A while back a reader requested to hear Someday My Prince Will Come covered by BARBRA STREISAND. While she did do a studio version of the song, I have chosen to post a live version that she did for her 34th album, THE CONCERT.
THE CONCERT is a two-disc album of a show Streisand did at Madison Square Gardens at what many fans consider the apex of her career. The album reached #10 on the US charts before going triple-platinum and selling over 3 million copies. Pretty remarkable stats for a double live album!
Disney Medley is a story Barbra tells of her memories watching Disney movies with her daughter. She takes us through Sleeping Beauty's Once Upon A Dream, Pinocchio's When You Wish Upon A Star and ends with Snow White's Someday My Prince Will Come, which ends up being the feature song in the medley.
The popular Disney group, THE CHEETAH GIRLS, have made a very successful career for themselves. Well, Disney has made a successful career for them.
The group started out as a Disney Channel Original Movie based on a youth book series, but the movie was so popular that it spawned two sequels with a third on the way, as well as three studio albums and a yearly tour across the country. The Cheetah Girls were transformed from a fictitious pop band to actual recording artists.
But the fact remains that this is just another Disney Pop (D-Pop as I like to call them) formula band. My apologies to all of you Cheetah Girls lovers.
For DISNEYMANIA 6, the Girls recorded a version of Someday My Prince Will Come which I consider perfect fodder for Terrible Track Friday. One listen and I am sure you will agree that this version is just plain awful.
Whistle While You Work - Artie Shaw and His Orchestra w/ Leo Watson
Today's track is by ARTIE SHAW AND HIS ORCHESTRA featuring LEO WATSON. Waton, a jazz musician from the 30s and 40s, was primarily a vocalist but also played the drums and the trombone which made a valuable player in many bands, Artie Shaw's and Gene Krupa's bands in particular, as well as the Spirits of Rhythm.
If you are a fan of Looney Tunes, you may be interested to know that Leo Watson provided the voice for Prince Chawmin' in Bob Clampett's Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, a cartoon that has gone on to be part of the infamous Censored Eleven, forever in the Warner Bros. vaults never to see the light of day (except on youtube).
This song was recorded in 1937, probably just after the movie was released.
Whistle While You Work Artie Shaw and His Orchestra w/ Leo Watson 1937
An anonymous reader turned me on to this Spanish Disney cover album by MOCEDADES. He/she requested Some Day My Prince Will Come off this album and since this is Request Friday I am happy to oblige!
Mocedades formed in 1967 in Spain and recorded many hit songs throughout the 70s and 80s. Though their music was popular mainly to the Spanish-speaking world, Mocedades was able to reach the American market with their single Eres Tú in the early 70s. Eres Tú is one of the only Spanish language songs to reach the top 10 in the United States and has been coverd by dozens of artist including Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Petula Clark, Johnny Mathis and even a duet between Chris Farley and David Spade for the movie Tommy Boy.
In 1997, Mocedades released their 21st album, MOCEDADES CANTA A WALT DISNEY, a collection of Disney songs in their Spanish pop sound. The track I am sharing with you today is Some Day My Prince Will Come from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
With a Smile and a Song - Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans
While doing research for this album, it became clear that there is no good source of information on the internet about CARROLL GIBBONS AND THE SAVOY HOTEL ORPHEANS. I have a couple of Disney songs by this group and absolutely love them and want to share them with you, but don't really have any info about them.
Here is what I do know: The house band for the Savoy Hotel in London, England, the Savoy Havana Band, was one of the top dance bands in the country in the 20s, but when they left to tour in 1923 the manager of the hotel hired a new group. This new group, called the Savoy Orpheans, specialized in fresh renditions of current pop hits and soon grew to have the same and then even greater popularity than their predecessors.
The Savoy Orpheans was lead by Debroy Sommers until his departure in 1926 and, after changing hands a few times, the baton was handed to Carrol Gibbons who had played with the group as a musician since the beginning.
With all the reading I did, I'm not sure what instrument Gibbons played in the band. I know he later moved to piano, but in the early days he was said to be in the band but Billy Thorburn was the pianist.
