By: Paula Slade
Barry Louis Polisar, multi-talented singer/songwriter and author, has been entertaining and inspiring children for more than 30 years, and on Friday, December 4, 2009, many of those same children (all grown up now and musicians) paid tribute to the man and his music with the release of the 2-CD set, We're Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar.
An unprecedented musical recording project, We’re Not Kidding! was organized by Aaron Cohen, lead singer of the Radioactive Chicken Heads, and utilized many of Polisar’s best loved songs.
Some of the selections on the album were composed almost three decades ago but are truly evergreen, as Polisar’s music and lyrics have a timeless quality that continues to touch the heart and soul of what it’s like to be a child today.
Polisar, whose music career was launched during his college days in 1975 while attending the University of Maryland has toured Europe several times, produced more than a dozen albums, and written almost as many children’s books.
He’s performed in almost all of the 50 states, from classrooms to libraries, and at such impressive venues as the Kennedy Center and the White House.
A Parent’s Choice Award-winner, he is also a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Children’s Music Web.
Polisar has hosted an Emmy-winning children’s show, Field Trip and most recently, his unforgettable song, All I Want Is You was featured in the opening credits of the film JUNO, with the soundtrack garnering a Grammy and selling over a million copies worldwide, which ultimately reconnected Polisar with vast numbers of his once younger followers.
The idea of a tribute album that yielded 60 reinterpreted covers of Polisar classics brought together musicians of such diverse genres as pop, rock, folk, Klezmer and Jazz, and from locations coast-to-coast and everywhere in between, as well as France and Greece.
Cohen, and many of the 44 other indie musicians that perform on, We're Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar, credit Polisar’s kid-friendly music as a major influence in their careers.
Highlights on the album include three different versions of, All I Want is You, which includes one performed in French by a singer from Brittany; a Klezmer version of Polisar’s song, Don't Put Your Finger Up Your Nose - sung entirely in Yiddish, which is almost funnier than the English lyrics; an extreme version of Diaper Rash; a catchy country rendition of I Wanna be a Dog and Polisar’s hysterical song, Potty Training, performed as an Irish jig.
Polisar’s son, Evan, also contributes to the album, and the man himself chimes in on, I Didn't Mean To, a duet with Radioactive Chicken Heads plus,The Tushie Song and All I Want Is You (redux)
You can read biographical backgrounds on each the artists who perform on this amazing album, and hear sound samples of We're Not Kidding! by visiting this link.:
Today, Polisar maintains an active touring schedule with his concert and author programs for children and families, visiting schools and libraries all over the US.
On his website, there are lots of great clips from his Field Trip television show and recent school visits, as well as terrific Prime Time Radio podcast with Mike Cuthbert, who has interviewed Polisar many times over the years for National Public Radio (NPR)
We're Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar is a delightful compilation of songs that is not only historical, but at times hysterical and even touching. It is an album that not only traverses the years, but all age groups as well.
Polisar summed it up perfectly when he said in an earlier correspondence, "The best part for me, is that most of these artists had my albums as kids and many claim me as an early influence.” He added, “I can't begin to tell you what that means to me... and how deeply that touches my soul."
The 2-CD set is available from iTunes, CDbaby, , Amazon.com and directly through Polisar’s website.
Comments