Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music/Christopher Robin

Subject: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Shula
Date: 30 Sep 97 - 07:30 PM

Dear All,

Familiar with "James James Robinson Robinson" and the lewd parody of "They're Changing Guard At Buckingham Palace." Wondered if there were any other poems from "When We Were Very Young" or "Now We Are Six" that had been set to music? Thanks for looking.

Shula

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Shula
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 12:52 AM

Just re-queue-ing.

Shula

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 01:56 AM

Well, Shula, now you've gone and set a song running in my head, and I can't clear it until I find the song. I distinctly remember a very nice recording that went,

"They're changing guards at Buckingham Palace
Christopher Robin went down with Alice
[two lines I don't remember, then a rest for a full measure, and then]
Like Alice.

But I can't find it, and now it's going to bug me until I do. Most of the Pooh Web sites have to do with the Disney version of the story, with songs by the Sherman brothers. Not bad songs, but kind of commercial.
There's also the Kenny Loggins song, "Return to Pooh Corner," but I'm sure that's not what you're after.
By the way, I bought my Latin teacher mother a copy of "Winnie Ille Pooh," but she read it in her horrid "classical" pronunciation. I almost took the book back.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Shula
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 03:36 AM

Dear Joe,

All assumptions applicable. Want actual Milne verses in singable form. Unfortunately, the only one you mentioned has been forever tarnished for me by the parody (yes, it IS in the DT) with a lascivious, if economical, alteration of the preposition in line two and the subsequent development of that theme. T'isn't the "lingual consonance" to which I object, mind -- it being FOLK music after all (Yo, Bruce, -- EUPHEMISTIC enow' fer ya, laddie?) but the chosen target: Christopher (fer GAWD's sake!) Robin. Mon Dieu! Is nothing sacred?! Guess not.

Quite fond of Pooh, in any language but Disney-ish. MY Pooh is, most assuredly, NOT orange, and he sounds a good deal more like himself with Alfred Hitchcock's voice than with the one belonging to that red-haired, poultry-voiced Yankee actor. Don't know as my heart could stand to surf through a stack of Disney-pooh websites, but if you found any URL's relating to the genuine article, rather imagine I'd not be alone at this forum in wanting to find them. Thanks for the effort, though. Maybe some of our resident songsmiths can help, or perhaps some of the poems might work with tunes extant. Hmmmm...

Tiddley-pom,

Shula

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 03:49 AM

OK, Shula, but bawdy parody or no bawdy parody, you left me hanging here with an unanswered song question: what is the "Buchingham Palace" recording that I'm familiar with - the one on which the parody is based? The one I'm thinking of was a delightful song. I don't know if the words were exactly what Milne wrote, or if they were an adaptation. Where can I find that song???
Thank you, Shula.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Shula
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 03:57 AM

Dear Joe,

Will have to search after Rosh Hashannah (which begins tomorrow night and will keep me from web-surfing until Saturday night) for the song you seek. Think I have heard it, too, and further recall it was pretty close to the poem. Sorry, didn't mean to tease.

Shula

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: alison
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 07:25 AM

Hi

I know of two others, the first being "Christopher Robin is saying his prayers". It was definately released on record and used to be played on the radio when I was a kid, (we're talking about 25 years ago. It started,

"Little boy kneels at the foot of the bed,

Droops on his little hands, little ?brown head,

Hush, hush, whisper, who dares?

Christopher Robin is saying his prayers."

It goes on with him doing the whole God bless Mummy, God bless Daddy routine, then his mind starts to ramble. Nice song.

The other is "Half way up the stairs," which you should be able to find on any good Muppet LP, (or is that a contradiction in terms?!)

I remeber it being sung by Robin, (Kermit's nephew), as he sat, surprisingly enough, halfway up the stairs.

