Some kids´ records perch themselves atop an anti-Barney platform in the name of parental palatability, others reach out with artist recognition.
But The Bottle Let Me Down: Songs for Bumpy Wagon Rides goes one better, reversing the whole premise so that parents, for an entire 26-track album, fully reclaim their listening rights. So what if ´´Rubber Ducky,´´ ´´On Top of Spaghetti,´´ ´´The Three Billy Goats Gruff,´´ and ´´Señor El Gato´´ are among the song titles--this is music meant to celebrate Mom and Dad´s last remaining shreds of coolness, from the retro-inspired jewel case to the alt-country acts´ indie credibility. Alejandro Escovedo laments hitting the big One-O (´´Candy just doesn´t taste as good anymore´´) on ´´Sad & Dreamy´´; Rosie Flores sends ´em flocking to the speakers with first track ´´Red, Red Robin´´; Robbie Fulks feels the pain of ´´Godfrey,´´ the sickly unemployed amateur children´s magician; and the Cornell Hurd Band makes a compelling case for napkin use with ´´Don´t Wipe Your Face on Your Shirt.´´
Also weighing in on such subjects as funky butts, the difficulty of being green, and weasels, beans, frogs, and dogs are Devil in a Woodpile, Rex Hobart & the Misery Boys, and Split Lip Rayfield. Granted, grownups with R&B, jazz, or rock leanings won´t get as much mileage out of this CD as those who sniff the twang in song titles like ´´Hinky Dinky Dee´´ and like the aroma, but there´s no denying its down-home, keep-it-real musicianship--everything from Dobros to duckies do their part. If ever there was a record for musically deprived parents, this is it.
Slip it in and show them, for 45 minutes if not once and for all, who´s in the driver´s seat.
--Tammy La Gorce
Tracklist:
1. Red, Red, Robin - Rosie Flores
2. Senor El Gato - Kelly Hogan
3. Hinky Dinky Dee - One Riot One Ranger
4. Big 1-0 - Alejandro Escovedo 5. Godfrey - Robbie Fulks
6. Camptown Races
7. Down In The Arkansas - Jim & Jennie
8. Don´t Wipe Your Faces On Your Shirt - Cornell Hurd
9. Snowball - Handsome Family
10. On Top Of Spaghetti - Jane Baxter Miller
11. I Am My Own Grandpa - Asylum Street Spankers
12. It´s Not Easy Being Green - Rex Hobart
13. Cartoon Chicken
14. Three Billy Goats Gruff - Carolyn Mark
15. Three Little Fishes - Jon Rauhouse
16. Crazy Dazy - Chris Ligon
17. The Weasel, The Bean. - Split Lip Rayfield
18. The Fox - Waco Brothers
19. Cheese, Peas. - Nora O´Connor
20. Turkey In The Straw
21. Funky Butt - Devil In A Woodpile
22. Crawdad Song - The Meat Purveyors
23. Down On The Farm - Kim Lenz
24. Little Red Riding Hood - Freakwater
25. Rubber Duckie - Kelly Hogan
26. Lullaby - Trailer Bride