Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - The Rationals


First off, I want to thank Kurtis for letting me take over Covering the Mouse today. I love this website and I am very humbled to be able to contribute to a website that has helped me out so much in my pursuit.

I spend about half of every day conducting research on the Internet. I am either looking for Disney news, fan art and cool fan made websites to showcase on DisFanReview.com or I am looking for cool Disney cover music and fun Disney audio for our DisFanReview radio shows on Reedy Creek Radio.com.

Often times this entire process reminds me of searching through sofa cushions looking for loose change and only usually finding nickles and dimes. In the case of THE RATIONALS' amazing cover of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, it was a lot like finding a buried treasure in said sofa cushions. The Rationals were contemporaries of fellow Detroit rockers The MC5, and had opened for the likes of Ten Years After and Eric Clapton's band Cream. The Rationals were hometown heroes and their soulful rock version of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah was a crowd favorite every time they played live.

Though you have never heard of the Rationals their sound left a lasting impression on the Detroit music scene that can indeed still be heard in the music of bands such as The Go, and Jack White's The White Stripes and the Raconteurs. The Rationals came close to national success when their version of Otis Redding's Respect broke into Billboards Hot 100. Unfortunately, the song never went further than that. They would have a few more flirtations with stardom, but would remain staples in the Detroit area for years until the band finally disbanded in 1971.

What makes this version of the classic Song of the South tune different is an unrestrained soul that flows through with a powerful stream of pure Rock n Roll. While more modern covers of Disney songs feel packaged and somewhat forced, the Rationals' Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah feels like a joyful celebration, a life affirming call to action that demands that you sing along. There is an exuberant feeling that seems to emanate from a pure love of the song itself. It was recorded in 1966 which makes this track 44 years old, a fact that seems impossible when you listen to it.

This song is fresh and amazing every time I hear it, and I can't imagine it ever getting old! I have, on occasion, been prone to making outrageous statements, and this occasion is certainly one. I believe that this song is the best cover of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah I've ever heard, and MIGHT be the best Disney cover song of all time. And, let me tell you, I love that I get to play it on the radio and share it with all of my fellow Disney fans.

-Admiral Duke

Labels: rationals, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 8:07 AM 2 Comments Links to this post

  Zippity Do Da - Marvin Mouse



Hey all! This is Ben Century from the Classical Gas Emissions blog. Kurtis was kind enough (I paid him) to let me write on his blog. Blogosphere dominance is just a few dollars away!

What we're going to hear is a song sung by a mouse. I'm sure you know who he is. He's got round ears that stick up, a cute little black nose, and always has a smile. You know who he is... You love him, I love him, he's everybody's favorite mouse in the whole wide world, It's....

MARVIN MOUSE!!!???

Marvin was one of the main characters on a local children's TV show in Canada (Winnipeg, Manitoba to be exact). Him and other characters were created by mastermind Bob Swarts who voiced all the puppets on his show. The song we're going to hear is taken from the album "Funtown with Petite and Mayor Bob".

  

This album mostly consists of material made by other, more famous artists. The credits for the songs on the album were given to either Petite the dog or Marvin Mouse. The artists who actually did the songs on the album (Anne Murray, Ringo Starr, Phil Harris, etc) received no credit whatsoever.

All the songs done by female artists were likely 33 RPM records, but played at 45 RPM! All of the Anne Murray songs make her sound as if she just finished sucking on a bunch of helium balloons, and the Chipmunks are doing the backup vocals.

Anyway, I've yammered on enough. This song is Bob Swarts voicing Marvin Mouse, singing Zippity Do Da (sic) over someone else's recording. Enjoy!

Also, if you'd actually like to see an actual episode of the low-budget children's show that Bob and Marvin appeared on, there's one on Youtube HERE.

Labels: childrens, fun town with mayor bob, marvin mouse, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 7:40 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Disney Singers
The song is just over two minutes long, but it is two minutes that is packed full of yummy disco goodness! The 1979 record MICKEY MOUSE DISCO is still a delight to listen to after all these years. If you haven't heard the whole thing, I encourage you to visit iTunes soon!