Slainte

Alison

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Bill in Alabama
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 08:34 AM

I did a search on the word Milne and found some pretty fair non-disney spots with nice links. I didn't search everything, but you might find what you're looking for at one of these.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Shula
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 09:34 AM

Dear Alison,

Yes, indeedy! Title, "Vespers." Would love to have the tune. BTW, if you follow the Milne Links, as Bill in Alabama suggests, you may run into these tidbits:

"Vespers" antedates "When We Were Very Young" and was its seminal poem. Milne gave the rights to it, and hence a portion of later book royalties, to his wife as a present, never imagining the eventual value of his gift. The recorded song version was used by C. R. Milne's classmates at boarding school to torment him. Sad, no?

Dear Joe,

Spent awhile searching and came up with a tantalizing ref.:Fraser-Simson, Harold, Pooh song book, a compendium of Songs From "Now We Are Six", Teddy Bear And Other Songs, The King's Breakfast, 14 Songs From "When We Were Very Young", More "Very Young" Songs , &c (Godine, 1985, originals from Methuen 1920s).

Must rest now; perhaps another Milne fan can take up the quest.

À Le Bon Dieu,

Shula

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: dani
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 10:00 AM

Joe, if no one has posted before then, I'll check with my mother, because I distinctly remember from my childhood the tune you're referring to. And it had a very march-y sound to it. Each verse ended with something about Alice... 'says ALICE'.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: dani
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 10:00 AM

Joe, if no one has posted before then, I'll check with my mother, because I distinctly remember from my childhood the tune you're referring to. And it had a very march-y sound to it. Each verse ended with something about Alice... 'says ALICE'.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: dani
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 10:06 AM

and it repeated itself alot...

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 10:25 AM

although it isn't a Milne song, there is a delightful song written and recorded by a local (Wash DC) musican named Jonathan Eberhart...it is called "The Winnie-the-Pooh Rag", and it is just a celebration of the story and the characters...it is on an album called "Life's Trolley Ride", a great album from Folk Legacy...I'm sure you can still get tapes from them....

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From:
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 12:13 PM

"Christopher Robin is saying his prayers" was recorded by Melanie on "My First Album". I have always loved her version of this.

The "Buckingham Palace" lyric is in Rise Up Singing, I believe, and if there is a recorded source, it is also probably listed there.

I remember it from Captain Kangaroo.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Songster Bob
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 12:53 PM

New Zealanders Des and Juliet Raney visited this country back in those "goodle days" (1970?), and they sang this to a nice little tune which makes a nice guitar piece (in open G). Michael Cooney sang it a lot back then and since, but I don't know if it's on any of his recordings or not.


Train song (don't actually know the title)

Let it rain, -- who cares?
I've a train -- upstairs,
With a brake that I make from a string sorta thing --
Which works -- in jerks,
'Cause it drops in the spring and it stops with the string,
And the wheels all stick so quick that it feels
Like a thing that I make with a brake, not string.

Let it rain, -- who cares?
I've a train -- upstairs,
With a brake that I make from a string sorta thing --
Which works -- in jerks,
'Cause it drops in the spring and it stops with the string,
And that's what I make when the day's all wet,
It's a good sort of brake, but it hasn't worked yet!


The source of the poem is "Now We Are Six," but, like I say, I don't know the title.

Subject: Lyr Add: BUCKINGHAM PALACE (A.A. Milne)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 05:05 PM

BUCKINGHAM PALACE
lyrics: A.A. Milne music: H. Fraser-Simon ?1926

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace
Christopher Robin went down with Alice
Alice is marrying one of the guard
"A soldier's life is terrible hard" (pause) says Alice

They're? / ?Alice / We saw a guard in a sentry box
"One of the sergeants is after their socks" -says Alice

?We looked for the King but he never came
"Well, God take care of him, all the same"?.

?.They've great big parties inside the grounds
"I wouldn't be King for a hundred pounds"?

?A face looked out, but it wasn't the King's
"He's much too busy a-signing things"?.

?"Do you think the King knows all about me?"
"Sure to, dear, but it's time for tea." - Says Alice

This is from the "Rise Up Singing" songbook. I should have known.
Sheepishly,
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From:
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 08:46 PM

My mother used to sing the Rum-tum-tiddle-tum one, but I don't know where she got the tune.

Shula, Christopher Robin Milne (recently deceased) in his later days owned a bookstore in England and was not fond of Pooh references, once calling him "that damned bear". He refused to be photographed with a stuffed Pooh for the article. I gathered from the article that I read that he held some resentment against his father for using him in such a fashion.

