TRAIN TO THE ZOO

This, the first record issued by the Children's Record Guild, is performed by the quartet of Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Ronnie Gilbert before they were known as The Weavers.

FOLK SONGS FOR SINGING AND DANCING

A double disc reissue compilation of nonsense and humorous songs that Tom Glazer had previously recorded for YPR.

SEA SONGS

Just Pete and his banjo, singing some sea songs.

RISSELDY ROSSELDY

A group of nonsense songs by Betty Sanders. Her version of "Risseldy Rosseldy" is my favorite.

LET'S ALL JOIN IN

Some sing-along songs sung by Pete Seeger (back when he still went by Peter), tied together by Oscar Brand's script.

JAZZ BAND

From 1948, this might have been the first time that jazz was ever presented in the context of music appreciation -- certainly the first time on a children's record. And with the heavyweight lineup of Canada Lee, Kenneth Spencer, and Teddy Wilson's quintet, it has never been surpassed.

A-HUNTING WE WILL GO

Wonderful collection of English hunting songs sung by Tom Glazer, with small chorus. Great version of "The Keeper," with small orchestral backing. This is the record that turned me on to YPR.

THE FUNNIEST SONG IN THE WORLD

Groucho's first children's record, from 1949.

GOING WEST

No story, just Tom Glazer singing some less-than-obvious American folk songs. The first record ever issued by YPR in its elementary age bracket.

THE LITTLE COWBOY

As with the Chisholm Trail record (see next entry), this one benefits from the downhome narration of Will Geer. The two stars of this story, Hank and Tex, are portrayed by Ernie Lieberman and Fred Hellerman, two years prior to the formation of the Weavers. They both do some really fine singing here.

CHISHOLM TRAIL

A script by the novelist Jay Williams, narration by Will Geer, and singing by Tom Glazer make this one of the best of the many cowboy-themed children's records.

Charity Bailey MORE PLAYTIME SONGS

Unlike her records for Folkways, or her first two records for YPR, More Playtime Songs -- and its companion Singing in the Kitchen -- present Charity not as a classroom teacher, but rather as more of a pop singer, accompanied by the small orchestral arrangements of Henry Brant.

Oscar Brand's AMERICAN ALMANAC

One of a 12-part series of "American Almanac" records written by Oscar Brand. He narrated all of them, and performed on most of them.

JEFFERSON CHORUS on the Union label

This 2-disc set of YPR's Horace Grenell conducting the Jefferson Chorus was one of only a few titles issued on Moe Asch's Union Records label. Extremely rare, this specimen was originally in Ron Cohen's collection (thanks for the cockeyed scan, Ron!), and is now in the archive at Chapel Hill, I believe.

LITTLE FUGITIVE on FOLKWAYS

The Folkways "soundtrack"* to the groundbreaking Little Fugitive movie. Top: Credit detail from liner notes. Bottom: LP cover art.

Ray Ashley is one of the many pseudonyms of Raymond Abrashkin, who wrote lyrics and scripts for many Young People's Records.

Lester Troob, then the recently-departed president of YPR, not only supervised the sound and music of the film, but also supervised the editing of the film itself, with Ruth Orkin doing the actual "fingerwork."

*The music on this LP is not actually the soundtrack from the movie, but rather a new recording of Eddie Manson performing some of the music. (Manson also recorded for YPR.)

TG on CD

Smithsonian-Folkways has just reissued some of Tom Glazer's classic in-concert children's recordings. Stefan Shepherd has summed it up nicely in a brief review on his popular Zooglobble blog. I like his comment that this CD constitutes a "master class on how to play to kids." As an historical document, it does indeed present abundant evidence of Tom's ability to "tune in" to children and "get them on his side," as one reviewer put it almost fifty years ago. It has all worn very well because the songs are timeless, as is their performance. And some of TG's best singing is here; especially check out his soaring vocals on "Now Now Now." That song, which he and Lou Singer adapted from "Hava Nagila," was originally recorded in 1951 by June Valli and issued as a pop single by RCA Victor; I wish Tom had recorded the single himself!

And now for some discography trivia, which doesn't appear in the CD booklet.... All but three of these tracks were first issued on two LPs: TOM GLAZER'S CONCERT FOR AND WITH CHILDREN (Washington Records) appeared in 1960, and TOM GLAZER'S SECOND CONCERT FOR AND WITH CHILDREN (Wonderland Records) came out in 1962. The Washington disc, and probably the Wonderland disc, consists of solo recordings made in Washington DC in 1959, at one or more concerts sponsored by local record shop owner and concert impresario Robert Bialek, who was also the proprietor of the Washington label. The Washington LP was reissued on Wonderland Records in 1962, and both records reappeared in 1973 on the CMS label as ACTIVITY AND GAME SONGS, volumes one and two. The additional three tracks on the Smithsonian-Folkways CD come from the third volume of ACTIVITY AND GAME SONGS, released in 1977; on these songs, Tom is accompanied by a small band, and it sounds to me like they were recorded in the 1970s, perhaps in proximity to the release date.

As for the cover art on the CD, I do like it, with a reservation or two. The caricature of Tom, which is based on a photo that appeared on a few of his late 1960s LPs, is funny, wonderfully rendered, and probably more appealing to kids than the relatively dry cover art that Folkways is known for. However, I fear that the "wacky" caricature perpetuates the image of Tom as just some guy who wrote silly songs like "On Top of Spaghetti." Compare that to his contemporary, Pete Seeger. Nobody thinks of Pete as a wacky guy, and there are no wacky caricatures on Pete's many children's records. If I had to describe Tom in one word, it would be "literary." He was also serious and funny, witty and corny, scholarly and folky, loving and nasty, proper and bawdy, liberal and reactionary. And maybe a little bit wacky on the side.

We Shall Overcome original

Recorded by Horace Grenell and Ray Hagerty. Cover design by Ajay.

We Shall Overcome reissue

Folkways/Broadside reissue of the original. (See above.)

ARS Colonial

1952 American Recording Society reissue of the New Records original.

Colonial reissue

1965 Folkways reissue of 1952 American Recording Society title (see previous entry). Folkways also reissued another ARS title that same year: EARLY AMERICAN PSALMODY / MISSION MUSIC IN CALIFORNIA (itself a reissue from the obscure New Records label). For Horace Grenell's reluctance to release these tapes to Moe Asch, see letter "Grenell to Stevenson re Asch" (posted elsewhere on this site).