Jim Copp Tales | Jim Copp & Ed Brown

Jim Copp Tales | Jim Copp & Ed Brown | Original, intelligent humor

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Jim Copp Tales

	Jim Copp Tales Jim Copp & Ed Brown average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

There will never be another storyteller quite like Jim Copp, the children's music genius who, from the late '50s until the early '70s, self- produced nine quirky albums featuring, among others, the Glups on a hairy cross-country road-trip; Mary McGurky McGinty Maguire, a girl too busy playing to eat; and the unlikely best friends of a cow and the kitty cat. Jim Copp Tales, the musician's first LP from 1958, collects nine such songs, an enthralling assembly of stories accompanied by tambourine, piano, drums, celesta, and chimes. A team of varied voices (all of which were supplied by Copp or partner Ed Brown) and an arsenal of homespun sound effects convey a magical world where kids reign supreme, a grumpy frogman refuses to sing, and bad teachers (especially the temperamental Miss Goggins) get their due. Copp never succumbed to children's music clichés--not every story he tells brims with optimism and none of his tunes could be considered simplistic--but his detail-filled stories ask for repeated listenings. The result is an album that both children and parents will cherish for years to come. --Jason Verlinde

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Necessary Listening

Jim Copp is the greatest unknown artist of the twentieth century. Get all his records for your kids and yourselves! And visit playhouserecords.com for more information!

Original, intelligent humor

What a JOY to discover my very favorite recordings from childhood (maybe favorite recordings ever...?) on CD after all these years! And the best part is, the humor and fun definitely hold up. My kids enjoy these wacky, crazy stories and songs as much as I did. These recordings shaped my imagination and humor. They're fun for grown ups and kids, too. They're worlds apart from so much of the cloying, unimaginative kids music out there. I've never heard anything else quite like them. Thank you, Jim Copp & Ed Brown, wherever you are!!!

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A must have for three generations

These recordings shaped my sense of humour (wacky!) when I was a child, my kids and nephew, now grown, remember every word and still find them hilarious --and now are anxious to share them with their own young children. If you want to have family "in jokes" to laugh over for years, don't miss these great recordings.

3 generations and still loving it!

First my mom, then my siblings and me, and now our kids. This stuff is so funny and silly and at other times actually beautiful but what's kind of refreshing for a change is the "inappropriateness" of the language or themes at times due to how much times have changed and how everyone is so darn paranoid now about every little thing. Don't get me wrong -- I'm on the bandwagon too when it comes to parenting and appropriateness. But one song/story uses the word "stupid" for example and in another the girl kicks her father in the knee! And now with everyone being so worried about hyper-activity, it's also hilarious how a few of his pieces are so full of activity and yet in such an innocent, darling way that all kids (and adults) just love it. For those of you who know Jim Copp's stuff, you know what I mean (aaaaaall the farm animals come in for cake and icecream -- at the exact same time)! LOVE IT! WORTH IT! COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT! :-) p.s. back in high school I played this album for a couple of friends just for kicks cause it was so weird and to this day they still remember a few of the unforgettable songs and want their own copies.

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The Start Of Something Big

Armed only with a single microphone, two tape recorders, and the slightly reverberant rooms in his house, Jim Copp and Ed Brown created nine brilliant albums "for small fry and sophisticated adults" from 1958 to 1971. "Jim Copp Tales" was the first. Unlike their later output, there is no unifying theme to this one. It's a simple collection of songs written and performed solo by Copp (along with all the voices, the sound effects, and the instrumentation), each telling a self-contained story. They include in order:

01 Mr. Hippity and the Balloon - in which nice old Mr. Hippity accidentally lets all the air out of his balloon, then blows it up too far at the prompting of a mischievous little boy (In my view, Copp wasn't quite on his game here; in general he is unobtrusive with his morals in those instances when a story has one, but this ends with the rather heavy handed "it doesn't pay to be mean.")

02 Kate Higgins - in which a little girl refuses to take the nasty medicine her parents try to give her, hides from them, eats a whole lot of sweets after they give up looking, and suffers the consequences.

03 The Cow and the Kitty Cat - in which a cow and a cat move into a new house and try out everything.

04 Home By Five - in which we go on an alphabetical drive through the countryside.

05 Martha Matilda O'Toole - in which a girl on her way to school turns back over and over again to retrieve forgotten items (slate, book, pen, shoes, dress), only to find school is closed on Sunday.

06 Burt Carter - in which a little boy discovers there is nothing all that special about staying up well past midnight.

07 Miss Goggins and the Gorilla - in which a very mean teacher gets her comeuppance.

08 The Frogman - in which the narrator persuades the Frogman to sing us a song.

09 The Barnyard Parade - in which the farm animals get all dressed up in their finest clothes, parade around the barnyard, and dash for cover when a rainstorm erupts.

It was an impressive debut, and presaged many good things to come.

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