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

Labels: harry connick jr, jazz, mary poppins, songs i heard, spoonful of sugar

  ¶ 3:54 PM 3 Comments Links to this post

  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

Labels: harry connick jr, jazz, mary poppins, songs i heard, stay awake

  ¶ 7:13 AM 0 Comments Links to this post