Grim Grinning Ghosts - Club 33

Our next stop on our tour of Disneyland is New Orleans Square where we will find two attractions that are brought together with this cover song.

Grim Grinning Ghosts is the main theme for the popular Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. The original plan when the park was first built was to place a haunted house at the top of a high hill that loomed over the park. Walt was not impressed with the concept and put the project on hold until they were looking for attractions for a new section of the park, New Orleans Square, that would replace the unpopular Holidayland.

In 1961, the park started construction and advertising the Mansion but the project was still delayed because Walt wasn't sure about how the plans were shaping up. The completed exterior of Mansion was previewed in 1965 on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color but did not actually open because now Walt's attention was on the New York World's Fair for which he was creating a few attractions. It wasn't until Walt's death in 1966 that the Mansion could actually get some attention. It finally opened in 1969!

This cover of Grim Grinning Ghosts is the version that is played in Club 33, an exclusive restaurant in New Orleans Square that is only indicated by a nondescript door with a simple 33 on it. It is not open to the public and the membership fees are in the thousands. But even if you have the money, don't expect to get in any time soon as the waiting is is apparently 14 years long!

All of the music that is heard in Club 33 has this similar chamber feel to it. I think this track is quite beautiful and eerie at the same time. I also have the Club 33 version of Feed the Birds but that is it. There are a dozen more songs that are heard in the club but a formal album has not been released. I don't even know where this track came from! I got it from another music blogger.

If anyone knows where I can get Club 33 music or who the performers are, I would be your best friend forever. UPDATE: Kevin hooked me up with this album! He is my new BFF! Thanks Kevin!

Grim Grinning Ghost Club 33 ???

Beauty and the Beast - James Galway

To start out the week I am posting a soothing cover of the love ballad from Beauty and the Beast by professional flautist SIR JAMES GALWAY which he recorded for his 1993 album AT THE MOVIES.

Galway has been a professional flute player since the early 50s when he played with the Philharmonic Orchestra. He quickly rose to popularity as a solo flautist and is now one of the most well known flute players in the world.

While most of his work is in the classical world, Galway does branch out to the world of pop and showtunes and has two Disney covers, this one and Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

If you think you haven't heard Sir James before, have you seen Lord of the Rings? He was a featured flautist throughout the Howard Shore score.

Beauty and the Beast James Galway 1993

Whistle While You Work/Heigh-Ho! Heigh-Ho! - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Here is a short Snow White medley from the Walt Disney tribute album WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR recorded by THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR.

There are two songs in Snow White about working, one sung by Snow White as she cleans the dwarfs cabin and one sung by the dwarfs as they mine for diamonds. It is rather peculiar that both of these songs are about making work fun. As a Canadian, I don't know much about American history but I do know that the Great Depression was in the 30s and took most of that decade to recover from. So could it be that Disney had it in mind to create a movie about a poor working girl, forced to live in poverty, who has a cheery outlook on life and sings happy songs about working in order to help the general public through these tough times? Walt started production on this movie in 1934 so I'm sure that the depression must have been on his mind and I wouldn't be surprised if it was an influence on the film.

Under the conduction of JEROLD OTTLEY, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra take these two songs and combine them to make a jolly work song every bit as jolly as the originals.

Whistle While You Work/Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho! Mormon Tabernacle Choir 1990

With a Smile and a Song - Carol Rosenberger

Carrying on with Snow White Week, I give to you a version or With a Smile and a Song reworked to be in the style of the famous Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin.

CHOPIN had a great sense of rhythmic style and tempo. He favoured rubato, slight slowing down and speeding up of tempo, in his music instead of exaggerated ritardandos. He wanted to keep his music flowing and made great use of the legato style, which means playing all the notes smoothly together, almost slurring the notes together.

CAROL ROSENBERGER is the pianist on this track and you can really hear Chopin's style come out in her playing.

With a Smile and a Song Carol Rosenberger 1995

Winnie the Pooh - Shanghai Quartet

Way back on April 14 in 1969, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was awarded an Oscar for Best Short Subject. The short, which originally aired in 1968 before The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit, is an important one in history because it is the first appearance of Tigger in a Disney production. The story of the storm that floods the 100 Acre Wood and destroys Owl's house was later compiled with the other Pooh shorts to create the feature film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

I have chosen to post this classical version of the Winnie the Pooh theme by SHANGHAI QUARTET. The track comes off HEIGH-HO MOZART, an album in which Disney songs are interpreted in the styles of famous classical composers. Winnie the Pooh is arranged in the style of the famous Russian composer, SERGEI PROKOFIEV.

Sergei Prokofiev was a child prodigy. In 1896, he composed his first piece when he was five and he asked his mother to write it down because he couldn't do it himself. He continued to pursue his music and composed many symphonies, operas and even a film score for the 1938 film Alexander Nevsky.

Prokofiev's life got harder after WWII when the Soviet government decided that his music was a form of Russian Formalism and needed to be censored. This caused Prokofiev to withdraw from society in order to work on his music. It soon became common for theatres to refuse to play his compositions causing Prokofiev to withdraw even further. His health suffered and soon he was only working on his music for about an hour a day.