I seem to recall reading that Christopher Robin acquitted himself well in the Battle of Britain. Perhaps his comrades teased him once too often. (Here you are fighting for your country in its hour of greatest peril and all you hear is "rum-tum-tiddle-tum".)

I know a gentleman locally who is related to him. He visited him once at his bookstore and confirmed that he touchy on the subject of Pooh.

A bear of little brain,

Tim

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 12:50 AM

OK, Ok, who's foolin' around with the font size? I'll admit that my "6" was a bit much. How's this??
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Justin
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 09:08 AM

Shula,

Because I'm on the Program Committee of the Princeton (NJ) Folk Music Society, I receive a lot of demo tapes & CD's. I have one from a Daniel and Jennifer Trueman that has six A.A, Milne songs set to music. "Sand Between My Toes" "Middle Ages" "There Is a House Where I Go" "Spring Morning" and "Lisa Jane's Cradle Song". I don't want to have to transcribe all of the lyrics, but for more info you can scan our PFMS web page and contact our webmaster, Hannah Kaufman. She's the one who passed the CD on to me. It was self-produced in Cincinnati by Dan Trueman whose address is not on the liner notes.

It's actually a pretty good CD, by the way. Very professional musicianship, and Jennifer's voice is very nice. I assume that the music to the Milne lyrics was by the Truemans. There are no credits on the liner.

Our URL is princetonol.com/groups/pfms

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 01:18 PM

When I was very young (ca 1935 or so) I was given a set of small (6-inch?) 78 records of Frank Luther singing Christopher Robin sings. I know2 not who wrote the tunes, but they seem to be te sme ones being sung today.

One that wasn't in there, but which I'm inordinately fond of, is "There once was a dormouse who slept in a bed Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red)..

It's a fine commentary on folks who wish to do good for us, whether or not we wish it, and it sings well to most Irish jigs.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: S.P. Buck Mulligan
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 02:18 PM

I see no one has mentioned this so I will -

The "James James" poem is "James James Morrison Morrison" I believe (James James Morrison Morrison Weatherbee George Dubree, took great care of his mother though he was only three")

The Chad Mitchell Trio recorded a setting of this poem ('way back in the vinyl days) perhaps on "Typical American Boys" perhaps not. I think the setting was Mitchell's, but not sure about that at all.

It's the only Milne piece I know of. (The Kenny Loggins tune is, I think "House at Pooh Corner")

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Dale Rose
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 03:57 PM

After struggling through the document source, (something I am not good at) it would seem that there was an open large font somewhere. Then someone turned it to 1 (too small), and then to 2 which is default size. If I did this right, it should be 2 again.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Dale Rose
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 04:02 PM

No, there is more to it than that, it would seem. I will leave it to someone who knows more about it.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 04:04 PM

Or, Dale, you can go back to the default font by putting (/font) in angle brackets. It may be that the default font is variable by what you set on your Web browser. the "2" is smaller than the way the default reads on my browser, I think.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: S.P. Buck Mulligan
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 05:01 PM

I see no one has mentioned this so I will -

The "James James" poem is "James James Morrison Morrison" I believe (James James Morrison Morrison Weatherbee George Dubree, took great care of his mother though he was only three")

The Chad Mitchell Trio recorded a setting of this poem ('way back in the vinyl days) perhaps on "Typical American Boys" perhaps not. I think the setting was Mitchell's, but not sure about that at all.

It's the only Milne piece I know of. (The Kenny Loggins tune is, I think "House at Pooh Corner")

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: rechal
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 11:16 PM

Sandy and Caroline Paton also recorded "James James." Folkway Records, I believe, on the album "I've Got A Song."

