Chim Chim Cher-ee - Famille Grendy



Hey, folks! Boyhowdy from all-folk, all-covers blog Cover Lay Down here; it's been a while, but it's very good to be back. And I'm especially pleased to be here today, as, conveniently, this amazing take on everyone's favorite faux-Cockney Disney cover had just fallen into my lap when Kurtis contacted me about the possibility of guest-posting.

In keeping with the international flavor of the ongoing Olympic Games, this cover is about as international as it gets: an American film classic about British characters covered by French vintage-slash-punk band FAMILLE GRENDY, who put down the electric guitars here to strip the tune down into a lovely gypsy-acoustic waltz, complete with tinkly xylophone, plucked guitar, and ukulele. In a tip o' the hat to a few other international sources, I found it on my favorite new Spanish coverblog, Torre De Canciones; another, much more raucous cover of the song, Chim Chim Cher-ee, was just recently posted here by a Canadian, Jamie of Fong Songs.

I'd say more about Famille Grendy, who come across like a ragtag traveling circus troupe from the early 1900s in their press pictures, but their entire website is in French. Apparently, according to both the occasional audible meow and the grainy, sepia-toned video which accompanies the song, the Mary Poppins cover was recorded for their cat, as part of their Acoustic Live in the Attic series. Their debut album ANY OLD HOW, released in October of 2008, is much more Punk than this, but that's not a bad thing, either.

Labels: chim chim cher-ee, famille grendy, folk, mary poppins

  ¶ 8:57 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Chim Chim Cher-ee - The Clumsy Lovers



Hey everyone! Jamie here again from Fong Songs with a very special Disney cover post for you today. You may not have realized it before but both Kurtis and I live in Vancouver (I'm a transplanted Albertan). Of course, our fair city is playing host to the 2010 Winter Olympics, which kicks off on Friday! With that in mind, I tasked myself with somehow finding a Disney cover song that's by a Canadian band and ties in with the Olympic festivities.

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-ee
A sweep is as lucky as lucky can be
THE CLUMSY LOVERS are a folk group based in Coquitlam (a city that's part of the Greater Vancouver Region) who covered the classic Chim Chim Cher-ee from Mary Poppins on their 2001 release STILL CLUMSY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. Of course, the song is about the good fortune of chimney sweepers, but for our sake let's pretend that extends to the sweepers of curling, Canada's other favourite ice sport besides hockey.

Curling has only been an official Olympic event since 1998 in Nagano where Canada's Women's team led by skip Sandra Schmirler took home the gold medal while our Men's team won the silver. At Salt Lake City, our Women's team won the bronze and the Men's won silver. Then in Turin, the Women's got another bronze while the Men finally swept their way to gold. With medals in each Olympic curling event to date, expectations are naturally high for our curling teams to do well on home ice. This year's men's team will be skipped by Kevin Martin leading an all-Albertan squad and Cheryl Bernard will skip a similarly all-Albertan team. Woo, Alberta pride!

Good luck will rub off when
I shake hands with you
Or blow them some kisses since that's lucky too! Good luck to our Canuck curlers and other athletes! Let's sweep up some golds on the podium. By the way, The Clumsy Lovers themselves will be playing a free all-ages Olympic show at Robson Square on February 25, 10-10:30pm.

Labels: chim chim cher-ee, clumsy lovers, folk, mary poppins, still clumsy after all these years

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  Chim Chim Cher-ee - Mrs. Miller
To end your week of on a sour note, this month's Terrible Track is an oldie by none other than MRS. MILLER.

Mrs. Miller is notorious for her off-key renditions of rock, pop and showtune classics. She began her career in 1966 when Capital Records signed her based on her unique sense of style. Her debut album MRS. MILLER'S GREATEST HITS was a huge success. The album sold over 250,000 in three weeks and her Petula Clark cover of Downtown even made it to the Billboard charts! Everyone wanted to hear this new farce.

Or was it farce? By reading interviews with Mrs. Miller, it is evident that she might not have thought of herself as a bad singer. Was she in on the whole thing or was she totally oblivious to her joke of a career?

While she may have caught on to the joke by the time her second and third albums were out, she didn't clue into the fact that the label was getting her to record songs for her fourth album, MRS. MILLER DOES HER THING, that were all alluding to drugs. Songs like Mary Jane, Green Thumb, Renaissance of Smut, and Granny Bopper were all featured on the album as was a cover image of Mrs. Miller holding a plate of brownies!

This infuriated Mrs. Miller when she later discovered the meanings of the symbolism. But it was too late to stop the album as it was already in stores. She broke her contract with Capital and set out to form her own label where she could make her own 'serious' albums. She soon faded into obscurity.

Chim Chim Cher-ee Mrs. Miller 1966

Labels: chim chim cher-ee, mary poppins, mrs miller, mrs millers greatest hits, pop, terrible

  ¶ 5:52 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Chim Chim Cher-ee - Domino
One of the most famous songs from Mary Poppins is the song of the chimney sweep, Chim Chim Cher-ee. So to take us through Mary Poppins Week, we are going to take a look at this song.

Chim Chim Cher-ee was written by the Sherman Brothers after seeing a painting of a chimney sweep by one of the screenwriters Don DaGradi. DeGradi explained to the Shermans that in ancient British folklore shaking the hand of a chimney sweep could bring good luck.

The character of Bert was already an amalgamation of several characters from the Mary Poppins books, so the Shermans decided to make Bert a chimney sweep as well and Chim Chim Cher-ee became his theme song.

This Eurobeat version is by the famous UK Eurobeat artist DOMINO and serves as one of the better tracks on the first album of EUROBEAT DISNEY.