Gibbons lead the Savoy Orpheans starting in 1932 and continued to play at the Savoy Hotel until 1937 when they quit being the house band because the hotel wouldn't let them play gigs in other venues. The name of the band was changed to the Savoy Hotel Orpheans and later, when Carroll Gibbons became a big selling point for the group, it was changed again to Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans.
I know this seems like I actually found a lot of information, but certain things remain a mystery, like the recording date of this track. Snow White's With a Smile and a Song was released as a single on the Columbia record label with One Song, another Snow White song, as the b-side. But when was it recorded? Well, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937 so it can't have been before that. I would guess that it was probably recorded around 1938 or 1939 as the music from that film was quite popular after its release.
It should also be noted that the vocals are sung by Anne Lenner, a popular British singer who sang for Carroll on many occasions.
With a Smile and a Song Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans 1939?
Some Day My Prince Will Come - Sun Ra and His Intergalxtic Arkestra
Welcome to another addition of Terrible Track Friday. Today, I have chosen a track that I hope will not bring a bunch of hate mail my way. SUN RA and his Intergalaxtic Arkestra has a large cult following due to their unique genre of jazz and unusual origins (Sun Ra claims to be a man from Saturn).
Sun Ra formed his group in the 60s and even though he has passed away the group lives on.
Some of their material I really like. They are extremely creative, good musicians and tons of fun. But there is one element that I can't stand and that is the crazy squeaking and squawking that comes from the saxophonist, Marshall Allen. There is no need for it to be there, Allen is a great saxophonist and he really just does it because it is different. I can understand why people may like it, but in my opinion, it ruins the song and I usually skip this track.
Some Day My Prince Will Come Sun Ra and his Intergalaxtic Arkestra 1989
EN VOGUE was very new in the R&B world when they recorded this track for SIMPLY MAD ABOUT THE MOUSE in 1991. They found success with their debut album in 1990 and Disney got them to record Some Day My Prince Will Come and One Song knowing that their name would be a big selling point.
Unfortunately, I think this song is the worst track on the album which is why I've chosen it for Terrible Track Friday. The tempo has been slowed down so much that it becomes boring. And while the vocals get more interesting toward the end, it is not enough to make me like the song. And what's with the cheesy background vocals on One Song? En Vogue has had a lot of good songs but this isn't one of them.
Some Day My Prince Will Come/One Song En Vogue 1991
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
The final entry for Snow White Week is the lead track off the first volume of DISNEYMANIA. This was back when Disney worked on getting bigger names in the pop music business to contribute to the album rather than culling their own field of Disney Channel stars.
One of the most famous of all Disney songs, Some Day My Prince Will Come has been given a nice R&B treatment by pop singer ANASTACIA. The song was voted #19 by the American Film Institute on their 100 Greatest Songs in Movie History list. The only other Disney song to rank higher on the list was When You Wish Upon a Star which was #7. (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was #36, Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah was #47, Beauty and the Beast was #62 and Hakuna Matata was #99)
Anastacia Newkirk, as much as she has tried, has not had the popularity she wanted in North America. When her first album was released in 2000 it quickly rose to the top of the charts in several European and Asian countries and reached #2 in Australia! She can sell out stadiums in the east but is still a relatively unknown here in the west.
In 2003, she was diagnosed with breast cancer which affected the way she approached life and her music. She continued to tour until 2005 when she decided to focus on other interests like fashion. But rumour has it that she is working on a new album to be released later this year. Hopefully this one with be more popular in the States.
Our first introduction to Snow White is as she sings I'm Wishing at the beginning of the film. We quickly get a sense of her character: She is a happy girl, living in poverty but with a natural cheery outlook, but she, like so many Disney heroines, looks for so much more. Suddenly we are met with a new character, a Prince, who shares a sweet song with an embarrassed Snow White.
I'm Wishing and One Song are commonly paired together. They are together on the official soundtrack and many covers take advantage of this coupling. The version that I am posting today for Snow White Week is from the On the Record Broadway Musical and features Kaitlyn Hopkins with Ashley Brown as the echoing well.
