Chim Chim Cher-ee - Seldom Scene

Here's a nice short cover of Chim Chim Cher-ee that I thought I'd share with you today. It's done by a bluegrass group called SELDOM SCENE who have been making music since 1971 and, dispite constant member changes, are still performing today.

Seldom Scene is based out of Maryland and performs in the surrounding states. They started out as four guys who just got together with their guitars to jam and it was six years before they started playing shows. They found fame by being in the right place at the right time. Bluegrass was their style and it just so happened that bluegrass became all the rage in the early 70s with their progressive bluegrass style being particularly popular. They went on to have a successful 25 year career.

But in 1996, founder and lead singer for 25 years John Duffy suffered a heart attack and died. The group disbanded and it wasn't until 2000 that they would get back together to record and perform.

This cover of Chim Chim Cher-ee is the lead track off their 1973 release ACT III and features John Duffey on lead guitar backed by Mike Auldrige on Dobro and Tom Gray on bass. It's beautiful. I think it's my favourite cover of this song. Too bad it's so short.

Chim Chim Cher-ee Seldom Scene 1973

When I See an Elephant Fly - Robbie Fulks

ROBBIE FULKS is a alternative country musician. He calls himself this because he doesn't really likes the country music industry, mainstream modern country music and basically the huge empire that rules over musicians. His music is littered with tongue-in-cheek references to Nashville and country music and on his webpage you'll read some sarcasm and cynicism toward rock 'n roll, record labels, and digital downloads.

However, his singing, songwriting and guitar playing is really fantastic. Each of his albums features a slightly different musical direction, each showcasing Fulks' musical talent. For cover fans, Fulks released an album of country covers called 13 HILLBILLY GIANTS.

Fulks demonstrates his ability to play bluegrass with this cover of Dumbo's When I See an Elephant Fly which is the perfect song for him due to the sarcastic nature of the lyrics. But it make me wonder, wouldn't it fit Robbie's character to also not like the Walt Disney Company? Why would he record this track for them?

When I See an Elephant Fly Robbie Fulks 2003

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

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Elizabeth Cook

ELIZABETH COOK has been making music all her life. She started performing on stage with her father at four and had her own band at nine. And even though she graduated college with dual degrees in Accounting and Computer Information Systems, her first love was music and her life went in that direction and hasn't looked back.

The song she sings for Disney is an old classic. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah was written in 1946 for the movie Song of the South, Disney's first live action movie. I'm not really a fan of Cook's music or her voice, but she seems to fit quite well with this song. I find that her voice sounds like a cartoon so it is only fitting that she sings the song that, in my mind, is a bunch of cartoon characters being goofy and taking me for a ride in the Splash Mountain attraction at Disneyland.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Elizabeth Cook 2003

King of the Swingers - The Polyjesters

Hi folks! Jamie here again from Fong Songs with a Jungle Book cover for you.

This past summer, I took the ol' Edmonton-to-Calgary Greyhound to check out the Calgary Folk Festival for the first time. While there were several notable artists including Hawksley Workman, Neko Case, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and Don Maclean, the big draw for me was the recently reunited Squirrel Nut Zippers. Now on a fine Saturday morning they shared a sidestage playing "Tin Pan Alley" tunes with fellow artists Eleni Mandell, Mary Flower, and... THE POLYJESTERS. Similar to the Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Polyjesters are a mish-mash of old styles including folk, swing jazz, country, and bluegrass. In fact, they describe their musical stylings as ka-chunk, which is also the name of their last album. They impressed me with their dynamic stage presence, impeccable musicianship, and good humour, which led me to catch their solo concert the next day. The core of The Polyjesters are brothers Sheldon and Jason Valleau, two good ol' Alberta boys, with a supporting cast that varies from album to album.

I picked up their latest CD at the festival and ordered another two from CDBaby.com. When I got their 2001 album Fiddlestix!, I was unexpectedly delighted to discover a Disney cover of I Wan'na Be Like You, which was masquerading under the title King of the Swingers. I was even more surprised when I started writing this post and found out they actually did a stint as the Fiddlestix, representing Canada on the Canadian stage at Disney World's EPCOT Center and this album is a result of that! I also beamed with Alberta pride when I read that Fiddlestix! was recorded entirely in a church in Olds, Alberta, a small town which I've passed through many a time en route to the mountains for skiing.

Earlier this month Disney finally updated O Canada!, a 360 degree film attraction at EPCOT, which had been peppered with dated Canadian stereotypes for over 25 years. Apparently it's now hosted by Martin Short and the theme Canada, You're a Lifetime Journey was re-recorded by Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila. Now there's a Disney cover for Kurtis to track down!

King of the Swingers The Polyjesters 2001

Spectrum - Michelle Shocked

Today is the first day of Friday Features here at Covering the Mouse. Every Friday will have it's own theme and today, the last Friday of the month, is Obscure Disney Song Friday. Today's obscure track is The Spectrum Song originally sung by Paul Frees as Professor Ludwig Von Drake.

Way back in 1961, Walt Disney decided to change his black and white television program, Disneyland, to color as that was becoming more standard in households and Walt always liked being on the cutting edge of technology. The name became Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and the very first episode featured a new character, Ludwig Von Drake, who sang a song that was very apropos to the new title. The Spectrum Song was written by the Sherman Brothers who tied color and music together very closely for this song. The following excerpt is taken from Wikipedia:

The opening stanza of "The Spectrum Song" tied each color to a specific note in a major scale, similar to the color coding of a toy xylophone. Thus, the word "red" corresponded to the tonic, or octave note (Do), yellow was the major third or mediant note (Mi), green was the perfect fifth or dominant note (So), and so on. The first four notes of the song thus formed a major chord, do-mi-so-do (red-yellow-green-red), a playful variant on the exercise of singing scales, similar to the Rodgers and Hammerstein song "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music. The Shermans thus compare colors to musical notes, stating in the lyric that "Color has its harmony".

This version of the song is arranged and performed by Michelle Shocked, a singer-songwriter and political activist from Texas. In 2005 she released three albums at the same time! One album called GOT NO STRINGS is made up entirely of Disney cover tunes! I'll be posting more by her in the future and I'll tell you a bit more about Michelle at that time.

Spectrum Michelle Shocked 2005

Mickey Mouse Club March/The Ballad of Davy Crockett

Walt Disney was one of the earliest people to jump on the television bandwagon and the Disney presence has been there ever since. This medley strings together the themes from two of Walt's earliest TV projects.

The Mickey Mouse March from the Mickey Mouse Club (1955) is the first half of the medley and the Ballad of Davy Crockett from the TV serials that are commonly known as the Adventures of Davy Crockett brings up the end. This song is found on the 2003 release O MICKEY, WHERE ART THOU? which was made to capitalize on the bluegrass craze that swept the music world after the release of O Brother, Where Art Thou? While the music is nice, it's not really bluegrass. Certain elements, like Aubrey Haynie's fiddle and Randy Korhs' dobro, are bluegrass but there is far more country here than there should be.

Although no names are credited, the liner notes tell me that Bryan Sutton, Mark Casstevens and Kerry Marx played guitar, Randy Kohrs played the dobro, Larry Paxton played bass, Aubrey Haynie played the fiddle, Richard Bailey played banjo and Sam Bush played the mandolin. All of these players, and others, are top of the line session players and provide all the music for this album.

Mickey Mouse Club March/ The Ballad of Davy Crockett 2003