Billy the Squid

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Tom Chapin, younger brother of and former collaborator with the late Harry Chapin, hits a peak in his career here with "The Ghost of Bleak House." The song is an animated dialogue between a family of kids moving into a house whose ghostly inhabitant wants them out. The mock-frightening music and daunting voice of Josiah Bleak are dismantled by the children's playful fearlessness. Chapin loves scenarios like this, in which he can set up dialogue between two parties (almost always an adult and a child) and have each come to some mutual understanding. Such an avenue, bolstered by colorfully arranged and executed music that feeds off jazz, folk, and tons more, is the key to childhood understanding of music. Chapin's songs come off as ministories, each squared with an apt musical style and then performed brilliantly. And he even takes the time to honor economy in language with "Great Big Words." This is perfect for parents who listen with their kids--in cars, in living rooms, or wherever. --Andrew Bartlett

Tracks:

Great Big Words
Bye Bye Dodo
All My Friends
You'll Be Sorry
The Ghost Of Bleak House
Cameling
Billy The Squid
Sore Loser
Happy Earth Day
The Missing Parade
Preacher Herman
I've Got The Blues, Greens And Reds
Bedtime Round / City Lullaby
Unlisted Track

Customer Reviews:

Great kids songs.......2006-08-24

As a kid, I loved this album and some of the first I ever sang in front of people were "Bye Bye Dodo" and "The Ghost of Bleak House." Brings some of us back to our days as young children.

Great CD.......2005-12-20

This CD is great for kids. I used to listen to this CD when I was a kid, and I loved it. I still love it. The only thing was that a always got scared when something jumped out, like in "the ghost of bleak house". I still love this CD, and i put it onto my MP3 player.

Above are my son's comments. I am much older and I still absolutely love these songs, along with the other all time great CDs of Tom Chapin - Family Tree, and Moonboat. I would also give 4.99 stars to Zagzig, Great Big Fun, In My Home Town. Children of all ages will treasure these long after they have children of their own.

Followup to T. Siliano's review.......2005-02-21

I had the exact same experience as she did, and after poking around a bit, I found that this disc is actually "Zig Zag" (see track listing elsewhere on Amazon.) Beats me how Chapin's release company made such a mistake (only the 2nd time I've seen this in 20 years of CD collecting), but things didn't turn out so bad, as the songs contained are actually very witty and fun, just I've come to expect from every Tom Chapin release.

what is going on?.......2005-01-03

I Love Tom Chapin. My son has 3 other CD's of his...My husband and I enjoy the music as much as our child does. I am not sure what happened with Billy the Squid? The play list is on the back of the CD case and on the CD as well, but the CD plays entirely different songs all together! This is a dissapointment to me! They are all Tom Chapin songs, but they do not match the play list. The same is true of the playlist on Amazon...try it out and listen. It does not look like the CD is copied...very confused Tom Chapin fan.

My Son Begs for "Billy the Squid" Constantly!.......2003-04-17

My 3-year-old son and I have an hour-long commute after work, so good music is a must. The songs on this CD are wonderful, starting with the very first ("Big Words") which makes us want to dance right in the car, if we could. The songs alternate between catchy toe-tappers to softer, more melodic tunes, to some that tell a story ("The Missing Parade" and "Ghost of Bleak House"). There are two songs we don't care for ("You'll be Sorry" and "Sore Loser"), but the excellence of all the others makes this definitely worth the money.

Average customer rating:

Great Big Fun
From the Hyperlinguistic Polysyllabic Speech Association
Great Songs
Great Family Sing-a-long Album!!
The joy of words put to music!!

Billy the Squid
Tom Chapin
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Children's Music | Styles | Music

Educational | Children's Music | Styles | Music

Folk Music | Children's Music | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Zag Zig
Moonboat
In My Hometown

ASIN: B00000287M
Release Date: 1992-03-24

Tracks:

Great Big Words
Bye Bye Dodo
All Of My Friends
You'll Be Sorry
The Ghost Of Bleak House
Cameling
Billy The Squid
Sore Loser
Happy Earth Day
The Missing Parade
Preacher Herman
I've Got The Blues, Greens And Reds
Bedtime Round/City Lullaby

Amazon.com essential recording

Tom Chapin, younger brother of and former collaborator with the late Harry Chapin, hits a peak in his career here with "The Ghost of Bleak House." The song is an animated dialogue between a family of kids moving into a house whose ghostly inhabitant wants them out. The mock-frightening music and daunting voice of Josiah Bleak are dismantled by the children's playful fearlessness. Chapin loves scenarios like this, in which he can set up dialogue between two parties (almost always an adult and a child) and have each come to some mutual understanding. Such an avenue, bolstered by colorfully arranged and executed music that feeds off jazz, folk, and tons more, is the key to childhood understanding of music. Chapin's songs come off as ministories, each squared with an apt musical style and then performed brilliantly. And he even takes the time to honor economy in language with "Great Big Words." This is perfect for parents who listen with their kids--in cars, in living rooms, or wherever. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Great Big Fun.......2006-11-22

I first heard "Great Big Words" at school. One of my teachers played it and we learned the vocabulary words introduced in it. It had a great, catchy tune and I wanted to hear other songs by Tom Chapin. This CD is great!

From the Hyperlinguistic Polysyllabic Speech Association.......2006-08-02

Tom Chapin has really done an excellent job with this recording. I first heard him in concert when I was about 6 - and I haven't stopped listening for 10 years! As one grows in age, new layers begin to appear in his songs - at first I thought Billy the Squid was just some funny animal, but with age I can appreciate the puns and intelligent lyrics. Highly recommended.

Great Songs.......2003-12-09

These songs are great - this collection is a nice combination of silly songs fun songs and beautiful songs. My kids love this music and parents won't tire of it either. Some of my friends with grown children still listen to this CD.

Great Family Sing-a-long Album!!.......2002-04-10

We are big fans of Tom Chapin, he writes awesome songs everyone can relate to and enjoy! I have a 6 year old and a 16 year old and it is hard nowdays to find music appropriate and appreciated by both. We have been Tom Chapin fans for four years and own 3 of his CD's. Our favorite songs on Billy the Squid--(this will vary from time to time, and from mood to mood!)Ghost of Bleak House, I Got the Blues, Preacher Herman, and Bye Bye Dodo. Chapin's songs are funny, touching, thoughtful, and informative (teaching kids about animal extinction-Bye Bye Dodo, and ecology among other things) Buy this great family CD--you WILL ENJOY IT!!

The joy of words put to music!!.......2002-03-26

Tom Chapin obviously loves the English language and wants to share his favorite "great big words" with others. We have owned this CD for years now, and my 10 year old and 7 year old still enjoy singing along. His lyrics are exciting and hilarious, and his music is bouncy and singable. We listen to this, along with several of his other CDs, when we go on long trips in the car. It makes my children laugh and reminise about other family trips we have taken. We particulary love Preacher Herman (so does our minister!), Billy the Squid, Cameling, and the Ghost of Bleak House. Tom Chapin is all that children's music should be...clever concepts, great tunes, fun lyrics, (which as an added plus increase their vocabulary-who else could rhyme dromedary?), singalongs, and good times!!!

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