A Spoonful of Sugar - Harry Connick, Jr.

Today is the birthday of a very important person in Disney history. RICHARD M. SHERMAN celebrates turns 80 today!
To celebrate I am sharing a version of a song he wrote for Mary Poppins. This is HARRY CONNICK, JR. singing A Spoonful of Sugar.

Richard M. Sherman is one half of the ultimate songwriting duo known as the Sherman Brothers. Together, the brothers have written songs for over two dozen films, both Disney (Mary Poppins, Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh) as well as non-Disney (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Snoopy Come Home, Charlotte's Web), as well as countless other songs for musicals, theme parks and TV shows over the last forty years.

The Sherman Brothers have 9 Academy Award nominations, 2 Grammy Awards, 4 Grammy Award nominations and 23 gold and platinum albums. And even though Robert Sherman now lives in London and Richard is still in California, they still collaborate on many projects together.

A Spoonful of Sugar Harry Connick, Jr. 2001

The Bare Necessities - Harry Connick, Jr.

We're almost at the end of Big Band Week and today is the last good post of the week because tomorrow is Terrible Track Friday.

Today I'm posting a song from a modern jazz artist who often uses the big band sound in his work. HARRY CONNICK, JR. Disney was keeping an eye on this young talent from the start. In 1991 Harry was asked by Disney to record The Bare Necessities for SIMPLY MAD ABOUT THE MOUSE, a compilation album of famous pop musicians. This was only a year after Harry found success recording the soundtrack for When Harry Met Sally.

I'm surprised that more people haven't used this song in this fashion. The mood seems to fit so well as a jazz piece but it gets over shadowed by the jazzier I Wan'na Be Like You. Harry's version is really nice but he cuts out the "When you look under the rocks and plants" part of the song and it throws me off when I hear it.

The Bare Necessities Harry Connick, Jr. 1991

Stay Awake - Harry Connick, Jr.

In 2001, HARRY CONNICK, JR. released SONGS I HEARD. It was an album of childrens' movie classics arranged in the big band style. Connick chose songs from Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Annie, and Wizard of Oz. Connick arranged, orchestrated and conducted the music himself as well as his usual duties on piano and vocals.

There are some really great arrangements on this album. His versions of Do-Re-Mi and Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead! are fantastic. It's too bad that you'll never hear them on this webpage. Go and buy this album! It's worth it.

Connick chose three songs from Mary Poppins; Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Spoonful of Sugar, and Stay Awake. I have chosen to post his cover of Stay Awake today because I like the original and Harry's version is pretty good too. It is soft, simple and touching. If Harry Connick, Jr. were cast as Mary Poppins I can hear him singing this version of the song in the movie and it would totally fit (although it would be creepy if he were Poppins).

Connick has a good ear for making his arrangements interesting while keeping the original focus of the song. The other two Mary Poppins songs on this disc are better than this one, but we'll get to them another day.

Stay Awake Harry Connick, Jr. 2001