Mary Lee Sunseri and Nancy Stewart have made many of the classic folk songs their own by slowing down the tempo and adding some personal tweaks. Down in the Valley and Oh, Susanna are slowed down to the pace of a relaxed ballad, and a harp and cello are very unique ways of presenting My Darlin' Clementine, creating a lovely song with a completely different tone than it is generally associated with. Skip To My Lou sounds folksy with the fiddle, and a slight slur to a minor note is added in the word "darlin". I've Been Working On the Railroad contains real sounds of a steam engine working and a train whistle blowing, while Happy Trails creates the clopping sound of horses hooves using a wooden block. The Navajo Night Chant is coupled with Colors Of The Wind, as they both follow the motif of wind and nature; "May it be beautiful before me/May it be beautiful behind me/May be beautiful all around me." (Navajo Night Chant). Old Texas/Sleep Little Cowboy is the only song on the album featuring the harmonica, and is sung in the call-and-response style between Mary Lee and Nancy.
Your little one can join in the songs quickly, as they will recognize some of them and quickly learn the others. The call-and-response songs take care of themselves, while others like the lullaby Beautiful Dreamer have a whole verse of ooo's, which is simple-yet-fun to sing along with. Watch as your little one joins in the "Whoppie ty yi ya!" of Back In the Saddle Again, the "Yippy-yi-oooooo, yip ha!" in I Am a Cowboy, or sings, "I've got my boots, I,ve got my hat, I'm a rootin' tootin' cowboy, Now what do you think of that?" in Jingle Jangle Jingle . Cows Are Cool is a great way to sneak in education, as the song teaches children about the names of different types of cows. Listeners learn that a Holstein in black and white and popular for creating milk, the Jersey is a great cow for butter and cheeses, and that the Angus is black, among many other cow facts.
My three-year-old friend Sam, loves the cowboy boots his grandma got him for Easter. He wore them almost every day in the summer, which is impressive with the heat. Sam had fun shuffling around, almost doing a tap dance, with his cowboy boots during the more upbeat songs on this CD, and then he would sit in my lap and play with my hair while humming to the slower songs. He sure is one cute cowboy!
--Audra