Sharon, Lois and Bram: Elephant Show Stoppers! (Generational Wealth that Really Matters)

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Submitted by Dennis Russo on Tue, 08/27/2024 - 14:42

I first became acquainted with the music of this ultra-talented trio of Canadian musicians and singers—Sharon Hampson, Lois Lilienstein, and Bram Morrison—back in 1994 when my mother bought a holiday CD called “Candles, Snow, and Mistletoe: A Holiday Celebration for the Whole Family” that they released the previous year.

I instantly fell in love with their energy, singing, and songs. In fact, one of those songs, “Mrs. Fogarty’s Christmas Cake,” became an instant family favorite. To this very day, it is the first holiday song I play every year, and it’s my daughter’s favorite too.

Now, you might think that’s not too uncommon—except when you consider that I was 33 years old and single at the time, and my daughter wasn’t born until 2000. Such is the wonderful impact this trio’s music has had on my life and my family.

Fast forward through the years to this new release, and now nearing the 40th anniversary of their award-winning TV program “The Elephant Show,” comes “Elephant Show Stoppers!”—a collection of never-before-released tracks spanning the five seasons.

The LP reviewed here contains 20 tracks, while the digital version contains 5 bonus tracks plus 2 extended songs from the vinyl edition. These songs literally span decades and even generations.

“Elephant Show” and their other show, “Skinnamarink TV,” aired for 15 consecutive years in the U.S. on stations like Nickelodeon and TLC, garnering well-deserved praise for their music and content everywhere they were seen and heard. They have been actively recording music and entertaining families for over 45 years, having performed at Lincoln Center, Broadway’s Palace Theater, The White House, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and every major concert hall in Canada. They also appeared on “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee,” “Good Morning America,” and “CBS This Morning” in the United States. Yes, they were that impactful!

The vinyl album contains a neat collection of unpublished, behind-the-scenes images from the show, many of which are included in the “Elephant Show Stoppers” vinyl edition artwork—just one reason why you should get the LP.

And the album sounds so good! It’s a record that kids will remember when they’re grown, especially if they have the LP version that they can hold in their hands, place on the spindle themselves, and look at the pictures on the front and back cover, the album sleeve, and the wonderful insert. The insert has the lyrics, insights, and even unfolds into a beautiful poster that they can put on their bedroom wall if they want. Try getting that from Siri, Alexa, or Spotify—digital streaming, bah!

The insert contains all the lyrics for the songs, as well as insights and trivia about when the songs were from and what they mean to them. This is how kids will remember music from their childhood and why they’ll one day pass it on to their kids—the next generation. Every mark, stain, or tear on the album cover or split along the spine will bring them back to the moment it happened, and they will smile, maybe even chuckle at that memory.

All the songs on this album capture Sharon, Lois, and Bram’s delicious sense of fun and spontaneity. Their voices are rendered with such lifelike clarity that it feels as though they are singing right in front of you. From the start of the first song, the oom-pah of the tuba and other horns, along with the vocals, are rendered so realistically that it’s no stretch to imagine you’re at a live show.

When I sit down to listen to a new record for the first time, I never look at the tracklist, preferring instead to be surprised by what will be played. And surprised I was! Song after song brought back tons of memories from different points in my life, not only from my own childhood but from the various musical styles I’ve grown up listening to over the decades.

When they started singing “People in Your Neighborhood,” my jaw dropped—a walk down Sesame Street! I can’t begin to describe the flood of images it brought to mind, and it has never sounded better, wonderfully sung with a touch of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood flair thrown in for good measure. WOW! That song was followed by “Animal Fair,” a song originally sung as far back as 1898 and made famous as far back as 1948 by Tex Ritter, and then again on Captain Kangaroo by Mitch Miller and “The Sandpipers” in 1958. Here, Bram takes the lead, with Sharon and Lois backing him. The recording is so well done that you can hear the hum of the voice behind the kazoo’s sound—such fun! That led right into “Bye Bye Blackbird,” a song first made famous in my mind by Peggy Lee in the movie musical “Pete Kelly’s Blues” in 1955. I couldn’t wait to hear it every time my mother had it on the television when it aired (she loved musicals and grew up loving them too). This brings me to other musical gems on this fantastic collection.

“You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” from “Hard to Get” (Bram’s vocal here is awesome, and the horns tie it together perfectly…bay-bee!), “Another Op’nin’, Another Show” from “Kiss Me, Kate” (certainly one of the greatest opening songs ever written and sung), and oh my gosh!…”Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song)” from Disney’s Cinderella! I still sing it to this day, some 55 years after I first saw that classic, although I still mess up the words terribly.

Now, if that wasn’t enough reason to run out and get this album, there are also other famous tunes from days gone by, sung with Sharon, Lois, and Bram’s own particular flair. They pay homage to the originals while adding their own touch of magic to make them songs that children today will love. Songs like “Searchin’,” a hit for The Coasters in 1957. Each member of the trio takes the lead, and what’s fun—besides the mouth harp—is that several famous (for the time) movie and book characters are mentioned, many of whom today’s kids (and even many of their parents) won’t recognize, but it would be fun for parents and kids to look them up. “Rag Mop,” a hit for The Ames Brothers in 1950, “When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along,” written way back in 1926 and which became the signature song for singer/actress Lillian Roth, who performed it throughout the 1920s and 30s (although my favorite version up until now was sung by Al Jolson), and “This Little Light of Mine,” originally a spiritual song written in the 1920s. While it has been recorded by many artists, my favorite version is by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (yes, the “Godmother of Rock and Roll” recorded it as early as 1960). It shines here like a new penny.

While this list of songs would be enough to make it a favorite in anyone’s collection, there are also other songs here that are equally wonderful and performed just as well. A few being: “We Three Sailors,” a really fun accordion-based sea shanty for kids sung in a sing-along fashion; “Talk About Peace,” a song written by Sharon’s husband Joe Hampson of The Travellers, which is as true now as it was when they first sang it—we sure need this new generation of kids to hear it and share it with the older ones: “follow the golden rule—love your neighbor as yourself!”; “Movin’ On,” a nice folksy song that reminds me of another famous singing trio—one with two gentlemen and a lady…you might have heard of them? Peter, Paul, and Mary—it’s reminiscent, too, in the way they sing it, reminding me even of The Weavers; and of course, there’s “Skinnamarink,” their classic song that they performed on every episode, the perfect one to close out the album.

This album, from start to finish, is wonderful—a treasure of memories and happiness. How blessed we are that this music was found and preserved for us to experience, enjoy, and share. Mastered exceptionally well, it’s sure to bring joy to your whole family, whether as old memories remembered or new ones created for the future. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience Sharon, Lois, and Bram at their best. Though they are no longer touring together (sadly, Lois passed away in 2015, and Bram has retired from touring), Sharon and her daughter Randi continue to share the music of Sharon, Lois, and Bram, both live and virtually as “A Sharon, Lois, and Bram Singalong with Sharon and Randi.”

People often talk about generational wealth in terms of money and how great it would be if everyone had it for their children. Well, here is generational wealth of the best kind—music, innocence, and love—and it’s for ALL people, children and adults, and ALL generations, past, present, and future. Sharon, Lois, and Bram are themselves generational wealth, making it possible for all who enjoy them to be rich beyond measure for a lifetime!

Songs

Side A