The original voice of Snow White was Adriana Caselotti whose father, Guido Caselotti, was a music teacher and vocal coach. One day, while the casting director for Snow White was on the phone with Guido about casting the voice for the lead role, Adriana, who was listening in on another line, began to speak and sing in a child-like voice. Once Disney heard this, he knew that he had found the voice! She was paid 970 for her work.
Adriana never appeared in another movie, aside from a bit part in Wizard of Oz because she didn't want to ruin the magic of Snow White by having her voice heard in other places.
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.
Whistle While You Work - Polly James and the Mike Sammes Singers
Happy Earth Day everyone! April 22 marks the date that 20 million Americans took to the streets in 1970 protesting the harmful effect of mankind on the environment. Earth Day has now become an annual event, especially in schools, around the world, reminding people to be aware of their actions and the effects they have on the environment.
To tie in to this holiday, I have chosen the happy cleaning song from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which is also the theme of the week. I hope that this song with remind you to tune up and start to whistle while you work on cleaning up this planet!
This version of Whistle While You Work was recorded in 1966 by UK actor/singer POLLY JAMES who released a whole album of Snow White tunes with TONY PETERS and THE MIKE SAMMES SINGERS. Peters is not on this track but you can hear the Mike Sammes Singers as the Seven Dwarfs. The vocalists are backed by Brian Fahey and His Orchestra.
If anyone has any info on this album, link for purchase or cover art, please let me know!
Whistle While You Work Polly James with the Mike Sammes Singers 1996
Heigh-Ho (The Dwarfs Marching Song) - Louis Armstrong
I haven't done many weekly themes that focus on a movie. Usually I focus on a musical style, but this time I want to feature the music of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with a different musical style everyday.
A movie soundtrack automatically comes packaged with the release of a movie these days. Fans wonder and even get upset if a companion soundtrack is not released. But back in 1937, when Snow White was released, this was not the case.
Disney had the brilliant idea to release a set of three 78 RPM records that contained one song from the film on each side. He thought that people would be interested in listening to songs after hearing them in the movie.
He was right! Victor released Songs from Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (with the Same Characters and Sound Effects as in the Film of That Title) in January 1937 and every songs featured on the records became top 10 hits a month later!
Here is LOUIS ARMSTRONG'S take on Heigh-Ho from his album DISNEY SONGS THE SATCHMO WAY.
Heigh-Ho (The Dwarfs Marching Song) Louis Armstrong 1968
If WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART was still alive, yesterday he would have turned 252! To celebrate Mozart's birthday I am posting another track from HEIGH-HO MOZART, a collection of Disney songs arranged in the styles of great composers. Here is the title track, Heigh-Ho in the style of the great Baroque composer played by the SHANGHAI QUARTET.
Mozart was a child genius. He started playing the clavier at the age of three and composing his own tunes at five! He is one of the most well known and most popular classical composers of all time. Along with his many symphonies, piano and violin concertos and sonatas, and operettas, he also composed many pieces for string quartets. This version of Heigh-Ho mimics this style.
The Shanghai Quartet is a very well known string quartet that formed in Shanghai in 1983. They have grown in popularity and have played some of the nicest venues all over the world. They have recorded many albums along with such musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Ruth Laredo, and Arnold Steinhardt. They also provided the score for Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda
Whistle While You Work/Give a Little Whistle - On the Record Cast & Company
Today's contribution to Big Band Week takes us to the world of showtunes. This medley of Whistle While You Work and Give a Little Whistle comes from the On the Record Broadway musical from 2005. Showtunes often use jazz bands in their music because of the big band style fits so well with all those people that are running around and dancing on stage.
After opening the show with a gentle A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, this song launches in and sets the mood of the show. You'll definitely hear the big band quality to the songs with the Company playing the instrumental part at the beginning but you'll also hear the showtunes aspect come out in the A Dream is a Wish interlude and with the Cast's over-the-top scatting.
All of the songs in On the Record were arranged by David Chase who does a remarkable job with this medley. He intertwines the two songs so much that at times I'm not even sure which one I'm listening to! The Give a Little Whistle While You Work line is very clever.
