today is the day that On the Record began performances in Chicago at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.

Bella Notte/Les Poissons On the Record Cast 2004

Minnie's Yoo Hoo - Main Street Saxophone Quartet

CARL STALLING started his career as a piano player for silent movies at the turn of the 19th century. He soon got a job conducting an orchestra in Kansas City. It was here that Stalling met Walt Disney who was just getting started making his own cartoons. The two became fast friends and Stalling began writing scores for Disney's cartoons.

Stalling brought up a conversation with Disney about whether the animation or the musical score should be finished first. He suggested that the score be written first and the animation timed to the music. Walt agreed and began the series Silly Symphonies which has an obvious focus on the music.

Carl Stalling left Disney after only two years and began his famous twenty-two year career at Warner Bros. writing music for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts.

In 1929, Stalling wrote Minnie's Yoo Hoo for the Mickey Mouse short Mickey's Follies. It is a theme song of sorts for Mickey that he sings during a barnyard talent show. Minnie's Yoo Hoo is Disney's first original song and can still be heard on various Disney compilations and in certain sections of the theme parks. The version I have posted today is by the Main Street Saxophone Quartet in Disneyland.

Today marks the anniversary of his death in 1972.

Minnie's Yoo Hoo Main Street Saxophone Quartet 1988

I Will Go Sailing No More - Michael Crawford

In 2001, MICHAEL CRAWFORD recorded a tribute album to the music of Disney. He chose to take songs from more modern films, like Mulan and Tarzan, instead of making an album of "Disney standards". If you pick up this album you will hear this number from Toy Story: Buzz Lightyear's theme song, I Will Go Sailing No More.

Michael Crawford is an English actor and singer who started his career in entertainment at a very young age. He landed a role on the British sitcom Some Mother Do 'Ave 'Em but it was after the show ended that Crawford found his real fame. He was cast as the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.

But after leaving Phantom, Crawford tried a few project that have not taken him anywhere. THE DISNEY ALBUM was the last album of new material that Crawford recorded and it makes me wonder if he recorded I Will Go Sailing No More because he realized that career was fading out and that he wouldn't be able to "sail" like he used to.

Also, today is Randy Newman's 64th birthday! The composer of I Will Go Sailing No More wrote the piece twelve years ago.

I Will Go Sailing No More Michael Crawford 2001

I Got No Strings - Diana Ross & the Supremes

Here is another track from the unreleased Disney tribute album from DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES. This time it's the classic I've Got No Strings from Pinocchio.

This song has a bit of irony for Florence Ballard. But to understand this I must give you a bit of Supremes history.

In 1967 the Supremes' record label wanted to jump on the bandwagon of taking the name of the most popular member and giving it top billing. The Miracles had become Smokey Robinson & the Miracles a few years earlier and other groups were doing this too. This was done so that the label could demand more money for booking the act because they were booking two names instead of one!

At this time the Supremes were in the studio recording DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES SING DISNEY CLASSICS and playing shows under the new name. But Flo started showing up to gigs and sessions drunk and sometimes didn't show up at all. Was she upset that Diana was getting top billing? Was she worried that she would go solo and break up the group?

Pretty soon, the Supremes' manager asked Cindy Birdsong to fill in when Flo couldn't make the gigs and sessions. Soon after, Flo was given the boot and Cindy Birdsong became a permanent member of Diana Ross & the Supremes.

So you see, I've Got No Strings was one of the last songs the Flo Ballard recorded with the group. Soon after, her strings were cut and she was free to fly on her own! But it wasn't the life she expected. She released a solo album that bombed and soon fell into poverty and died in 1976 at the age of 32. It's a sad irony.

Half of the songs on SUPREMES SING DISNEY are Flo and the rest are Cindy after Flo was fired from the group. The personnel changes and everything surrounding what was happening with Flo are rumored reasons why this album was never released.

I've Got No Strings Diana Ross & the Supremes 1967

Pooh Bear Medley - Tommy Emmanuel & Amanda

Hi everyone! Jamie here from Fong Songs guest-posting for a third time at the gracious invitation of Kurtis. Today I've got a Winnie the Pooh cover for you. Meanwhile Kurtis is moonlighting over at Cover Lay Down today with even more Pooh covers from a folk perspective. To complete the round of coverblog musical chairs, Cover Lay Down's Boyhowdy has taken over Fong Songs for the day.

While on my recent trip to China, I found this 1999 CD (not a bootleg!) called DUETS: A FAMILY CELEBRATION featuring Australian artists performing Disney covers with "their children, parents, or siblings". I am unfamiliar with the artists involved, but maybe you'll recognize them: Monica Trapaga, Joe Camilleri, Martin Plaza, Vika & Linda Bull, Red Symons, Debra Byrne, and Grace Knight. Guitarist TOMMY EMMANUEL, who carries the title of "Certified Guitar Player" as dubbed by Chet Atkins, sings a quaint version of the Winnie the Pooh theme with a couple surprises.