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From:
Date: 02 Oct 97 - 11:42 PM

Here you go, Joe! You made me check out the MIDI thing, now there's no stopping me!

dani

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Oct 97 - 02:42 AM

Impressive, Dani. I'm sure Shula will say the same, but she's gonna make heads roll if you guys don't start posting Pooh songs before she gets back. But I gotta say, Christopher Robin is very cute.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From:
Date: 03 Oct 97 - 08:49 AM

I am the fortunate owner of two songbooks: Fourteen Song from When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne, music by H. Frasier-Simson, published by the Blakiston Co, Philadelphia,©1922,1944 Titles: Happiness Missing In the Fashion Halfway Down Hoppity Growing Up Buckingham Palace The Three Foxes Politeness Market Square The Christening Brownie Lines and Squares Vespers

and

The Hums of Pooh by A. A. Milne, music by H. Frasier-Simson, published by E.P Dutton, New Yoork, ©1930, 1939 Titles: Isn't it Funny How Sweet to be a Cloud Cottleston Pie Lines Written by a Bear of Very Little Brain Sing Ho! for the Life of a Bear They all went off to Discover the Pole 3 Cheers for Pooh The More it Snows What Shall We Do About Poor Little Tigger? I Could Spend a Happy Morning Oh! The Butterflies Are Flying If Rabbit Were Bigger this Warms and Sunny Spot I Lay on my Chest Here Lies a Tree Christopher Robin is Going

Other books listed by the same composer & author: The King's Breakfast Teddy Bear and Other Songs Songs from "Now We Are Six" More Very Young Songs

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: LaMarca
Date: 03 Oct 97 - 06:14 PM

A few years ago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (or was it the Metropolitan Museum? So many mail order catalogs, so little money...) offered a paperback reprint edition of H. Frasier-Simpson's settings of the Hums of Pooh and Fourteen Songs from When We Were Very Young in one volume. It may still be available; I'll check my copy for the publishing info at home. Frasier-Simpson actually worked with Milne when he did the settings, so they really work well.

When I was young, my parents gave me an album of Jack Gilford (the actor who played Hysterium to Zero Mostel's Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) singing some of the Fraser-Simpson songs. It's got Pooh songs on one side, and Christopher Robin songs on the other and it's INFINITELY better than the ersatz Disney crap that is circulating today. (Grouchy digression: Did you know that the Disney Corp bought the rights to all the original Ernest Shepherd (sp?) illustrations from the Pooh books and licenses them now as "Classic Pooh" as opposed to their own animated versions? The Chutzpah of the Disney megalopolis never ceases to amaze and depress me).

Anyway, I found a copy of this record in a used record bin (my childhood copy having fallen victim to the record-eating Magnovox long ago) and immediately bought it. I can make a tape of it for you, Joe, if you would like.

My favorite song from the collection is

. "Missing"

Has anyone seen my mouse?
I opened his box for just a minute
Just to make sure he was really in it,
I lifted the lid and I looked inside
I tried to catch him - I tried, I tried
He must be somewhere about the house,
Has anyone seen my mouse?

Uncle John, have you seen my mouse?

Just a small sort of mouse, a dear little brown one
He came from the country, he wasn't a town one;
He's sure to be lonely on a London street,
Oh, where will he find something good to eat?
He must be somewhere, I'll ask Aunt Rose-
Have you seen a mouse with a wuffley nose?

He's somewhere about...
. He just got out...
. Has anyone seen my mouse?

(I make transgenic mice for a living...)

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Oct 97 - 05:17 AM

Welcome back, Shula. See all the stuff we came up with for you?
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Shula
Date: 05 Oct 97 - 05:52 PM

Oh me darlins 'n' me dearies,

THANK YE, THANK YE ALL! With folks so kind, what need's a life? Tickled nearly rhodochrosite by all the posts here. (Thanks, Joe, for keepin' this'un frae th' slag-heap.) Where, oh where, to begin...

How to get copies of the TUNES appears to be the only problem. If anyone is offering, would be glad to send a tape. E-mail's [e-mail]. FAX# on request.

Alison: Meant to say "Vespers" is the title of the POEM.

Justin: Is a copy of this tape you mention AVAILABLE?

