VA - Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection (1998)

VA - Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection (1998) FLAC

This is not just a smart collection of 26 of the best items from that body of work; it's also folk music that adults might actually listen to for pleasure, at least for part of the time. There are kids' songs, or at least songs that are fun for kids to sing, from such folk giants as Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, Cisco Houston, and Woody Guthrie; Guthrie's "Riding in My Car (Car Song)" is a particular hoot. But there are also tracks from far lesser-known performers, such as children's music specialist Ella Jenkins, and, most importantly, a smattering of cuts from singers of several different continents. There's calypso from Lord Invader, African folk from W.K. Amoaku, Yiddish folk from Ruth Rubin, and selections from Puerto Rican and Mexican artists, not to mention poems by Langston Hughes. It's a fine way to help give kids a multicultural musical grounding without being doctrinaire in the least.

Track Listing

1 Woody Guthrie – Riding In My Car (Car Song) 1:49
2 Ella Jenkins – Mary Mack 1:56
3 Pete Seeger – All Around The Kitchen 1:59
4 Lead Belly* – Ha-Ha This-a-way 1:33
5 Lord Invader with The Calypso Orchestra – Merily We Roll Along 4:11
6 W.K. Amoaku – Miwoe Nenyo 2:14
7 Ella Jenkins – Pole Pole 4:46
8 Langston Hughes – "Dreams" And "Youth" 0:54
9 Woody Guthrie – Why, Oh Why 3:26
10 Pete Seeger – I Had A Rooster 3:51
11 Ruth Rubin – "Oskn" 1:33
12 Alan Mills – Sur Le Pont d'Avignon 1:05
13 Illinois School Children – Benjamin Franklin (Jump Rope Rhyme) 0:19
14 Suni Paz – Los Pollitos/The Chickens 1:12
15 Ella Jenkins – Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star 1:13
16 Ella Jenkins – ABC's 0:55
17 Alan Mills – Animal Alphabet Song 2:10
18 Cisco Houston – Whoopie Ti Yi Yo 1:31
19 Mexican Children – A La Vibro De La Mar/The Serpent Of The Sea 1:05
20 Irene Poolaw – Wolf Song And Turtle Song 0:50
21 Arna Bontemps – "Bedbugs" 0:35
22 Pete Seeger – Skip To My Lou And Four Pence A Day 3:36
23 Larry Long and Mrs Side's Sixth Grade Class – Hey, Coal Miner 4:03
24 Jeanne Ritchie – Among The Little White Dasies 1:27
25 New Lost City Rambers – Old Bell Cow 3:05
26 Pete Seeger – One Grain Of Sand (Excerpt) 3:06

Notes
Track names in quotes are p