Track Listing

1. Free To Be You And Me - The New Seekers
2. Boy Meets Girl - Mel Brooks and Marlo Thomas
3. When We Grow Up - Diana Ross
4. Don't Dress Your Cat In An Apron - Billy De Wolfe
5. Parents Are People - Harry Belafonte and Marlo Thomas
6. Housework - Carol Channing
7. Helping - Tom Smothers
8. Ladies First - Marlo Thomas
9. Dudley Pippin And The Principal - Billy De Wolfe, Marko Thomas, Bobby Morse
10. It's All Right To Cry - Rosey Grier
11. Sisters And Brothers - Sisters and Brothers
12. My Dog Is A Plumber - Dick Cavett
13. William's Doll - Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas
14. Atlanta - Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas
15. Grandma - Diana Sands
16. Girl Land - Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones
17. Dudley Pippin And His No-Friend - Bobby Morse and Marlo Thomas
18. Glad To Have A Friend Like You - Marlo Thomas
19. Free To Be...You And Me - The New Seekers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #643 in Music
• Brand: Arista
• Released on: 2006-05-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
There are thousands upon thousands of children's albums out there, but the one that quietly left its mark with more '70s children than perhaps any other album was this disc. Free to Be...You and Me was a pet project of proud feminist Marlo Thomas (a.k.a. "That Girl"), and it was born--according to the liner notes--by the desire to provide her niece with music "to celebrate who she was and who she could be." Harry Belafonte sings "Parents Are People," ex-football great Rosie Grier offers an incredible, touching melody titled "It's All Right to Cry," and Diana Ross waxes future-positive on "When We Grow Up." A great hour of brain food for young--and not-so-young--children. --Denise Sheppard

Customer Reviews

a parent and kindergarten teacher
The music from Free to Be was the best music that my kids listened to as they were growing up. If you're interested in a cd that shows children how there are lots of different ways to be special, this is the cd for you. It's such a positive role model and it's so much fun to sing along with, too. I was watching Inside the Actor's Studio and when he asked Gwyneth Paltrow if she had any actors or actresses that she loved when she was little, she smiled and said that she really didn't, that she spent lots of time in her room singing along with her Free to Be, You and Me record. My kids did, too.

Still great after all these years!
An early birthday gift for my daughter (to be nine in April '07) - she can't get enough of this CD! After one listen, she was quoting bits and bites and getting up to hit "repeat" on the CD player. Cool.

My sister and I loved it as kids and though it's a teeny bit dated, the messages are sound, clear, and still 'work' today. The comedy is great for all ages(who can beat Mel Brooks and Alan Alda?)
So, my review says: get it! Listen ofen! And give it to someone you love!

a landmark in children's albums
If you were a kid in the 1970s', chances are you had a copy of this little gem. FREE TO BE YOU AND ME was created by Marlo Thomas as a teaching tool for children. Filled with great songs and comedy bits from a galaxy of stars, the album teaches gentle lessons about sharing, self-belief and tolerance.

Marlo Thomas originally created the album because she wanted her niece to have something that celebrated just being a kid, but this album was proudly adopted by an entire generation, and songs like "It's All Right to Cry", "Parents are People", and "William's Doll" became anthems in the schoolyard. Parents who grew up with the album now have the opportunity to pass it along to their own children, thanks to this reissue from Arista Records.

Highlights include husband/wife team Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy with "Girl Land", Carol Channing with "Housework"; and Marlo Thomas with "Ladies First".

Totally magic.

[Arista/Legacy 82876 80313 2]