| Jim ventured out in another direction this past year by producing and contributing to children's author Danny Adlerman's first musical release, One Size Fits All. The CD features ten children's songs, including two tracks Jim had written and recorded over two years ago, "School Bus Driver" and "Surfin' the Net."
"When I first recorded those two songs, I had no idea where it would lead," Babjak reflected. "I just knew that my kids listened to the Beach Boys and the Beatles and there wasn't much out there for kids that was like that. They watch the movie "That Thing You Do" and know every lyric and every beat--it really appeals to them. That led me to think about creating something that was really intelligent for kids...something that drew on the true rock influences on which I was raising my own kids. I realized there were probably other parents who wanted to bring their kids up on that same kind of music. So I put together the songs and recorded them while the ideas were still fresh. I didn't know where they would ever end up. Then out of nowhere, I met Danny at a local library! I knew my songs finally had a place to go when he began his project. Since then, we've worked together on his songs and even done some songs together. It's funny how life works that way." Jim first met Danny (and his wife Kim, who is also an author & illustrator) at a "Read Across America" event a few years back, and their interest in music and childrens' books brought them together immediately. When Danny went into the studio to finally record some of his own songs that he'd been singing on his school & library circuit around the New York & New Jersey area, he asked Jim to join him. The rest is.....well, you know...history. Once Jim joined musical forces with the Adlerman husband-wife writing duo to help put their work into song, Danny drew on Jim's considerable recording experience to bring a lot of his tracks to their full potential. Equipped with a foundation of sound melodies and completed lyrics (many coming from the Adlermans' books that coordinate with the songs), Jim started filling in the missing instrumental parts. After contributing the bass work for most of the tracks, Jim added guitars throughout the CD, along with some percussion parts and plenty of backing vocals. Babjak commented on the sessions, "It was really a lot of fun to experiment with so many different guitar sounds. The songs all have different moods and I had to come up with a way to translate that using the guitar styles that I use in my own work and with the Smithereens. But I had to keep a sound that would appeal to kids. With some parts, it was really a lot of fun to run with it and do something new. I hope people will get a real kick out of what I came up with!" That is definitely true. A keen listener will even spot Jim's session crew rooting him on through a country-fried solo in "Hey Diddle Diddle" with "GO Tex GO!" In addition to "School Bus Driver" and "Surfin' the Net," Jim's other songwriting contribution gave the hilarious tongue-twister "How Much Wood Could A Woodchuck Chuck?" its carefree melody after Danny penned the zany lyrics. "Woodchuck" is gaining momentum as a huge crowd favorite when it's performed and laughter abounds as the audience tries to keep up with the lyrics. This track will definitely give you & your kids a real workout, but with lots of practice, we promise that you can eventually sing along! Keep in mind this would be an ideal song to fill in those long, long hours on a car trip...it will really keep you occupied! One last project note...a huge tip of the hat has to be made to Kurt Reil (of the Grip Weeds) who manned the boards at the House of Vibes to record, engineer, produce and mix all of the songs on the album. Kurt also played the drums for Jim's "School Bus Driver" & "Surfin' the Net" in addition to lending the lead vocals to those two tracks. Sprinkle in his other contributions on backing vocals, percussion, & guitars and it is clear that Kurt was essential to the project. Truly without him, "we surely would sink!" One Size Fits All is a perfect title for this album since it is full of good stuff guaranteed to make EVERYONE smile, whatever their size. Here's a set of songs that is sure to please the kids and entertain the parents as well--no matter how many times it is played over & over again!
The CD version of One Size Fits All comes with an 8-page lyrics booklet. However, the cassette version does not contain the lyrics.
