Stories to Grow On ¿

Stories to Grow On ¿

Track Listings

1. Lusmore and the Fairies

2. Twa Sisters

3. The Man Who Bought a Dream

4. Cumberland Mountain

5. The Raggedy Man

6. The White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy

7. Theme to the White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Children's entertainer Timmy Abell and Grammy-award-winning composer Steven Heller collaborate here on an imaginative and magical narrative collection of lesser-known folk tales for children. The stories focus on a variety of themes, though the overall feel of the CD, thanks to Heller's lush, otherworldly background music, is one of fantasy and wonder. The opening tale, "Lusmore and the Fairies," focuses on the rewards of goodness and kindness, while "The White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy" offers children a more esoteric message about leaving the familiar in order to find one's true self. Abell's gentle, evocative narrative voice inspires deeper reflection on the tales heard; children may be thinking about the messages in these stories long after the CD ends. --Bryony Angell

Product Description
The recipient of a 1998 Parent's Choice Silver Honor, "Stories to Grow On"mixes a collection of folk tales, mountain stories, poetry and music. Featuring Carl Sandburg's mesmerizing "The White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy," each story comes alive with Timmy's inviting voice accompanied by the music of Grammy Award winning Steven Heller, as well as Timmy's own hammered dulcimer and banjo playing.

Stories to Grow On ¿

Tracks:

Bridges
Nevada City, California
Korea
Anarchy
Candidacy
Bum On The Rod
Enormously Wealthy
Mess With People
Natural Resources
Heroes
Half A Ghosst Town
Holding On

Customer Reviews:

Looking Along the Road I've Traveled.......2006-03-20

This review was originally written as a commentary on Utah Phillip's Songbook- Starlight on the Trial issued in 2005. Looking it over I believe that the comments can be applied to this CD as well, obviously noting the differences in format. Utah has been consistent throughout his career in both the kind of songs he writes and sings about. He has also maintained his same basic political philosophy so my comments about our political differences also apply. Nevertheless, treasure any CD of his you can get your hands on.

The political consciousness developed in my youth coincided with an expansion of my musical tastes under the influence of the great blues and folk revivals of the 1960's. Unfortunately my exposure to the blues greats was mainly on records as many of them had been forgotten, retired or were dead. Not so with the folk revival this was created mainly by those who were close contemporaries. Alas, they too are now mainly forgotten, retired or dead. It therefore is with special pleasure that I review Utah Phillips Songbook while he is very much alive.

Many of the folksingers of the 1960 have attempted to use their music to become troubadours for social change. The most famous example, the early Bob Dylan, can be fairly described as the voice of his generation at that time. However, he fairly quickly moved on to other concepts of himself and his music. Bob Dylan's work became more informed by the influences of Rimbaud and Verlaine and the French Symbolists of the late 1800's and thus moved away to a more urban, sophisticated vision. From the start and consistently throughout his long career Utah has acted as a medium giving voice to the troubles of ordinary people and the simpler ethos of a more rural, Western-oriented gone by day in the American experience. He evokes in song the spirit of the people Walt Whitman paid homage to in poetic form and John Dos Passos and John Steinbeck gave in prose. He sits conformably in that very fast company. Utah Phillips can justly claim the title of a people's troubadour.

A word about politics. Generally, one rates music without reference to politics. However, Utah has introduced the political element by the way he structured the Songbook. Each song is introduced by him as to its significance heavily weighted to his political experiences, observations and vision. Thus, political comment is fairly in play here. Utah is a long time anarchist and unrepentant supporter of the Wobblies (International Workers of the World, hereafter IWW). Every militant cherishes the memory of the class battles led by the IWW like the famous Lawrence strike of 1912 and honors the heroes of those battles like Big Bill Haywood and Vincent St. John and the militants they recruited to the cause of the working class in the first part of the 20th century. They paved the way for the later successful organization drives of the 1930's.