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah is only one of the tracks that caused this album to reach #35 on the Billboard Pop Album Charts!

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Disney Singers 1979

Labels: disco, disney singers, mickey mouse disco, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 7:04 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Patti Austin
It is with great gusto that legendary R&B and jazz singer PATTI AUSTIN sings Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah. Austin has been singing since she was four in 1954, and when this song was recorded in 1996 it is clear that she has had a lifetime of experience.

This version of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah strips away all the cheese and jaunty tunes and delivers a powerful piece of funk/pop in it's place. It is one of the most serious covers of this song I have ever heard.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Patti Austin 1996

Labels: funk, music from the park, patti austin, pop, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 8:29 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

  Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Don Carlos
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.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Don Carlos 2001

Labels: don carlos, reggae, reggae for kids, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 6:45 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Jackson 5
If you haven't heard of the JACKSON 5 then you seriously need to get out of your cave and join the rest of the world.

While you may know who the Jackson 5 are, you may not know that they covered Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah for their first album DIANA ROSS PRESENTS THE JACKSON 5. The song was the lead track on the record that was released in 1969.

Although the album and liner notes lead some to believe that Diana Ross was responsible for discovering the Jackson 5, that is simply not true. Ross was put on the album as a way to promote this unknown group, much like animated feature films use big name celebrities to voice their characters in order to sell their movies. It was really Bobby Taylor and Gladys Knight who discovered the Jackson 5.

This version of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah has a slowed down, laid back groove that fits with the Motown style. Many artists have covered this particular version of the song over the years.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Jackson 5 1969

Labels: diana ross presents the jackson 5, jackson 5, motown, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 1:07 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Dave Clark Five
In the 60s there was no band more popular than the Beatles. They were everywhere. There was no escaping. But there was another band that was desperately wanting to compete with the Fab Four. That band was the DAVE CLARK FIVE.

Named after their drummer, the Dave Clark Five became a popular choice for many as their single Glad All Over hit #1 on the UK charts in 1964, knocking I Want to Hold Your Hand from its spot. Glad All Over also made a noteworthy appearance on the US charts at #6, making them the first British band, other than the Beatles, to make the US charts. Two years later, Over and Over would hit #1 on the US Charts.

The group disbanded in 1970 but each musician continued to make music for many years. Last week lead singer and keyboardist Mike Smith passed away.

The Dave Clark Five's first LP was released in 1964 and contained a cover of the Song of the South classic Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah. This version is a popular way to cover the song. They take the time signature and cut it in half. The song really settles down into a nice groove and takes its time rather than the happy-go-lucky feel of the original.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah The Dave Clark Five 1964

Labels: a session with the dave clark five, dave clark five, oldies, rock, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 7:11 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Mickey Mouse March/Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Medley - The Disney Big Band
We continue Big Band Week with a medley of two of the most famous Disney songs of all: The Mickey Mouse March from the Mickey Mouse Club and Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah from Song of the South. It is performed by THE DISNEY BIG BAND who you can hear performing live throughout the park and resorts.

This track is from the MUSIC FROM THE PARK album that features song that you can hear in Disneyland. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah is from Splash Mountain and the Mickey Mouse March can be heard practically everywhere you go in various different styles.

I really like this arrangement because of the creativity of the arranger. Both of the songs don't have very much to work with but the arranger takes both melodies and finds a way to make them interesting to listen to. Some of the melodies are also changed up a bit. At 1:30 the M-I-C-K-E-Y bit is syncopated and they throw in a couple of extra notes to keep the rhythm going. It sounds sort of like M-I-C-C-K-E-Y-Y-M-O-U-S-E.

