Not for Kids Only

This is a favorite with every kid I know. But what do kids know? They listen to Raffi. *

From an adult perspective, this tape is amazing. The playing is superb and intelligent, the lyrics are sincere, heartfelt, and often pull-your-leg funny. Grisman and Garcia play with and off each other beautifully.

The musical skill here is extremely high, but feels unforced and simple.

For example, listen to the song "Arkansas Traveller" about an encounter between a city slicker and a country bumpkin:

Slicker: Well, hello stranger.

Bumpkin: Why, hello stranger!

Slicker: Yer corn looks awful little and yeller.

Bumpkin: I planted the little and yeller kind.

[cue duet]

Listen to the banjo and mandolin duet of turkey in the straw; the playing is quite intricate and beautiful.

What's right about this tape: it entertains and engages without once stooping to dull playing or insincere, tired singing. Unlike Raffi, for example, this tape never feels like an...Read more

The late Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist for The Grateful Dead, was never known for the kind of upbeat vocals typically associated with children's music. Still, this sincere album offers a very appealing assortment of toe-tapping American folk tunes whose simple lyrics and old-fashioned harmonies appeal to the kid in all of us. "Uncle Jerry's" acoustic guitar picking is the perfect companion to David Grisman's plucky banjo and marvelous mandolin. The album's selections evoke a summer jam session on your porch, where friends join in at times with fiddle, harmonica--and sometimes piano. (Ok, ok, so the piano wouldn't exactly fit on the porch.) The album closes with a heartfelt rendition of the melancholy river song, Shenandoah, shyly sung by Garcia ("Away, I'm bound away, across the wide Missouri...") This sailor's worksong melts gracefully into Brahm's lullaby with a radiant string assemble lead by Grisman's brilliant mandolin, making for a very sweet sign-off.

This is a great album. It's a whole lot of fun. It's really just Jerry and Dave doing a bunch of kids songs. I don't have any kids so I can't really tell you how well this goes over with little ones; but then that should also tell you how nice this album is for adults.

This album features the bluegrass, twangy sound that Garcia and Grisman became known for. It's really no different there. But unlike just about all their other albums, this one you can sing along really loud and have a blast doing it. Good stuff.