Video: "Houdini" - The Deedle Deedle Dees

It's been too long since we've heard a proper, full Deedle Deedle Dees album -- nearly five years, with 2011's Strange Dees, Indeed, to be exact -- but that's about to be rectified.

That's right, this morning Lloyd Miller and crew released the video for "Houdini," the first single from their forthcoming June 3 release Sing-A-Long History Vol. 2.  Now you might be wondering what Vol. 1 was -- it was actually a solo Lloyd Miller joint, Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!.  This new album features the full band, though, with frequent Miller collaborator Dean Jones in for good measure, and so this lead single "Houdini" will sound familiar to long-time fans, a rambunctious romp celebrating Harry Houdini, the escape artist.

This new video, released on Houdini's 142nd birthday, features escape artist Cardone.  It's good to have the band back!  And if you can't wait 'til June 3, you can grab the single via the widget below...

The Deedle Needle Dees - "Houdini" [YouTube]

Video: "Henry Box Brown" - Lloyd H. Miller (World Premiere!)

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! album cover

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! album cover

I'm a longtime fan of Lloyd Miller's song "Henry Box Brown," liking it when Miller first recorded it with his band The Deedle Deedle Dees for their 2007 album Freedom in a Box.  For his new album Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!, Miller re-recorded the track, giving the song a sped-up klezmer spin.

Now he's got a brand new video to go along with the new version, and it tells the story of the slave who escaped to freedom in the North by, yes, mailing himself in a box.  And it does so via a craft version of Brown by Miller's daughter Hazel.  It's cute and effective.  (Also: Google Maps - hah!)  Enjoy this world premiere!

Lloyd H. Miller - "Henry Box Brown" [YouTube]

Radio Playlist: New Music April 2015

Spring is here (and, depending where you live, has been for awhile)!  That means the number of new releases is starting to pick up -- this list is on the short side, but lots of new releases here in the next few weeks.  If you want to catch my list from March you can see that playlist here.

As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums.  But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here.

**** New Music April 2015 (April 2015 Kindie Playlist) ****

Rock 'n' Rainbow - "I Like to Ride My Bike"

Lloyd H. Miller - "Trapped in the Attic" 

Lucky Doug and the Stinkbugs - "Pop-a-Wheelie"

Earthworm Ensemble - "Mole vs. Coyote"

Turkey Andersen - "If a Sandwich Was a Sandwich"

Vered - "All I Want"

Caspar Babypants - "Sad Baby"

Review: Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! - Lloyd H. Miller

Glory Glory Hallelujah

Glory Glory Hallelujah

If I told you that Lloyd Miller recorded an entire album about Civil War characters (in many meanings of that last word), you should not be surprised one bit.  This most history-obsessed of kids musicians has been recording songs about the famous and the infamous and those who aren't known well enough to be either from almost the very beginning of his band The Deedle Deedle Dees.

But he's never been as focused on a single period as he is on his new solo album Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!, subtitled An Introduction to the Civil War Era for Kids.  It's labeled as Volume 1 of Miller's new Sing-A-long History project, suggesting listeners will get to hear more deep dives into history, which plays into Miller's interest in hearing from all the personalities.  One might expect a Civil War-based album to feature lots of songs about Lincoln, but the Great Emancipator is more of a side character -- aside from a setting of Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" (a duet with Marianne Tasick) and a recording of the Gettysburg Address featuring more than a dozen folks, Lincoln doesn't really make an appearance.

Instead, the album is more interested in characters like Baldy, the horse of Union General George Meade, whose head is mounted on the wall in a Philadelphia Museum, who get a song ("Baldy") to themselves.  (That one's an old Dees track, re-recorded here.)  Or Harriet Jacobs, a slave who escaped from her master, but who lived "Trapped in the Attic" for seven years before making it safely to freedom in the north.  (It's an awesome, urgent song.) "Weeksville" introduces listeners to one of the first free black communities in the United States, founded in Brooklyn before the Civil War.  It's not that Miller isn't interested in the War itself -- John Brown makes an appearance, as do songs of the time like "Follow the Drinkin' Gourd," "Marching Through Georgia," and "Tenting on the Old Campground."  But Miller would rather sing through the voices of the people whose voices haven't been drilled into our brain over the past 150 years, the slaves and soldiers (and, er, the horses), but use more modern sounds -- rock and hip-hop, for example -- to do so.

The 38-minute album will be most appropriate for listeners ages 7 and up.  You can listen to four tracks from the album here.  I also recommend the curriculum guide (a first draft can be downloaded here), which features lyrics, historical background, and suggestions for classroom activities and further reading.

