Track Listing

1. Light in the Attic
2. Front Row to Hear Ole Johnny Sing
3. Freakin' at the Freakers' Ball - Dr. Hook, , Medicine Show, Shel Silverstein
4. Monsters I've Met
5. Unicorn - The Irish Rovers, Shel Silverstein
6. Dragon of Grindly Grun
7. Marie Lavaux - Bobby Bare
8. Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out
9. Sylvia's Mother - Dr. Hook, , Medicine Show, Shel Silverstein
10. Taker - Kris Kristofferson, Shel Silverstein
11. Homework Machine
12. Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too
13. Crowded Tub
14. Rock 'n' Roll Band
15. Cover of the Rolling Stone - Dr. Hook, , Medicine Show, Shel Silverstein
16. Daddy What If - Bobby Bare, Shel Silverstein
17. Zebra Question
18. Plastic
19. Couple More Years - Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Shel Silverstein
20. Peanut Butter Sandwich
21. Queen of the Silver Dollar - Dr. Hook, , Medicine Show, Shel Silverstein
22. Generals
23. I Got Stoned and I Missed It
24. Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash, Shel Silverstein
25. Boa Constrictor
26. 26 Second Song

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35311 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2005-08-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

Lot of fun--but don't buy this one for the kids!
The guest artists on this collection are what make it stand out. I was delighted to see Dr. Hook, the Irish Rovers, and Johnny Cash on the credits list among others.

The ironic "A front seat to hear Johnny Sing" was one I hadn't heard til now. Thelyrics had me laughing and how plausible was the situation!

"Marie Lavaeu" had me laughing, too. This one would be a great selection for Halloween coming up.

There's also some of Silverstein's children's music here, "The Unicorn," "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout", and "The Homework Machine" are the ones I remember best from my own childhood. The only caveat is parents probably should get a kids' only CD by Shel. While Silverstein is most noted for his poems for kids, but he's got a twisted, dark side, too that's represented on this CD.

Gonna buy five copies for my mother!
This is a compilation album of songs (and poems) written by Shel Silverstein. Shel is probably best known for his books of poetry for children, but he also had a bawdy side, writing songs about sex, drugs and rock & roll. This CD features some of his material performed by himself, but it also includes performances of his songs by other people. Shel never had any hits himself, but he did write hit songs for people like Dr. Hook, Bobby Bare and Johnny Cash, many of which are included here. This CD provides a good overview of Shel's songs, both comical and serious. There is an unlisted bonus track, which is Shel performing a "26 Second Song".

Poet, Musician, Composer/Songwriter, Screenwriter, Cartoonist, Author
Born on September 25, 1930, Sheldon Alan "Shel" Silverstein, aka "Uncle Shelby" when writing books for children, was all of those - and more. His children's books, most of which he also illustrated himself (he once worked as a cartoonist for the U.S. military's publication Stars And Stripes), remain among the most favoured of the genre, especially A Light In The Attic, Where The Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up, A Giraffe And A Half, The Missing Piece and The Missing Piece Meets The Big O.

Adults could appreciate his zany sense of humour too in books such as Different Dances, a collection of very adult-themed wordless cartoons, as well as the highly satirical Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book and his stab at rap, using Hamlet, which appeared in Playboy the year before he passed away on May 10, 1999. As a screenwriter, working with David Mamet they came up with 1988's Things Change, a tour-de-force for Don Ameche as an Italian shoemaker convinced to take the rap for a Chicago mob murder.

His material continues to surface, including the 2005 book of spoonerisms titled Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook. And here, in this wonderful 2005 CD with 2 pages of liner notes contributed by his nephew, Mitch Myers, and an eloquent tribute by his good friend Kris Kristofferson, you can hear for yourself his unique brand of humour on 15 of the 25 generous tracks, some of which are indeed suitable for children. Just review it yourself, first, before deciding which tracks they can hear.

He is, of course, also the writer/composer of some of the biggest hit singles ever, several of which are included here, starting with his first smash, The Unicorn, In early 1968 the Canadian-based group, The Irish Rovers, took it to # 2 Adult Contemporary (AC) and # 7 Billboard Pop Hot 100. Then, just over a year later, his friend the late, great Johnny Cash introduced A Boy Named Sue in a live performance at San Quentin Prison and, when released as a single, it shot to # 1 Country (where it stayed 6 weeks), # 1 AC (2 weeks), and # 2 Hot 100 in late summer 1969.

Another Country star, Bobby Bare, had back-to-back hits with Shel's material, first taking Daddy, What If to # 2 Country, # 14 AC and # 41 Hot 100 in late 1973/early 1974 in a delightful duet with 5-year-old son Bobby, Jr., and in the summer of 1974 had a # 1 Country with his "live" recording of the hilarious Marie Laveau, a take-off on the renowned 19th Century New Orleans VooDoo queen.

The New Jersey pop-rock group, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show, also benefited from Shel's compositions as their first hit, Sylvia's Mother, rose to # 5 Hot 100 in spring 1972, and late that year the comical The Cover Of "Rolling Stone" began its climb to # 6 Hot 100 in January 1973 b/w the melancholy Queen Of The Silver Dollar, the Doyle Holly version of which made it to # 29 Country that year, and in 1976 Dave & Sugar would take it to # 25 Country.

And although the version of A Couple More Years heard here by Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson never became a hit, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show had a # 51 Country with it in 1976, while King Edward IV & The Knights took it to # 89 Country in 1979.

A most talented man who is sorely missed.