Simply dubbed Pooh Bear Medley, the liner notes describe the song as "Up, Up and Away / Winnie the Pooh". I figured Up, Up and Away was from one of those recent Pooh feature films that seem to crop up every couple years. The song kicked off and seemed oddly familiar, though I couldn't quite place it. Then as the chorus hit I realized with joyous wide-eyed wonder that he was in fact singing the theme song to the television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. You know "Pooh Bear, Winnie the Pooh Bear, wherever you go, won't you take me please...". The show originally ran from 1988 to 1991, just long enough to bury itself in my subconscious at an early age. The theme was written by Thom Sharp and Steve Nelson, though oddly I can't find any mention of it being called "Up, Up and Away" anywhere other than this CD. Tommy also covers the original theme song and interspersed throughout is his daughter Amanda reading excerpts of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Enjoy!

Blue Shadows on the Trail - Syd Straw

Wrapping up Cowboy Week brings us to this month's Obscure Disney Song. This time it's a song from the Pecos Bill segment of Melody Time from 1948. Blue Shadows on the Trail is the opening number for the short and was originally performed by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers.

Covering this song is SYD STRAW, an alternative rocker whose career started out as a back up singer for Pat Benatar. Straw recorded this song as part of the STAY AWAKE project in 1988 and from there went on to release her first album in 1989. She has released three albums, a live album and last week she held the CD release party for her fourth studio album, PINK VELOUR.

It is interesting to hear her take on this Western song. Her roots in alternative and indie rock don't really show through. Instead, we are treated to a nice country/folky version of Blue Shadows. She has a nice and unique voice and really shows her talent with the simplicity of this song.

You've Got a Friend In Me - Riders in the Sky

Today we go back to the Wild Wild West for Country Music Week with Riders in the Sky and their version of You've Got a Friend In Me from the Disney/Pixar film Toy Story

RIDERS IN THE SKY is a Western group which means they mimic the style of music played by cowboys of the late 19th century. Think Magnificent Seven or The Great Train Robbery and you've got a classic Western. The Riders have been making music since the 70s and now have over thirty albums! The personnel has changed over the years but the musical style has remained in tact.

You'll find this song on WOODY'S ROUND-UP, a companion album for Toy Story 2. The album and the movie take a closer look into Woody's past. In the film, it was revealed that Woody was part of an old Western kids show called Woody's Round-Up. Pixar hired Riders in the Sky to compose the theme song for the show as well as a few other tunes. The work was well received and they went on to record a whole album for the show. They also provided the music for the Pixar short For the Birds

Also, today is the 12th anniversary of the release of Toy Story!

You've Got a Friend In Me Riders in the Sky 2000

Circle of Life - Collin Raye

Yesterday I posted a bluegrass song as part of Country Music Week and today I continue with another bluegrass tune, this time one that is more on the country side of things.

As I said yesterday, traditional bluegrass has its roots in blues, jazz and folk and uses acoustic instruments like guitars, upright bass, banjo and the fiddle. In the late 60s and in the 70s there was a movement that introduced electric instruments into the genre. Electric bass is the most commonly used electric instrument but it is not unusual to hear piano and a full drum kit in some modern bluegrass tunes.

Songs from other genres, rock 'n' roll in particular, also started popping up in bluegrass sets. The musicians took the popular songs and put a new twist on them. More unusual chord progressions and 'jamming' sections in the songs also became part of this movement. This new style is called progressive bluegrass, also known as newgrass.

However, the focus of the music is still on the acoustic instruments, especially the fiddle and acoustic guitar. In the 90s, it became a popular thing for country artists to record a bluegrass album now that the genres seemed to be getting closer together.

The song that I have posted is the Circle of Life from the Lion King by country music artist COLIN RAYE. Colin's version of this song is a good example of a newgrass piece. Especially nice is the inclusion of the bluegrass standard Will the Circle Be Unbroken which fits both musically and lyrically.

According to producer Fred Mollin, Colin recorded this track in one take!

Orange Blossom Special - The Polyjesters

We continue Country Music Week today with a non-Disney cover from the Polyjesters. I'm not in the habbit of posting non-Disney songs but you'll see why I'm posting this one once you hear it.

Orange Blossom Special is a fiddle tune named after the Orange Blossom Special passenger train that ran in New York City in the early to mid 20th century. Now, before I get many comments about how this track is actually bluegrass, let me explain:

While traditional bluegrass music has roots in jazz, blues and folk, there was a movement in the 70s that introduced electronic instruments into the all acoustic genre creating what people call progressive bluegrass, or newgrass. This style has become popular amongst modern country artists and many have recorded bluegrass albums. Today's post is an example of traditional bluegrass while tomorrow's post will be more progressive.

