...And they whirled and they twirled and they Barnesed and they Nobled...

 

Met the radiant Toni Tennille at Barnes & Noble this weekend. What a wondrous talent. At this moment, I'm watching a DVD set of the Captain and Tennille variety show (very '70s). She's written a fine new autobiography with her niece, Caroline Tennille St. Clair.

One of the people in the group asked what her favorite song was, and she of course said it was like choosing a favorite child. However, she admitted to having several songs within albums that were special to her. I agree -- her versions of "God Only Knows" and "Disney Girls" are superb.

This was her first signing event for her new memoir, which is also an audiobook. She particularly enjoyed making the audio version because of her experience in the recording studio. Next up is an appearance on the Today Show, the Daytime Emmys and more book appearances nationwide.

What does The Partridge Family have to do with Captain Kangaroo?

I was listening to The Partridge Family's first album on the way to work this morning (who wasn't?). Their records sounded very much like as the Captain Kangaroo show of the early '70s (there were lots of filmed musical video segments) as well as Sigmund and the Sea Monsters--the same producers (Wes Farrell, Steve Bedell) and singers (Jackie Ward, Tom Bahler, etc.).

That's why you usually heard David Cassidy backed by what I'm assuming was Shirley Jones and a group of grown up studio vocalists (which was weird considering they were lip-synched by teens and children).

What I never noticed was that Cassidy only sings small portions of "To Be Lovers." And he is not even present on one of the songs, "I'm On The Road," making it sound exactly like it could have been included (with more kid-friendly lyrics) on the two-record Captain Kangaroo album Colors. This is the song:

Just an interesting observance. By the way, Colors is a great album if you like early '70s easy pop in the vein of Burt Bacharach and especially Charles Fox. Bob Keeshan, who was not really a singer, does not appear on the album at all, but it does include Lumpy Brannum (Mr. Green Jeans), Cosmo Allegretti (Mr. Moose, Homer) and the lovely Debbie Weems, who has some outstanding tracks including the memorable "Someday I'm Going to Go There." This track is called "Have a Happy Birthday":