Keep an ear out for a few references to Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and Higitus Figitus!
Whistle While You Work/Give a Little Whistle On the Record Cast & Company 2005
Hello everybody! I trust you had a great weekend and are now going back to work for another five days! Well, to help you through the next five days I have declared it Country Music Week at Covering the Mouse. Now before all you country music haters decide to never return to my blog ever again, I'd like to say that I have a good mix of covers that focus on the different areas of country music, so you won't hear Tim McGraw wannabes for the next week.
To start of Country Music Week we have TANYA TUCKER singing her version of Snow White's Some Day My Prince Will Come off the BEST OF COUNTRY SING THE BEST OF DISNEY cover album from 1996.
Tanya Tucker is no stranger to country music. She had her first hit single, Delta Dawn, in 1972 at the age of 13! (A year later Delta Dawn was recorded by Pete's Dragon's very own, Helen Reddy!) Since then she has done everything a country music artist could hope to do in a life long career: She has released 26 albums with a 27th coming next year, she's had number one hits, gold records, grammy awards, written a book, played at the super bowl half time show, been inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and starred in a reality tv show called Tuckerville!
Her version of Some Day My Prince Will Come turns this sweet love ballad into an upbeat country hoe-down! She breathes new life into this song without completely destroying it. She also adds a verse at the beginning that I haven't heard before. I don't know if she wrote it or if it comes from another version. If anyone can help please leave a comment! UPDATE: A reader has let me know that these lyrics are from the film. It is the conversation that Snow White and the Dwarfs have before she sings this song. I've just never heard these word sung before and I guess that's why I didn't recognize them. Thanks for the help!
I know that fans of this song will find this cover a little hard to swallow but the arrangement is nice and it turns the song into a song of excitement for when the Prince actually does arrive!
Some Day My Prince Will Come - Dave Brubeck Quartet
Many Disney songs have become jazz standards over the years. Alice in Wonderland, Chim Chim Cher-ee, I Wan'na Be Like You; but there is no other Disney song that has been used by jazz musicians more than Some Day My Prince Will Come from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. So it comes as no surprise that DAVE BRUBECK included it on his album of Disney tunes.
DAVE DIGS DISNEY was inspired by a Disney album his daughter was listening to. Seeing how much she enjoyed it he decided to record an album that his daughter would enjoy just as much. In these recordings you will hear Paul Desmond on the alto sax, Joe Morello on the drums and Eugene Wright playing the double bass.
In this version you will get the feel that most jazz musicians will give this song. It retains its soft and sweet melodies while the rhythm section gives it a light, brisk tempo.
Some Day My Prince Will Come Dave Brubeck Quartet 1957
Hi folks. I'm Steve from Cover Freak, a blog devoted to cover songs. Kurtis has generously invited me to be a guest poster on his blog and I'm happy to contribute to such a fine endeavor.
Folks tend to either love TOM WAITS or hate him. He started his musical career as a nicotine-stained booze-soaked piano-jazz beat poet. Boy that's a lot of hyphens. You might be familiar with his songs Step Right Up or The Piano Has Been Drinking from that era.
In the mid-80s he radically reinvented his music, adding unconventional instruments and developing a more primitive sound. This song was recorded shortly after he made that transition but it's relatively mainstream in its arrangement, at least compared to his later stuff.
Even as a child I realized that mining is a very dangerous job. There's a simulated coal mine at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry that emphasizes the dangers of mining, and of course there are the unfortunate news stories of miners being trapped when mine shafts collapse.
So it always seemed weird to me that the Seven Dwarfs were so chipper about going down to the mine. What's wrong with those guys, I wondered. Seems that Tom Waits was wondering the same thing. In this song woozy keyboards and trash-can percussion conjure up a harrowing world where the dwarfs are condemned to a lifetime of hazardous backbreaking manual labor. And they're not happy about it. They'd much rather be back home, getting freaky with the tall chick.
Thanks Kurtis for letting me post on your blog. Shameless plug: For more demented covers, swing on over to Cover Freak.
Heigh Ho (The Dwarfs Marching Song) Tom Waits 1988
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.
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.
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