Mickey Mouse March/Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Medley The Disney Big Band 1996

Labels: big band, disney big band, jazz, mickey mouse club, mickey mouse march, music from the park, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 9:04 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Silly Symphony - On the Record Cast
In 2004 Disney produced a Broadway musical that would feature over 70 over the songs from their ever impressive library. The musical was called Disney's On the Record and was about four young people who were brought together in a magical recording studio to record a compilation album. There's magic, there's romance, blah blah blah... but the most important part is that the soundtrack features two discs full of Disney cover songs!

Some of the songs don't stray far from the originals while others are quite different. Many are medleys, such as this one that I have posted today.

The main quartet on this soundtrack are Ashley Brown, Kaitlin Hopkins, Brian Sutherland, and Andrew Samonsky. Katlin Hopkins replaced Emily Skinner who was the original Diane for the live show.

This medley, dubbed the Silly Symphony, is made up of several Disney songs that feature nonsense lyrics. This medley is probably the best and most clever of all the songs in this musical!

It starts out with a verse from Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and features the choruses from Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious (Mary Poppins), Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (Pinocchio), Following the Leader (Peter Pan), Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (Song of the South) and Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (Cinderella). The best part of the song is when they start singing all of them AT THE SAME TIME! Brilliant!

Then, to top it off, they use The Dwarfs' Yodel Song (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) as a bridge! Perfect!

In the liner notes it says that Higitus Figitus (Sword in the Stone) is the first song in the medley, but I can't seem to hear any of it anywhere. If anyone can't help me out with this please leave a comment! UPDATE: Thanks to Jane Dark who let me know that the fanfare intro is the chorus to Higitus Figitus! It's so obvious to me now! I don't know how I missed that before!

Also thrown in there are tiny snippets from Chim Chim Cher-ee (Mary Poppins), Hakuna Matata (The Lion King), and the Mickey Mouse March (Mickey Mouse Club). Wow. They put that together very well. This is the best song in the show and a masterpiece of a cover song.

Silly Symphony On the Record Cast 2005

Labels: bibbidi bobbidi boo, dwarfs yodel song, following the leader, hi diddle dee dee, on the record, showtunes, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 4:32 PM 7 Comments Links to this post

  Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Chris Calabrese
Have you ever been walking down Main Street in Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom and heard from a distance some New Orleans-style ragtime piano? Chances are you were hearing CHRIS CALABRESE, the resident ragtime pianist at the various Disney parks.

In 1998 he released an album of songs from Disneyland in his ragtime style, RAGTIME AT THE MAGICAL KINGDOMS. The results are really fun. You'll hear common tunes like Yo Ho, The Tiki Tiki Room and It's a Small World and you'll also hear tune that are not so common. Miracles From Molecules, You're a Lifetime Journey and One Little Spark are all tunes that the common Joe can't hum but Chris knows them so well that the ragtime versions on this disc perfectly represent the originals.

I'm posting Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, a short one-and-a-half minute piano rag because Song of the South hit the theatres on this day in 1946. The theme park connection is that this song is featured on the Splash Mountain ride. Most kids these days would probably know this song from Splash Mountain and have no idea that it is actually a tune from Song of the South. That is how tight a grip Disney has on that 'politically incorrect' film from the 40s.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Chris Calabrese 1998

Labels: chris calabrese, ragtime, ragtime at the magical kingdoms, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 7:29 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Elizabeth Cook
ELIZABETH COOK has been making music all her life. She started performing on stage with her father at four and had her own band at nine. And even though she graduated college with dual degrees in Accounting and Computer Information Systems, her first love was music and her life went in that direction and hasn't looked back.

The song she sings for Disney is an old classic. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah was written in 1946 for the movie Song of the South, Disney's first live action movie. I'm not really a fan of Cook's music or her voice, but she seems to fit quite well with this song. I find that her voice sounds like a cartoon so it is only fitting that she sings the song that, in my mind, is a bunch of cartoon characters being goofy and taking me for a ride in the Splash Mountain attraction at Disneyland.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Elizabeth Cook 2003

Labels: bluegrass, elizabeth cook, o mickey where art thou, song of the south, zip a dee doo dah

  ¶ 6:40 AM 0 Comments Links to this post