Because of its slightly narrow focus, Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! won't be to everyone's tastes, certainly all the time.  But Miller gets credit for introducing the familiar big picture story of the Civil War through newer, less familiar lenses.  His enthusiasm for the material shines through, giving new voices to old voices, which lifts this above many educational albums in terms of appropriateness in a broader context (e.g., the minivan).  Highly recommended for the classroom setting, but recommended for all.

Note: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review.

Baseball Songs for Kids (2014 Update)

It's been about 3 years since I last posted a list of baseball songs for kids, and it's time I updated it, methinks.  Unfortunately, my team is winless even though the season hasn't even started yet, but why should that dampen your kids'  enthusiasm for America's pastime?

As always, leave comments below -- i.e., additional suggestions -- if you've got 'em...

-- "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (well, duh) -- try Wiggleworms Love You, from the Old Town School of Folk Music (nicely bipartisan, cheering for both the Cubs and White Sox), or also the Hold Steady's version.

-- "Baseball Dreams" -- off At the Bottom of the Sea, by Ralph's World (Cubs all the way in this one)

-- "I'm Gonna Catch You" -- off Under a Shady Tree, by Laurie Berkner (it has one relevant line -- "So I jumped into Saturday / And I had a baseball batter-day" -- yes, this one's a bit of a stretch)

-- "Pop Fly" -- off Justin Roberts' album by the same name, about a daydreaming boy playing the outfield...

-- "Centerfield" -- off Centerfield, by John Fogerty (not kids' music, but a great song anyway). See also Visqueen's rendition on the Desoto Records kidscomp Play!

-- "Talkin' Baseball -- off countless albums by Terry Cashman, who just re-recorded and updated his song every few years -- baseball history lesson in 3 minutes

-- "Big Train" -- off the RTT's Turn It Up Mommy!. About Walter "Big Train" Johnson. I'd probably disagree that he's the best pitcher ever, but that's another blog. Good song.

-- "Right Field" -- Peter, Paul and Mary.

-- "Cryin' in the Dugout" -- off Daddy-A-Go-Go's Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate album. A humorous song, "Baseball Dreams" played for laughs instead of nostalgia.

-- "The Greatest" -- Kenny Rogers.

-- "Roll Around" -- Peter Himmelman, off of his My Lemonade Stand CD. A fun, rollicking song about a baseball who retires, then comes back to his true calling.

-- "Baseball Tips with Professor Buckley -- Peter Himmelman, My Green Kite, an amusing little spoken-word piece.

-- "Baseball" -- Milkshake, off Play!. Guest-starring Cal Ripkin, Jr.

-- "The Challenger Baseball Song" -- Ben Rudnick and Friends. All about the Challenger Division of Little League, for kids with mental and physical disabilities.

-- "Baseball, Baseball" -- Stephen Cohen, off Here Comes the Band.

-- "Hey! Batter!" -- Hank Cooper, from Playground Fortune Teller -- all about the language of baseball...

-- "High Five" -- They Might Be Giants (at least in part anyway, and the video features some baseball players -- and c'mon, the team sponsored a Little League baseball team...)

-- "Bruce Springstone's" version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

-- Kathy Kallick's "brilliant refashioning" of Count Basie's "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball"

-- "Bring 'Em In" -- the Deedle Deedle Dees (off their American History + Rock 'n' Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees album)

-- "I Love Baseball" -- Jim Cosgrove (off Ooey Gooey)

-- "Home Run Ronnie" -- Debbie and Friends (off More Story Songs and Sing-Alongs)

-- "Lullabye with Baseball and Trains" - Peter Himmelman (off My Trampoline)

-- "Cool Papa Bell" -- The Deedle Deedle Dees (off Strange Dees Indeed, watch an early Lloyd Miller rendition here)

-- "Tommy Got in Trouble Today" -- the Bazillions (off Rock 'n' Roll Recess)

-- "Not So Good at Baseball" -- Barry Louis Polisar (off Old Enough to Know Better)

-- "Catfish" -- off Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series. I am unfamiliar with this one. But it's Dylan.

-- "Joe DiMaggio’s Done it Again" -– Wilco and Billy Bragg, from their Mermaid Ave Vol. 2 (not "kids music," per se, but totally OK.  Great, even)

-- "A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request" –- Steve Goodman. See "Talkin' Baseball," above.

-- "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" -- Brave Combo.  It's Brave Combo, how could it not be fun?

-- "Jackie" -- Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band (from Lishy Lou and Lucky Too).

-- "My Baseball Bat" -- The Boogers (Let's Go)

-- "Jackie Robinson -- Ellis Paul (The Hero in You)