I was unable to find any solid info on Jerry Whitman, but this is a record of him singing songs from Mister Rogers Neighborhood. A friend of mine grew up with this record, and gave this to me some time ago but I don't have a working turntable and have been unable to have to have it transferred yet so I have no idea what it sounds like. I will say that my friend told me he remembers being very embarrassed to listen to the song "Troll Talk" because it was so nonsensical. I know on other LP's, Fred Rogers explains that when a you (a child) finally learn to speak well, it's kind of fun to just have fun with words and make up silly sounds and songs. I assume that Jerry Whitman may have not explained this and simply started singing Robert Troll's signature tune. Whatever the reason, my friend mentioned that even when he was alone he would skip over this song- perhaps for fear someone would come in and think he was enjoying it.
There are a couple of things that I find interesting about this album. The most obvious is that it's put out under the Disneyland Record Label. Being a lifelong Disney fan, it's cool to see two of my favorite things tied together, however superficially. I guess it's not all that strange an association; while Disney was very definately a recognizeable brand, with it's own characters and properties, part of that brand was just "family entertainment" in general, and many non Disney properties appeared under the Disneyland Label over the years.
Listed as Producer, Arranger, and Conductor is Disney Legend
Buddy Baker. Mr. Baker's musical style is instantly recognizable. He arranged countless Disney pieces over the years, and his bouncy futuristic style has become synonymous with the Monorail and Tomorrowland, two subjects he underscored frequently on the Disneyland TV Shows. It will be interesting to hear (someday) how he tackeled Fred's tunes, especially compared to the familiar versions done by
Johnny Costa, himself, a musical giant.
It's interesting that the title of the record says "MisteRogers" even though that spelling of the title was abandoned when the show came from Canada to the US in 1968. I wonder if this was done since there were still plenty of kids in Canada who would know the show by the old name.
If anyone has this record and would like to chime in, please do!
2 comments:
I have this LP as well. Haven't listened to it in a while so I just put it on. This album is exactly what it sounds like -- Mister Rogers songs sung with a Disney style. Now I'm not talking about Mickey and Goofy singing these songs -- but image Mister Rogers' songs sung in the style of many of the children's Disney albums produced around this time period (early 1970's). Neighorhood songs with a bit of a performance flair, if you will.
Wow! How interesting to see the Disneyland logo on a Mister Rogers (or MisteRogers) record!
I will keep an eye out for this one on eBay! Great find!
Post a Comment