YAMI BOLO is a reggae artist from Kingston, Jamaica. He started recording professionally when he was twenty and has released twenty-two albums over two decades.
Bolo is still active in the music industry, touring all over the world but always returning to Jamaica.
In 2001, Yami Bolo covered You've Got a Friend in Me for REGGAE FOR KIDS, a collaboration of many popular reggae artists covering songs from the Disney library. It stands as one of the best covers of this song, mainly due to the way the lyrics relate to the reggae culture.
Today's Disney cover is the Jungle Book's Bare Necessities sung by reggae legend TONY REBEL.
Tony started out as a reggae singer in Jamaica in the late 80s. He recorded a few indie albums until 1992 when he was signed to Columbia. He has recorded many albums throughout the years and is still active today, although he does a lot more DJ work.
This version of Bare Necessities is really fun to listen to, especially when Tony gets cooking toward the end of the track.
Legendary Reggae artist SUGAR MINOTT covers It's a Small World today as we travel to Fantasyland for today's installment of Disneyland Week.
The It's a Small World attraction was one of the few that Walt Disney created with his Imagineers for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The ride was designed by Mary Blair who also worked on conceptual work for Cinderella and Peter Pan.
Originally, the ride was supposed to be called "Children of the World" but when Walt heard the song, written by the Sherman Brothers, he knew he had to change the name based on this catchy tune. It's a Small World (After All) has become one of the most popular and well known Disney songs in history!
It's a Small World has been closed since January to be refurbished by adding a few Disney characters throughout the ride, here and there. It is planned to reopen in November. It's a Small World in Hong Kong Disneyland opened earlier this year with the Disney characters and it seems to have gone over well.
Hattie McDaniel, Aunt Tempy in Song of the South, was the first black woman to be nominated and win an Academy Award. She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind. Today we celebrate the day of her birth with a song from Song of the South, one of her last movies.
The song is Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah and it is performed by reggae legend DON CARLOS and can be found on the album REGGAE FOR KIDS: MOVIE CLASSICS. Carlos kicked off his music career singing for the reggae group Black Uhuru in 1973. While the group did very well for themselves, it was Carlos' live show in dance clubs that brought in the crowds, leading Carlos to record a dozen solo albums. Black Uhuru didn't last but Carlos still tours the world to this very day.
Rasta Records has a whole line of reggae cds aimed at getting kids enthusiastic about the reggae genre. The albums are all well thought out and well produced with top reggae talent performing childrens music. In 2001 they released REGGAE FOR KIDS: MOVIE CLASSICS, a whole album of Disney covers done reggae!
The first track on the album is the Lion King's Hakuna Matata. What an appropriate song for this album. Timon and Pumbaa's motto of "no worries" reflects the reggae lifestyle and is perfect in a laid back reggae beat.
This song is sung by BUNNY WAILER one of the two surviving members of the Wailers. Bunny, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh banded together in 1963 and went through a few name changes before settling on the Wailers in 1966.
The Wailers broke up in 1976 and the three founding members went on to pursue solo careers. Peter Tosh used his music as a vehicle for his campaign to legalize marijuana and Bob Marley found international fame as Bob Marley and the Wailers. But Bunny Wailer, always the most laid back of the trio, decided to stay true to his Rastafari roots and stay in Jamaica recording album after album of reggae hits. He won three Grammy Awards in the 90s for Best Reggae Album.
Over the years, many musical artists have paid tribute to the music of Disney. This blog pays tribute to those artists.
You won't find any original Disney songs here, these are all covers, interpretations and variations on the tunes we all love.
About Kurtis Findlay
Kurtis has been singing Disney songs for as long as he can remember. He has created this blog as a means to connect with other Disney fans over the world.
Covering the Mouse is not associated with Disney or any major record label. If you wish to have a song removed from my site, please email me and I will be happy to comply.
kurtis[at]coveringthemouse[dot]com
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