I Love to Laugh - Louis Prima & Gia Maione

To finish off Mary Poppins Week (which also happens to be Obscure Disney Song Friday) I am posting a cover of one of the lesser remembered Mary Poppins, the song sung by the gravity-defying Uncle Albert, I Love to Laugh.

Uncle Albert was played by Ed Wynn, a comedic Broadway actor and radio personality in the 30s and 40s who went on to have on of the very first comedy variety shows on television.

Ed Wynn first worked for Disney in 1951 as the voice of the Mad Hatter. Other Disney credits include Mr. Hofstedder in That Darn Cat and Rufus in the Gnome-Mobile, but it is his role in Mary Poppins that most people remember.

Wynn died of throat cancer two years after the release of Mary Poppins.

This cover of I Love to Laugh is by the husband wife team of LOUIS PRIMA and GIA MAIONE of their album LET'S FLY WITH MARY POPPINS.

I Love to Laugh Louis Prima & Gia Maione 1965

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - Louis Prima & Gia Maione

To start off your week, I have have chosen a track off LET'S FLY WITH MARY POPPINS, an album that LOUIS PRIMA recorded in 1965. The album was made up of songs from Mary Poppins arranged in Prima's unique style.

Mary Poppins was released in 1965 and was a huge success, and Prima, whose career was starting to wain, recorded this album to capitalize on the popularity. Unfortunately, the album was not considered on of his best.

Sharing the album credit is Prima's fifth wife, GIA MAIONE, who married Prima in 1964 and stayed with Prima and the band until 1975.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Louis Prima & Gia Maione 1965

Sister Suffragette - Gia Maione

There are so many songs in Mary Poppins that it's easy to forget a few that are being overshadowed by Chim Chim Cher-ee, Stay Awake and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. So for Obscure Disney Song Friday I have chosen a classic Mary Poppins tune that often gets overlooked.

Sister Suffragette is about the Women's Social and Political Union that was formed in London in 1906 in order to give women the chance to be heard, particularly in the form of political votes. The group was formed to rally for suffrage, the right to vote, for women in the UK and all the members were called suffragettes.

Since Mary Poppins takes place around this time it is perfectly logical for Mrs. Banks to be active in this group and having her sing this song at the beginning of the film shows that she is more interested in being a suffragette than being a mother for her children.

This song was covered by GIA MAIONE, the fifth wife of the Jungle Book's Louis Prima. They married and, a year after the release of Mary Poppins recorded their first album together, LET'S FLY WITH MARY POPPINS, a collection of all the songs from the film in Prima's classic jazz style.

Sister Suffragette Gia Maione 1965