Chim Chim Cher-ee Domino 2000

Labels: chim chim cher-ee, domino, eurobeat, eurobeat disney 1, mary poppins

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  Mary Poppins Medley - Erich Kunzel & the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

Since this Wednesday is the forty-fourth anniversary of Mary Poppins, I thought it would be fun to declare this week Mary Poppins Week! All of this wee will feature songs from the classic movie!

To kick off the week, I'm sharing with you the Mary Poppins Medley that was recorded by the CINCINNATI POPS ORCHESTRA, conducted by ERICH KUNZEL, with the Indiana University's Singing Hoosiers providing the vocal work, from the Grammy nominated album, A DISNEY SPECTACULAR from 1989.

The medley is well put together and includes a good variety of the different songs featured in the film. Here is what you will hear in this medley:

Chim Chim Cher-ee
Jolly Holiday
A Spoonful of Sugar
Let's Go Fly a Kite
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Step in Time

Mary Poppins Medley Erich Kunzel & the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra 1989

Labels: a disney spectacular, chim chim cher-ee, cincinnati pops orchestra, erich kunzel, jolly holiday, let's go fly a kite, mary poppins, spoonful of sugar, step in time, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

  ¶ 2:54 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Chim Chim Cher-ee - Disney Singers
Here is a fun track to make your Monday morning a happy one! Chim Chim Cher-ee DISCO STYLE! This one is for you, Janet!

I'm sure that many of you remember the 1979 record MICKEY MOUSE DISCO. The album had a few new songs but also a bunch of disco covers of Disney classics. The album sort of missed the disco bandwagon but it still managed to peak at #35 on the Billboard Pop Album Charts!

The album has been released on vinyl, cassette and CD but have long since gone out of print. I was fortunate to find a copy of it on vinyl for 75 cents at a thrift store. Disney has, however, released the album as digital downloads on iTunes!

Chim Chim Cher-ee Disney Singers 1979

Labels: chim chim cher-ee, disco, disney singers, mary poppins, mickey mouse disco

  ¶ 10:37 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: act 3, bluegrass, chim chim cher-ee, mary poppins, seldom scene

  ¶ 6:53 AM 2 Comments Links to this post

  Chim Chim Cher-ee - Louis Armstrong
A very happy 82nd birthday goes out to Dick Van Dyke today! Disney fans will know Dick as Bert the Chimney Sweep in Mary Poppins!

Dick's first role in the movie biz came in 1963 when he starred in the film adaptation of Bye Bye Birdie. The film was a hit and a year later Dick found even more fame with the mega hit, Mary Poppins!

The Cockney accent that Dick uses for the character of Bert in the film is so ridiculous that many people say that it is the worst attempt at a British accent by an American actor! Well, I like it no matter how wrong it is because I didn't know what a Cockney accent was when I was little and now it just sounds like "Bert's Accent" to me. It gives him character and humour.

To celebrate his birthday, I have posted Bert's theme song from Mary Poppins, Chim Chim Cher-ee, sung by jazz legend LOUIS ARMSTRONG off of his Disney tribute album DISNEY SONGS THE SATCHMO WAY. I hope you enjoy it!

Chim Chim Cher-ee Louis Armstrong 1968

Labels: chim chim cher-ee, disney songs the satchmo way, jazz, louis armstrong, mary poppins

  ¶ 2:29 PM 3 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: be our guest, bluegrass, chim chim cher-ee, fiddlestix, i've got no strings, orange blossom special, polyjesters, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

  ¶ 5:03 PM 4 Comments Links to this post

  Chim Chim Cher-ee - John Coltrane Quartet
JOHN COLTRANE is on of the most well known jazz sax players. He began recording albums in 1955 and did what he love right up until his death in 1967. He was a pioneer in the free jazz and avant-garde sytle of improv, a category which Sun-Ra also fits.

Many say the album THE JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET PLAYS, released in 1965, is the beginning of the Quartet's evolution into this spaced out, trippy, weird style of playing. It is here that we find Coltrane's version of Chim Chim Cher-ee from Mary Poppins. You will hear him playing a soprano saxophone, an instrument he popularized in the jazz world.

Rounding out the Quartet we have McCoy Tyner on the piano, Jimmy Garrison on the double bass, and Elvin Jones on the drums.

You'll notice that the track fades out at the end. This is because the track is actually twenty minutes long! The producer must have felt that the track would be too long for the record and shortened it. Recently, the twenty minute version has been released on a few albums. You can purchase it for a buck here.

Chim Chim Cher-ee John Coltrane Quartet 1965

Labels: chim chim cher-ee, jazz, john coltrane, john coltrane quartet, john coltrane quartet plays, mary poppins

  ¶ 6:50 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

  Mary Poppins Medley - Jim Brickman
Mary Poppins has over a dozen songs featured in the film and another dozen that didn't make the cut. How was it so easy for the Sherman brothers to write for Mary Poppins? Was it the lyrical content? Is it that they knew exactly what the movie called for? Or are they just that good? Whatever the answer, the songs of Mary Poppins have become ingrained in our heads since childhood.

It also appears that Mary Poppins is the movie that I have the most cover song of. I have dozens of versions of the various tunes as well as a few full albums devoted to Mary Poppins cover songs!

The track I have chosen for today is a medley by contemporary pianist JIM BRICKMAN off his album THE DISNEY SONGBOOK. He has seamlessly weaved Chim Chim Cher-ee, Feed the Birds, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Let's Go Fly a Kite together to create a very beautiful song.

Mary Poppins Medley Jim Brickman 1995

Labels: adult contemporary, chim chim cher-ee, disney songbook, feed the birds, jim brickman, let's go fly a kite, mary poppins, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

  ¶ 12:35 PM 1 Comments Links to this post