But let's talk about this track for a bit. Orange Blossom Special was written in 1938 by Ervin Rouse and Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise and popularized by the grandfather of bluegrass, Bill Monroe. Johnny Cash has a version of it too on the album of the same name.

The POLYJESTERS have taken this song and have stuck in a few other songs just for fun. You'll hear Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Mary Poppins), Be Our Guest (Beauty and the Beast), I've Got No Strings (Pinocchio), and Chim Chim Cher-ee (Mary Poppins) as well as the theme to James Bond.

Check out this other post for more info on the Polyjesters.

Orange Blossom Special The Polyjesters 2001

Some Day My Prince Will Come - Tanya Tucker

Hello everybody! I trust you had a great weekend and are now going back to work for another five days! Well, to help you through the next five days I have declared it Country Music Week at Covering the Mouse. Now before all you country music haters decide to never return to my blog ever again, I'd like to say that I have a good mix of covers that focus on the different areas of country music, so you won't hear Tim McGraw wannabes for the next week.

To start of Country Music Week we have TANYA TUCKER singing her version of Snow White's Some Day My Prince Will Come off THE BEST OF COUNTRY SING THE BEST OF DISNEY cover album from 1996.

Tanya Tucker is no stranger to country music. She had her first hit single, Delta Dawn, in 1972 at the age of 13! (A year later Delta Dawn was recorded by Pete's Dragon's very own, Helen Reddy!) Since then she has done everything a country music artist could hope to do in a life long career: She has released 26 albums with a 27th coming next year, she's had number one hits, gold records, grammy awards, written a book, played at the super bowl half time show, been inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and starred in a reality tv show called Tuckerville!

Her version of Some Day My Prince Will Come turns this sweet love ballad into an upbeat country hoe-down! She breathes new life into this song without completely destroying it. She also adds a verse at the beginning that I haven't heard before. I don't know if she wrote it or if it comes from another version. If anyone can help please leave a comment! UPDATE: A reader has let me know that these lyrics are from the film. It is the conversation that Snow White and the Dwarfs have before she sings this song. I've just never heard these word sung before and I guess that's why I didn't recognize them. Thanks for the help!

I know that fans of this song will find this cover a little hard to swallow but the arrangement is nice and it turns the song into a song of excitement for when the Prince actually does arrive!

(A big thank you to thedisneyblog.com and boingboing.net for plugging this site!)

When You Wish Upon a Star - Gene Simmons

It's time for another installment of When You Wish Upon a Star Week and Miko Mars has requested to hear the Gene Simmons version so here it is, just for you!

One of the most successful rock acts of the 70s has got to be KISS. If you're not familiar with their songs (I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night) then you must be familiar with their outlandish costumes that include white and black face paint and elongated tounges. GENE SIMMONS was the KISS bassist and vocalist as is probably the most successful of all the members due to his reputation with women and various tv programs.

In 1978, all four members of KISS released self-titled solo albums. The final track on Gene's is a very passionate version of When You Wish Upon a Star. It is said that this song is very special from his childhood (Gene and his mother fled to America after being the only surviving members of their family from the Holocaust) and you can tell that he puts full emotion into singing it. The arrangement stays quite faithful to the original while updating the sound to fit Gene's style.

When You Wish Upon a Star Gene Simmons 1978

Silly Symphony - On the Record Cast

In 2004 Disney produced a Broadway musical that would feature over 70 over the songs from their ever impressive library. The musical was called Disney's On the Record and was about four young people who were brought together in a magical recording studio to record a compilation album. There's magic, there's romance, blah blah blah... but the most important part is that the soundtrack features two discs full of Disney cover songs!

Some of the songs don't stray far from the originals while others are quite different. Many are medleys, such as this one that I have posted today.

The main quartet on this soundtrack are Ashley Brown, Kaitlin Hopkins, Brian Sutherland, and Andrew Samonsky. Katlin Hopkins replaced Emily Skinner who was the original Diane for the live show.

This medley, dubbed the Silly Symphony, is made up of several Disney songs that feature nonsense lyrics. This medley is probably the best and most clever of all the songs in this musical!

It starts out with a verse from Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and features the choruses from Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious (Mary Poppins), Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (Pinocchio), Following the Leader (Peter Pan), Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (Song of the South) and Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (Cinderella). The best part of the song is when they start singing all of them AT THE SAME TIME! Brilliant!

Then, to top it off, they use The Dwarfs' Yodel Song (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) as a bridge! Perfect!

In the liner notes it says that Higitus Figitus (Sword in the Stone) is the first song in the medley, but I can't seem to hear any of it anywhere. If anyone can't help me out with this please leave a comment! UPDATE: Thanks to Jane Dark who let me know that the fanfare intro is the chorus to Higitus Figitus! It's so obvious to me now! I don't know how I missed that before!

