When You Wish Upon a Star - Chet Atkins

For this month's installment of When You Wish Upon a Star Week, I've posted a cover of the classic Pinocchio tune by a classic guitarist.

CHET ATKINS, also known as Mr. Guitar, began his career as a musician of the string variety by playing ukulele, fiddle and then guitar, all before he was ten years old.

He grew up playing the guitar through the 30s and 40s and started performing in 1946 as part of Red Foley's country dance band. His guitar playing soon became very popular and he signed a deal with Steve Sholes of RCA Records to start recording records.

In 1957, Steve Sholes got a bit too busy producing and promoting an artist called Elvis Presley. Sholes couldn't keep up with the other branches of the label so Sholes put Atkins in charge of his Nashville branch. This was the beginning of Atkins' long career as a record producer. Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton are just a few of the names Atkins brought to the label.

It was around that time that Atkins started designing his own line of electric guitars with Gretsch. Atkins' guitars were the number one reason Gretsch could compete with the big names like Fender and Gibson. The Chet Atkins Country Gentleman was used by many musicians including Elvis Presley.

Atkins retired in the 70s after becoming dissatisfied with the way new executives ran RCA and the new ways his guitars were being made. He signed with Columbia and started making guitars with Gibson.

This beautiful cover of When You Wish Upon a Star is from PICKIN' MY WAY, an LP released by RCA in 1970. It is the perfect example of the awesome abilities Atkins possessed.

When You Wish Upon a Star Chet Atkins 1970

Never Smile at a Crocodile - Fred Penner

One of my childhood memories of growing up in Canada and in the eighties is coming home after school to watch Fred Penner's Place on CBC. He was a very entertaining performer and he fit right in with my other tv friends, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Dress-Up.

I'll talk about FRED PENNER when I post another Disney cover song of his in the future, but right now I want to tell you about this song.

Never Smile at a Crocodile can be found on his 1993 release, POCO. The tune is heard as an instrumental piece in Peter Pan whenever the Crocodile is getting close.

The tune was written by Frank Churchill who wrote most of Disney's music in the 30s and the early 40s. Walt had planned to make Peter Pan in the early 40s and asked Frank to start writing the music for it. But when legal rights got in the way, the feature, and its music, was shelved.

Years later, Walt was finally able to make Peter Pan and asked Jack Lawrence, who was working on Sleeping Beauty at the time, to write some lyrics for the tune that Churchill wrote. Although the words were never heard in the movie, the song has gone on to be a popular children's song, especially in Australia.

Never Smile at a Crocodile Fred Penner 1993

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!

Pooh Bear Medley Tommy Emmanuel & Amanda 1999

Not in Nottingham - Watkins Family Hour

Disney's epic retelling of the man (fox?) who stole from the rich and gave to the poor hit the big screen 34 years ago on this day! That is why I am honoring Robin Hood with a special live song that was recorded in the Largo night club in California.

Not in Nottingham is the most touching song and the most touching scene in the movie. The song is set in the dungeon of Nottingham Palace where the sheriff has imprisoned all of the locals who can't pay the taxes. Roger Miller's character, Alan-A-Dale, is one of the prisoners and it is here that sings of how there is no hope in Nottingham.

The WATKINS FAMILY HOUR is Sean and Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek who play local shows with special guests as the other members of the band. They bring a caring touch to this sad song with a bit of optimism in their voices that is a bit uplifting. But it still brings a tear to my eye when I remember those poor, poor animals.

Not in Nottingham Watkins Family Hour 2006

Winnie the Pooh - The Chieftains

Howdy, folks! It's boyhowdy again, host of the folk-music coverblog Cover Lay Down, back at Kurtis' generous request to lay another sweet acoustic track upon your Disney-fied ears. I'm still a bit gigged up on candy corn, so what better way to take the edge off than with a silly song about everyone's favorite silly old bear? Today's tasty treat is an Irish Jig about a British bear beloved by a global generation, in part, because Disney reimagined these cute stuffed innocents as American. Ladies and gentlemen: THE CHIEFTAINS take on Winnie The Pooh.

Irish Trad-folk band The Chieftains are known for their covers and collaborations -- in addition to recording pretty much every traditional Irish song under the County Clare sun over a run of almost forty years, these immortals have convinced not one but two albums worth of guest musicians, from bluegrass heroes Jerry Douglass and Tim O'Brien to folk goddess Patty Griffin and alt-country geek Lyle Lovett, to join them at the overflowing trough of traditional pipe and bodhran tunes. But The Chieftains can go beyond the traditional with aplomb, and as if to prove it, they bring this same fine musicianship and craft to their cover of the theme song to Winnie The Pooh.

One of the things I love about The Chieftains version of Winnie The Pooh (as opposed, say, to the sweet simple version Carly Simon recorded as a theme song to the last "good" Winnie The Pooh television show, back before Disney dumped Christopher Robin for Darby, that tomboy pretender to the throne) is how playful it is. I mean, it's a jig, but then there's something squeaking in the background, and is that a tuba chugging around at the base of all this? It is, indeed.

The jaunty rendition brings just the right tone of childlike wonder to the tune -- to me, the joyful noise that results calls up images of Pooh and his friends taking a Sunday constitutional through the 100 Acre Woods, a forest glen frolic interrupted only for a mock-stately interlude that slowly swings back into the pipe and whistle and drum, the whirl of the woods around.

In the end, The Chieftans cover of Winnie The Pooh is a perfect reimagining of a wonderful, elegant little tune. But don't take my word for it. Hit the play button below, and hear for yourself. And when you're done, pick up your own copy of TAKE MY HAND: SONGS FROM THE 100 ACRE WOOD. Where else can you hear Kathy Lee Gifford and the Roo-ettes doing The Kanga-Roo Hop?

Need a further Disney coversong fix? No worries, mate! Kurtis keeps the archives up for your listening pleasure, and I've got an Alison Krauss cover of Baby Mine up today as part of a larger post on folkcover kidsongs over at Cover Lay Down. Enjoy!

Winnie the Pooh The Chieftains 1995

When You Wish Upon A Star - Joe Henry

Heigh Ho, this is Boyhowdy from Cover Lay Down, the folk-themed cover song blog. Kurtis invited me over (thanks, Kurtis!) to bring y'all a folk cover of a Disney song, if I could find one; I found plenty, but our prolific and well-informed host had heard most of 'em. By process of elimination, then, the gift I bring today is JOE HENRY'S simple, elegant version of When You Wish Upon a Star.

Henry is one of those alt-americana artists; over a twenty year career, he's moved from the country camp through Jazz, and more recently into collaborations with Louden Wainwright III and production gigs for folk and blues artists from Bettye LaVette to Teddy Thompson. He has been compared to Tom Waits, though his voice is much clearer; both have found a cohesive sonic space with its own rules, and both tend to wrap lyrics around tempo to create a lush environment for even the simplest songs.

This version of When You Wish Upon A Star is a little ditty that clocks in at just over two minute long. But though it uses the same sweeping strings and bells we remember from the original, Henry's interpretation swings the vocals a little more, and this -- plus his great slightly raspy voice -- bring a subtlety and wistfulness to the song that really makes it shine.

I found today's cut -- plus Bonnie Raitt's wonderful version of Baby Mine -- on the kids album MARY HAD A LITTLE AMP. It's worth getting, especially if you're as sick of the Wiggles as I am.

(If you like Joe Henry, by the way, keep your eyes on Cover Lay Down for a great cover of Pale Blue Eyes I'm saving for a Lou Reed/Velvet Underground post in the next few months. Now how's THAT for a shameless plug, folks?)

When You Wish Upon A Star Joe Henry 2004