His last public presentation of his work was his Seventh Symphony in 1952 which he was asked to rewrite the ending to make it more cheery. He died a year later of a cerebral hemorrhage. Prokofiev's life and his work have become important in Russian history as he is considered to be one of the greatest composers in the 20th century.

Winnie the Pooh Shanghai Quartet 1995

When You Wish Upon a Star/Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

As with every third Friday of the month, today is When You Wish Upon a Star Friday and this time I'm featuring a version of the song sung by one of the most famous choirs in the world.

THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR formed in 1847 almost immediately after the Mormons settled in the Salt Lake Valley. Over the years they have toured the world, recorded many albums (its first was recorded in 1910), won many awards, performed for many presidents, and have hosted their own radio program(Music and Spoken Word, the longest running program in history) and television programs. The choir is made up of 360 men and women.

In 1990, under the direction of JEROLD OTTLEY, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir recorded a Walt Disney tribute album called WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR. The choir is backed by Columbia Records very own Columbia Symphony Orchestra and together they create a beautiful journey through the history of Disney music classics.

When You Wish Upon a Star/Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee is the lead track on the album and a great blend of the two classic Pinocchio tunes.

When You Wish Upon a Star The Mormon Tabernacle Choir 1990

Heigh-Ho - Shanghai Quartet

If WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART was still alive, yesterday he would have turned 252! To celebrate Mozart's birthday I am posting another track from HEIGH-HO MOZART, a collection of Disney songs arranged in the styles of great composers. Here is the title track, Heigh-Ho in the style of the great Baroque composer played by the SHANGHAI QUARTET.

Mozart was a child genius. He started playing the clavier at the age of three and composing his own tunes at five! He is one of the most well known and most popular classical composers of all time. Along with his many symphonies, piano and violin concertos and sonatas, and operettas, he also composed many pieces for string quartets. This version of Heigh-Ho mimics this style.

The Shanghai Quartet is a very well known string quartet that formed in Shanghai in 1983. They have grown in popularity and have played some of the nicest venues all over the world. They have recorded many albums along with such musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Ruth Laredo, and Arnold Steinhardt. They also provided the score for Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda

Heigh-Ho Shanghai Quartet 1995

Beauty and the Beast - English Chamber Orchestra with Carol Rosenberger

Everybody give a big "Happy Birthday" to ANGELA LANSBURY who turns 82 today! Angela is a stage and screen veteran, having been in the movie, television and theatre business since 1944 acting in such memorable project like The Picture of Dorian Gray, the Manchurian Candidate, Murder, She Wrote and Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks! My favourite film of Angela's is Beauty and the Beast.

So, to commemorate Angela Lansbury's birthday, I am posting a cover of the song she sang as Mrs. Potts, Beauty and the Beast. This particular recording was composed by Donald Fraser and is performed by the ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA with CAROL ROSENBERGER on the piano.

As with all the tracks on HEIGH-HO MOZART, this piece was re-written in the style of a great classical composer. In this case it is SERGEI RACHMANINOFF, a Russian composer and pianist whose work was influential in the Romantic era of classical music. He is known for his flowing melodies and beautiful piano scores. One of his most famous works, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is a standard in the classical world and is also used frequently in film.

This interpretation of Beauty and the Beast is modeled after one of his piano concertos. Rachmaninov had really big hands, allowing he to play thirteenths on the piano. You can hear this being mimicked in this track.

Beauty and the Beast English Chamber Orchestra 1995

Prince Ali - Millar Brass Ensemble

Another thank-you goes out to Fong Songs for giving me a plug on his cover tunes site! I know you want to hear an Aladdin cover, so here it is!

This version of Prince Ali is taken from the album HEIGH-HO MOZART, a collection of Disney songs done in the style of classical composers, and is reworked to echo the styles of Béla Bartók.

The piece is performed by the MILLAR BRASS ENSEMBLE and is one of the only Aladdin covers I have that isn't A Whole New World! I hope you enjoy it!

Prince Ali Millar Brass Ensemble 1995

Kiss the Girl - English Chamber Orchestra

BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BACH is the second of two albums that take classic Disney songs and reinterpret them in the styles of various classical composers. On this album the Little Mermaid's love ballad Kiss the Girl was scored in the style of Finnish composer JEAN SIBELIUS. This piece is performed by the ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA.

When I first heard this piece I thought it sounded a lot like Wagner. But I when I looked at the liner notes I saw that it was in the style of Sibelius. Now I'm no expert on classical music so I searched Sibelius on Wikipedia and found out that Wagner is one of Sibelius' greatest inspirations!

This version of Kiss the Girl takes on a more dramatic approach. It turns this love song into a full out opera. It is unique and inventive. You have to listen very closely or you may not even recognize the song! The themes are there but they go through a few different variations.

Kiss the Girl English Chamber Orchestra 1996