Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Here is another fun selection by THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR.

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.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo Mormon Tabernacle Choir 1990

Labels: bibbidi bobbidi boo, cinderella, classical, columbia symphony orchestra, jerold ottley, mormon tabernacle choir, when you wish upon a star album

  ¶ 9:32 AM 3 Comments Links to this post

  Baby Mine - Paige Morehead
This gentle version of Baby Mine comes from DISNEY BABIES LULLABY, the perfect album to lull your newborn to sleep. The disc is composed of gentle versions of Disney songs plus a few original tracks.

Paige Morehead is on of the artists on this album, however I can't find any information about her online. I think she may be a studio musician but I am not sure. Can anyone help me out with this?

Baby Mine Paige Morehead 1991

Labels: baby mine, classical, disney babies lullaby, dumbo, paige morehead

  ¶ 11:04 AM 2 Comments Links to this post

  So This is Love - Club 33
Today's cover is a track from the selection of music heard in Club 33, the exclusive, thousands of dollars membership, 14 year waiting list, club and restaurant hidden inside the Disneyland park.

Since us regular joes probably won't have the privilege of being members of Club 33, the only chance you will get to hear this music is this site!

Does anyone have any information on these tracks? Such as the musicians and recording dates?

So This is Love Club 33 ???

Labels: cinderella, classical, club 33, so this is love

  ¶ 8:04 AM 3 Comments Links to this post

  Second Star to the Right - Voices of Ascension
On the first Friday of every month I post a requested cover. Isreal wants to hear more from HEIGH-HO MOZART and to tie into our week-long Disney Orphans theme I am posting Second Star to the Right by the VOICES OF ASCENSION, one of the world's best professional choral ensembles.

Peter Pan's life has been full of excitement and adventures. Unfortunately, without the guidance of a parent or other good role model Peter has become a underdeveloped preteen. He's probably about 12 or 13 in the film but acts as if he were seven years old. He is a bratty orphan who exists in his own world and lives to please only himself. Not the stuff of a protagonist, but he does end up learning something at the end.

Of all the orphans in all the Disney films, Peter Pan is the most annoying and the most in desperate need of parental support. If only Wendy had stayed in Neverland...or would she regress to Peter Pan's level?

As with all the songs on HEIGH-HO MOZART, this song is modeled after a famous classical composer, in this case THOMAS TALLIS.

Tallis lived in the 16th century and specialized in writing music for the church. He wrote choral anthems that were sung in English rather than Latin which ended up being quite controversial.

The Second Star to the Right Voices of Ascension 1995

Labels: classical, heigh-ho mozart, peter pan, second star to the right, voices of ascension

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  Winnie the Pooh - Yoko Shimomura
On this day in 1920, Daphne Milne, wife of the famous author Alan Alexander Milne (more famously known as A.A. Milne), gave birth to a son and the couple named him Christopher Robin Milne.

It was this child that inspired the world of Winnie-the-Pooh. A.A. Milne created characters based on his son's stuffed animals. That was in 1926.

Forty years later, Disney released Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, forever placing Winnie the Pooh in pop culture history.

The version that I have posted today is by YOKO SHIMOMURA, a Japanese composer and musician. She is best known for her work in the video game world having provided soundtracks for Street Fighter II, Super Mario RPG and the Kingdom Hearts series.

It is the KINGDOM HEARTS SOUNDTRACK where you can hear many video game soundtrack versions of some of your favourite Disney songs and here is a small sample.

Winnie the Pooh Yoko Shimomura 2005

Labels: classical, kingdom hearts soundtrack, many adventures of winnie the pooh, winnie the pooh, yoko shimomura

  ¶ 3:32 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

  Love is a Song - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Way back on August 13, 1942, Walt Disney released his fifth animated feature film, Bambi.

Although it did poorly in the box office, Bambi is considered to be a masterpiece movie, with the death of Bambi's mother being one of the most well known scenes in movie history!

Bambi received three Academy Award nominations: Best Sound, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Song for Love is a Song, written by Frank Churchill and Edward H. Plumb.

Like many elements of the film, Love is a Song touched many people emotionally. THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR performs this song with the same tenderness and compassion that made us fall in love with it in the first place.

Love is a Song Mormon Tabernacle Choir 1990

Labels: bambi, classical, columbia symphony orchestra, jerold ottley, love is a song, mormon tabernacle choir

  ¶ 5:32 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

  A Whole New World - Carol Rosenberger
It's been a while since I posted anything from the two classical Disney albums. So here is a track from BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BACH featuring CAROL ROSENBERGER on the piano.

Just like Rosenberger's version of With a Smile and a Song, here is A Whole New World in the style of the Polish composer and pianist, Frédéric Chopin.

What makes this piece a CHOPIN homage is the constant use of rubato, chromaticism and counterpoint.

A Whole New World Carol Rosenberger 1996

Labels: a whole new world, aladdin, bibbidi-bobbidi-bach, carol rosenberger, chopin, classical

  ¶ 7:04 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  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 ???

Labels: classical, club 33, grim grinning ghosts, haunted mansion

  ¶ 11:28 AM 9 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: at the movies, beauty and the beast, beauty and the beast song, classical, james galway, showtunes

  ¶ 8:42 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: classical, columbia symphony orchestra, heigh-ho, jerold ottley, mormon tabernacle choir, showtunes, snow white and the seven dwarfs, when you wish upon a star album, whistle while you work

  ¶ 7:49 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: carol rosenberger, chopin, classical, heigh-ho mozart, snow white and the seven dwarfs, with a smile and a song

  ¶ 7:51 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: classical, heigh-ho mozart, many adventures of winnie the pooh, sergei prokofiev, shanghai quartet, winnie the pooh, winnie the pooh and the blustery day

  ¶ 7:22 AM 2 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: classical, columbia symphony orchestra, hi diddle dee dee, jerold ottley, mormon tabernacle choir, pinocchio, showtunes, when you wish upon a star, when you wish upon a star album

  ¶ 2:10 PM 0 Comments Links to this post