Five of the songs on One Size Fits All are actually musical renditions of childrens' books that were written by Danny and his wife Kim. For more info on Danny & Kim Adlerman and their books (as well as more photos from Jim's first school appearance) check out their authors' web site. On the Adlermans' site, you can also find out how to possibly book them at your school or event! Jim Babjak recently joined Danny & Kim on an elementary school visit as part of the school's Artist-In-Residence program. They met with the first & second graders to share their work as authors and then entertained the youngsters with musical renditions of their books and other selections from One Size Fits All. The photos of Danny Adlerman and Jim Babjak (in black shirt) at the top of the page were taken at Sunrise Valley Elementary School in Virginia on December 7, 2000--Jim, Danny & Kim's first school appearance together. The event also served as record release party of sorts...complete with cookies & cider! The students voted "Rub A Dub Dub" as their overall favorite from the performances throughout the day and evening...they are STILL singing it to this day! A "Rub A Dub Dub" Riddle: We challenge you to identify which character was played by Jim in the verses' dialogue: the butcher, the baker, or the candlestick maker? The answer will be posted next month! |
ONE SIZE FITS ALL
All songs written (words and/or music) by Kin Eagle/Adlerman except as noted. All songs produced by Danny Adlerman, Jim Babjak & Kurt Reil at The House of Vibes except: (#) produced by Reil & Babjak Other friends who played on the album with Jim & Danny include Kurt Reil, Mike Nattboy, Vince Grogan, Kristin Pinell, Jay Pila, David Barash, Rachelle Adlerman, Joshua Adlerman, and Madeleine Hines.
Amanda (Age 7) and Sam (Age 9), a sister and brother from Virginia, were the first kids on the block to have a copy of ONE SIZE FITS ALL. Here's what they thought of the album in their own words: Amanda: My favorite song is "School Bus Driver" because I haven't been riding the bus very long. I always worry about having a seat! I think the funniest song is "The Library Song" because at the end Jim shouts "QUIET!" My Mom works in the library at my school and it's not very quiet sometimes. I like to try to sing the "Woodchuck" song, but I can't sing it all by myself. I like animals and they're fun to play with so I like "Africa Calling." We learned about animals in my class so I knew some of the animals Kim drew in the book. I have two cats Cissy and Abby. They have to live at my Pap Pap's house. I listen to this CD when I get ready for bed. Sometimes I'm so tired and I fall asleep during "Rub A Dub Dub." That's a funny song when the Baker thinks they can float home in a loaf of bread! I recommend this CD because it has a lot of kid songs and they're funny. It's like rock 'n' roll but there aren't any bad words. Sam: My favorite song is "How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck?" because I like tongue twisters. My favorite line in the song is "how much ground can a groundhog hog?" But I didn't understand the line "how much you could a could you you, if a could you could you, you....could you?" Danny told me later that it was an animal called a "kudu." Now I am not confused. "Surfin' the Net" is cool because it says "I wanna check my email while I still have time." I like email. That song sounds like the Beach Boys. I like the electric guitar too. The funniest song is "It's Raining It's Pouring" when they say they didn't find the rain funny. I like the names in it too...."the wife's name is Cindy, the old man's name is Willy." When they played a concert at my school they repeated the name Willy outloud and that's funny! I think a good driving song is "School Bus Driver." In "Rub A Dub Dub" I liken when the butcher screams, "No, we'll burn don't you know," and then it's funny when it goes "the baker just dropped the last match." I think you should buy it for kids my age. Or if you have toddlers, they would like it a lot too. Sam & Amanda then asked some questions of their own: TO JIM: When I first heard the expression, "surfin the net", I knew that it had to be a song and that it had to be a kid's song. It was also obvious to me that it had to be in the style of a Beach Boys type of song. It was a no brainer. The words came to me very easily as did the music. I also like the Beach Boys. I was 7 years old when I first heard them on the radio. I don't know them personally, but I've seen them play many times. As a matter of fact, they were the first rock band I'd ever seen in concert. My 2 older sons do get home at 2:45 now, but when I wrote the song, they also came home at 4:00, just like you. I made up the quarter to 3 part to rhyme with the line before it which was, "now I'm back at school and I'm ready to read". Sometimes you have to stretch the truth when you're writing a song to make it sound better.--JB TO DANNY: I tried lots of items that were either two or three syllable compound words; some worked, and others didn't. However, enough worked that we actually had to toss a few verses out of the song! The final verses have been weeded through a few times; this, I think, is one of the things that makes the lyrics work so well--that everything was looked at several times. Towards the end, I thought it would be good to have even more fun with it and get really creative; hence the "Cheetah - tai chi" word play; the final "kudu could you" verse was intended to go over the edge; I specifically wanted to throw caution to the wind and come up with something really zany.--DA |