Also thrown in there are tiny snippets from Chim Chim Cher-ee (Mary Poppins), Hakuna Matata (The Lion King), and the Mickey Mouse March (Mickey Mouse Club). Wow. They put that together very well. This is the best song in the show and a masterpiece of a cover song.

Silly Symphony On the Record Cast 2005

Everybody Wants to Be a Cat - Psapp

Hi! I'm Brian Ibbott, and I'm the producer and host of a cover song podcast called Coverville, dedicated to my favorite hobby: babbling endlessly about myself cover songs. I produce the show two to three times a week, and shows are sometimes themed, based around a single artist, or made up entirely of listener requests.

Kurtis has generously asked me to guest post, and to pick one of my favorite Disney covers to talk about.

I was very young when I saw the movie that the original comes from, but I'll do my best to give you a quick rundown of the plotline. A family walks into a talent agent's office, and the father tells the talent agent that he's got a great act. The agent tells him that he usually doesn't book family acts, but he asks the father what they do. The father tells him that it's much better if they can demonstrate it to him live. After putting on a show about a Parisian cat named Duchess and her kittens, and a charming stray named Thomas, the talent agent asks family what they're called. The family answers, "The Aristocats!" Or something like that. I'm really bad with movies.

The covering band is a British duo called PSAPP (pronounced 'sap'). They're most noted for being the artists behind the theme song to the wildly successful Grey's Anatomy TV show, but their choice to cover this song isn't completely out of left field. From their covers to their originals, and even the graphics on their website, it becomes apparent that Psapp are cat fanciers. As part of a recent Q Magazine soft rock anthem cover CD, they even covered Al Stewart's Year of the Cat. A Love Cats cover can't be far behind.

Their interpretation of Everybody Wants To Be A Cat from the 5th volume of the Ubiquity Records' excellent REWIND! series, incorporates the best elements of their sound. Warm organic instruments, layered with electronics and everyday objects used as musical percussion, along with sampled meows, all capped off with the lovely whisper-smooth vocals of singer Galia Durant.

Everybody Wants to Be a Cat Psapp 2006

Beauty and the Beast - Diamond Rio

Walt Disney Animation's 30th animated feature film, Beauty and the Beast, is 16 years old today! Let's celebrate the classic by playing a cover of the titular song.

Today's cover is by modern country group DIAMOND RIO. The group, who formed in 1984, was the first country act to have their debut single hit number one on the Billboard country charts. Five albums later, the group is stronger than ever and their single One More Day, which was released early 2001, made it huge in radio rotation as a tribute song for those lost in the 9/11 tragedy.

This is the second track I've posted from THE BEST OF COUNTRY SING THE BEST OF DISNEY. It is not one of the best on the disc but it is certainly worth listening to. What are your thoughts on this cover?

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Chris Calabrese

Have you ever been walking down Main Street in Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom and heard from a distance some New Orleans-style ragtime piano? Chances are you were hearing CHRIS CALABRESE, the resident ragtime pianist at the various Disney parks.

In 1998 he released an album of songs from Disneyland in his ragtime style, RAGTIME AT THE MAGICAL KINGDOMS. The results are really fun. You'll hear common tunes like Yo Ho, The Tiki Tiki Room and It's a Small World and you'll also hear tune that are not so common. Miracles From Molecules, You're a Lifetime Journey and One Little Spark are all tunes that the common Joe can't hum but Chris knows them so well that the ragtime versions on this disc perfectly represent the originals.

I'm posting Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, a short one-and-a-half minute piano rag because Song of the South hit the theatres on this day in 1946. The theme park connection is that this song is featured on the Splash Mountain ride. Most kids these days would probably know this song from Splash Mountain and have no idea that it is actually a tune from Song of the South. That is how tight a grip Disney has on that 'politically incorrect' film from the 40s.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Chris Calabrese 1998

Reflection - Kyrie Stern

I'm not a fan of Karaoke recordings. If you are going to cover a song then please do something with the song and make it your own!

I try not to post "Karaoke covers" here because there are so many other great cover songs that I can post. But today is Terrible Track Friday and I couldn't help but share this one with you.

I think that the most important thing about recording a "Karaoke cover" is that you must have a great voice, because without it you have nothing going for you. This is something that KYRIE STERN is having a bit of trouble with. She had a recording of Reflection up on her website for a while proving to the world that she isn't Christina Aguilera. It also shows that she didn't have the proper tools for recording otherwise she would have used a pitch corrector. The moment that she belt out Who is that girl I see I had to turn it off.

But what about the rest of her music? I must point out that with a little bit of studio time and production Kyrie Stern is really good! Check out her myspace and listen to the tracks Three Days and All I Do. They are great tracks. I'm glad she took this one off her site. It wasn't doing her any good.

Reflection Kyrie Stern Year