Dani and Bill D: Charming pics, though rah-ther loudly "colourised" by dear old Uncle Walt. Sorry y'all took a lickin' fer a'tryin' to do an ol' gal a kine'niss. Bill, that "Pooh, With Paw in Pot" one, in the original, is a fav., and seasonal for Rosh Hashanah, too! (My 29-year-old son, when little, heard R.H. as "rush us honey" since it is trad. to dip bread and fruit slices in the sticky stuff as a sort of "sympathetic magic" to sweeten the new year. And here I thought the Bear of Very Little Brain to be a Buddhist! Could you post the words to The WTP Rag? Thanks.

LaMarca: Eagerly awaiting the location of the repro.'s you mention.

Songster Bob: The adult CR is reported to have remarked, somewhat churlishly, that HAD he designed a brake, it most certainly WOULD have worked!

Buck Mulligan: Best to start reading a thread from the beginning, but no harm in mentioning "James James Morrison Morrison" again. Kids always seem to enjoy the reversal of roles. Cute song.

Dick: My personal favorite Milne poem from earliest youth is The Dormouse and The Doctor. Never COULD abide chrysanthemums, n'r mos' "h'experts" nuther, truth be told! (Turns out that this'un, like "Vespers" afore it, antedates the book and, at least partially, occasioned it.) Would LOVE music for it! (Did anyone happen to mention "There Was An Old Sailor" [who had so many things that he wanted to do...]? If't ha'nt b'n made a shanty of, tuh yit, 't'ortah!)

May all who gather in this place have a year sweetened with the honey of peace, plenty, health and harmony. Many many THANKS to ALL.

L'Shanah Tova!

Shula

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 05 Oct 97 - 08:51 PM

All right. All right. I hereby promise (as solemnly as possible) to put at least a couple of Pooh tunes in the next, and in ensuing editions.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 06 Oct 97 - 05:51 AM

Shula- I sing Dormouse to a medley of two jigs: Larry O'Gaff (First part) and a minor-key one whoe name escapes me for the second part. Works well.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Shula
Date: 06 Oct 97 - 06:02 AM

Thanks, and delphiniums to ye, Dick!

Shula

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Shula
Date: 06 Oct 97 - 10:47 AM

Milne fans, see Lyr. Add. "The Old Sailor"

Shula

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Nonie Rider
Date: 07 Oct 97 - 05:33 PM

My family exchanges silly stocking presents for Xmas, wrapped and with poems taped to them, which you read out loud before opening the gifts.

We loved parodies when we could manage them (usually to Shakespeare, Tolkien, Yeats, Milne, and various Xmas songs), and the most fun ones were simply combined lyrics:

"Tall ships and tall kings,
Three times three;
What brought they from the foundered lands
Over the flowing sea?
James James Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree!"

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 07 Oct 97 - 05:43 PM

Hi Shula- Could you drop me an E-mail at [e-mail]? There's a bit of a foul-up in the Personal Message system, and I'd like to figure out how best to send you a tune.

thanx. dick

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: cleod
Date: 05 Nov 97 - 05:03 AM

Dunno if anyone's heard this (or if you'll kill me fer mentioning it) but there's a new Disney tape out with Pooh songs sung by various artists...the best part was hearing The Chieftains sing the opening song: "Deep in the Hundred Acre Woods..." and so on...the rest of the songs weren't so hot though...or is it just that I've never heard of them? Whatever!

Pooh go bragh! cleod

Subject: A A Milne - sung by ...
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 07 Dec 98 - 08:02 AM

I've been looking at a thread with dire examples of graphics & formatting gone mad - but I won't dwell on that.

Joe Offer started it off by asking who made the 'nice' recording of 'Changing guard at Buckingham Palace'. The truly, really, definitively nice version for me was by Anne Stephens in the thirties. I haven't got it (if you have I'll give you money for it!!), but I used to have three discs - 12" 78s - in a set of 'Alice's adventures in Wonderland', with Arthur Askey et al. (If you're American, I don't expect this will mean a lot!) I only have one left now, as they don't bend very well. Anne was in Noel Coward's movie 'In which we serve', in which she played his daughter. And that's all I know about her; but she had a voice as clear as crystal that I could listen to all day ...

