“muldaur_maria”
Maria Muldaur
Swingin’ In The Rain
Music for Little People
The title might lead you to believe this is simply another effort to cash in on the current swing craze, but this record, intended for children, is not quite the right disc to be playing as you twirl your partner.
Which doesn’t mean it’s not good – it’s great. Muldaur’s pipes are legendary, and this record clearly shows why. The music is closer to what you would hear on early-morning PBS kids’ shows, and in fact the “swing” part of this record comes from the classification of the original songs more than the actual feeling of the recordings. Several swing classics are present here: “Mairzy Doats,” “Three Little Fishies,” and “A – You’re Adorable.” Several other not-so-swing tracks are also present, like “Jeepers Creepers,” “Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah,” and “Singin’ in the Rain,” though the last always reminds me more of Alex and his Clockwork Orange droogs than Gene Kelly and company, children’s music or not. A wonderful original track, “Heck, I’d Go,” about voluntary alien abduction, closes the disc.
So do the kids like it? My kids do. They might not know swing from a wobbly exer-saucer, but they know good music when they hear it. And unlike 90% of all other children’s albums, repeated listenings (again! again!) are not toxic to adults. A fine quality record for your children to remember all their lives. Music for Little People, P.O. Box 1460, Redway, CA 95560