Nevertheless, while Utah and I would both most definitely agree that some old-fashioned class struggle by working people in today's one-sided class war would be a very good thing we as definitely differ on the way to insure a permanent victory for working people in order to create a decent society. In short, Utah's prescriptions of good moral character, increased self-knowledge and the creation of small intentional communities are not enough. Under modern conditions it is necessary to take and safeguard political power against those who would quite consciously deny that victory. History has been cruel in some of the bitter lessons working people have had to endure for not dealing with the question of taking state power to protect their interests. But, enough said. I am more than willing to forgive the old curmudgeon his anarchist sins if he'll sing `I Remember Loving You' the next time he tours the Boston area.

a bolt of lightining.......2003-11-21

that's how this c.d hit me. i was a fairly new listener of ani difranco's. i bought this c.d because it was used and well i already had "living in clip" and her first c.d. so i figured "hey, one more and at a discounted price? bonus" so i went home to do my daily cleaning and decided to put it in to listen to while i cleaned, which i consider the best thing in the world,cleaning and listening to music, i am sick i know. but i ended up doing some heavy cleaning all throughout the house so all i really heard was the music and someones low baritone voice ,which i fleetingly questioned, but i loved the music so i figured i would listen to it more intently later on. well i finished cleaning and went into my room where my stereo was and layed on my bed, exhausted, i pressed play to start the c.d over and i layed there and listened to what this guy was saying. it almost seemed like my ears were listening too slowly so i shot up in my bed and turned up the volume and listened to each and every beat and each and every word with complete concentration. after the c.d was over i had to lay back down and absorb what i just experienced. well from then on, i was hooked, i put that c.d in my car and it didn't leave it for months and months. i tried to force all of my fellow workers and friends to listen intently as i did and they would look at me with bored eyes and say "yea it's cool" (humoring me of course). they did not understand. it was thier tragic loss. i have yet to find someone that can feel the way i felt upon hearing this wonderful story-teller spin his stories of gold and this genius musician lay these musical jewels. which saddens me, but i guess not everyone is as wonderful as all of us tramps.

Turn down the music so I can hear Utah.......2003-05-21

At the risk of being reviled, Utah carries this CD. His humor, reflections, and ability to convey complex truths with his simple phrasealogy is phenomenal. QuarryWorX

Is more amazing, more beautiful with each listen.......2002-12-01

This album is creative genious, period. It's not a "folk" album, it's a beautiful blending of *very* interesting story telling with musical experimentation that fits more perfectly with each listen. If Utah had been born during Twain's time, he would have been considered a national treasure, but since "we" treasure the types of Limbaugh, Drudge, and other purveyors of uncivilized discourse, what Utah has to say and the way he says it is so foreign in this day and age.

The last cut is simply amazing: "I was in a nightclub in Chicago ....."

Beautiful Story Telling.......2002-05-15

Whe nI first got this album, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I had been warned that it wasn't "normal" Ani music--and it isn't, at all. It IS, however, an album of beautiful, interesting stories about our past, present and future. I love to bring it with me on long car rides, especially when other people are with me. It keeps everyone's minds occupied and provides for good conversation afterward.

Average customer rating:

Laughter & Tears: A Jewish Saga

Laughter & Tears: A Jewish Saga

Manufacturer: Centaur
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005LZQQ
Release Date: 2001-06-26

Customer Reviews:

Laughter & Tears: A Jewish Saga.......2003-08-02

7/30/03

This is the first "review" of a CD I have ever written for posting on CD Now on Amazon, and I am moved to do so because of the special quality of "Laughter and Tears, a Jewish Saga," by The Wolford/Rosenblum Duo, Centaur CRC 2521.

The range of feeling exhibited by all the selections of music, both purely instrumental and with voice, is particularly evocative of the length and complexity of Jewish experience. The selections include stunning original compositions by pianist Ivan Rosenblum and rarely heard contemporary songs from Israel by composer Ben Haim. The delightful, humorous and previously unrecorded early Jewish vaudeville songs by Irving Berlin are wonderfully amusing and the presence of the ragtime idiom in them is a further indication of how much of the world's music has been absorbed into thematically "Jewish" compositions.

The section of the CD devoted or named Holocaust Remembrance, comprised of songs by Ellwood Derr, was haunting and poignant but I found even more touching somehow the eloquent instrumental rendition of the traditional prayer, Eli Eli. The performance had a wonderful equilibrium of sound and an appropriately timeless quality.

Klezmer music is always fun, but it is played here with clarity and verve. All in all, this is a rewarding smorgasbord of Jewish temperament expressed in highly professional and creative musicianship.

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

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