Steve

---

Moved to the thread Steve was looking for. -Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 23 Dec 98 - 02:50 AM

Brief answers to two of the queries mentioned in this thread (well, maybe three). Michael Cooney recorded the Rainey's "Let it Rain, Who Cares," on his Folk-Legacy album The Cheese Stands Alone, (now available as a custom cassette with booklet). Sandy and Caroline Paton recorded "James, James, Morrison, Morrison" (with some neat guitar backup by Ray Frank) on I've Got a Song!, another Folk-Legacy recording still available as a cassette. And, finally, yes, Jonathan Eberhart's Life's Trolley Ride is also still available from Folk-Legacy. Check out our web site for details.

Sandy (Folk-Legacy's resident folk fogey)

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 23 Dec 98 - 03:10 AM

Must remember to close those darned italics!

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From:
Date: 28 Feb 02 - 05:03 PM

I have also heard the Milne poems set to music by Fraser-Simson. My sister has a CD that I don't believe is being put out anymore. It was recorded in England, I beleive, and is titled "Three Cheers for Pooh". The singer is a baritone with the first name of Robert(?). Very nice.

Does anyone know where to get this CD or the printed music? I have been searching for both for six years!

Laura

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Bullfrog Jones
Date: 28 Feb 02 - 06:33 PM

Just picked up on this antique thread and can't believe no one mentioned "Halfway Down The Stairs", as immortalised on The Muppet Show by the great Kermit The Frog!

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 01 Mar 02 - 03:25 AM

OK, I'm going to commit a major Mudcat faux pas, by not reading every post of this thread, but it's late and I have to meet my student in the hospital at 7AM (why did I ever agree to that?) I have a 34-page large-format clothbound book entitled "Fourteen Songs from When We Were Very Young By A.A. Milne" There is no title page; the title is on a "sticker" on the front cover and it also says "Music by H. Fraser-Simpson, Decorations by E.H. Shepard". No publication date, either. The songs are: Happiness, Missing, In the Fashion, Halfway Down, Hoppity, Growing Up, Buckingham Palace, The Three Foxes, Politeness, Market Square, The Christening, Brownie, Lines and Squares, and Vespers. Each song has a vocal staff and two piano staves. I love the tempo markings: "Animato, or something like that...", "Not too fast, or Aunt Susan won't hear all the words," etc. If anyone would like more information, send me a message.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Mar 02 - 09:10 AM

THis is fascinating. When I was a child on my first visit to London, we went to see the changing of the guard and there were people (locals, from the sound of it) singing that song, which was the first time I'd heard it not being a poem. I'd love to hear all these others. In terms of songs ABOUT Winnie the Pooh, I know a GREAT one in Hungarian, which is kind of like the tiddely-pom The More It Snows bit, and also kind of like Christopher Robin and I walked along under branches lit up by the moon, which I cannot recall the artist nor have I seen mentioned in this thread. But these aren't BY AAMilne, who remains one of my very favorite poets, right up there with Edward Lear.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Bennet Zurofsky
Date: 01 Mar 02 - 05:49 PM

Surprised that no one has mentioned Melanie's recording of "Alexander Beetle," a wonderful performance. If I'm not mistaken it is on her "Live at Carnegie Hall" album.

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 02 Mar 02 - 03:47 AM

OK, OK, I went back and read the other posts. The book I have is the first one mentioned by Sue Wichers...hers must have a title page, or else mine is a different edition. And I also recall the record mentioned by LaMarca, with Jack Gilford et al. singing "The Hums of Pooh". I had that one as a child; what I remember is the word POOH in Very Large Letters on the album cover. Thread creep: we also had Jack Gilford and a number of other comic actors (Arlene Golonka, Lou Jacobi) on a collection of dramatized jokes called "You Don't Have to Be Jewish"!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Apr 02 - 10:16 PM

hi

Subject: RE: Poems of A.A.Milne Set to Music
From: GUEST,Rayzl Feuer
Date: 18 Apr 02 - 10:48 PM

I hope someone out there can help me. I had a record LP when the children were young that we all loved. It somehow disappeared and I am hoping to find a copy of it somewhere out there. I just found the following info. The actor Jack Gilford is reciting Cottleston Pie: Golden records 1962 LP#95 Does anyone know where I can buy a copy?