| Product Summary | | Label: Universal | | UPC: 00602498796986 | | Release Date: 2/7/2006 | | Buy.com Sku: 202144153 | | Item#: M2SNXF | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25050 | Format:  CD |
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(P) 2005 Universal Records Inc.
(C) 2005 Universal Records Inc.
| | Faced with the task of giving a voice to a central character that does not speak, Universal Pictures turned to Jack Johnson to craft songs that could provide a voice for Curious George. As a new father, it presented an opportunity to make an album for parents and children. Presented with early animations and the story line, Jack crafted new songs that captured the emotions of Curious George as he leaves the jungle to follow the Man with the Yellow Hat. He also turned to friends Ben Harper, G. Love and Matt Costa to contribute songs that might bridge the gap between parent and child. Joined on the record by his band (Adam Topol, Merlo Podlewski, and Zach Gill) Jack duets with 3 of the other songwriters (Ben Harper, G. Love and Matt Costa), and does a cover of the White Stripes' "We're Going to be Friends". Parents who watched Schoolhouse Rock on Saturday mornings when they were children will recognize Jack's take on the classic "Three is a Magic Number" reinterpreted with "The 3 R's" as a call to protect the environment and Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. "Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies" feels like so much more than your standard "Official Soundtrack" due to its unified creative vision. While the songs have a universal appeal, their themes speak to a child's experience (or in this case, a curious monkey's experience) of the world.
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Original Soundtrack/Jack Johnson: Jack Johnson (vocals, guitar, ukulele); Zach Gill (vocals, piano); Merlo Podlewski (bass guitar); Adam Topol (drums); G. Love, Ben Harper, Kahu Kawika Kahiapo, Matt Costa. | | Grammy-nominated Hawaiian singer-songwriter Jack Johnson is joined by fellow musicians including Ben Harper and G. Love on this set of songs for children from the movie CURIOUS GEORGE. Shuffling, danceable rhythms, hummable melodies, and simple but absorbing kid-friendly lyrics ensure a good time for both children and adults. Highlights include White Stripe Jack White's "We're Going to Be Friends," Johnson's duet with G. Love on the infectiously simple "Jungle Gym," and the sunny, Harry Nilsson-sounding "People Watching." | | Perennial surfer dude/singer/songwriter Jack Johnson lends his voice to the eternally silent Curious George on this collection of "Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies," original material built around the famous monkey and his strange obsession with "the Man with the Yellow Hat." Universal Pictures couldn't have picked a better collaborator for this soundtrack to the Curious George film, as Johnson's easygoing delivery and breezy demeanor match George's silent curiosity to a T. Fellow songwriters Ben Harper, G. Love, and Matt Costa contribute three songs to the predominantly children-oriented affair, while Johnson and band give up an island rendition of the White Stripes' "We're Going to Be Friends," as well as the umpteenth cover of Schoolhouse Rock!'s "Three Is the Magic Number." Heady stuff? Not exactly, but there's not an ounce of pretense to the project, making it a fun, safe bet for kids and a forgettable -- yet not entirely unpleasant -- piece of escapism for adults. ~ James Christopher Monger |
Producer: Robert Carranza; Jack Johnson |
Engineer: Robert Carranza |
Musical Guests | | Kahu Kawika Kahiapo | | G. Love | | Matt Costa | | Ben Harper |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 02/07/2006 | | Original Release Date : 2006 | | Catalog ID : 0006116 | | Label : Motown Records | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00602498796986 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (p.70)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "Jack Johnson keeps his regular-dude croon friendly and extra-bright on this tidy, quietly pretty soundtrack..."Q (p.118)
- Ranked #56 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006." Uncut (p.91)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "There's still plenty of mellowed-out strum, but 'Broken' is refreshingly robust, as is the handclaps-and-piano of 'Sharing Song'." |
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| | Bio | | | Jack Johnson Before Jack Johnson perfected his rock star ways, he was a champion surfer on the professional route, with a sponsorship with Quiksilver. It was a life that was second nature for the Hawaiian native, for he began chasing waves as a toddler, and by the time he was 17, he was an outstanding athlete on the pipeline. However, Johnson was also testing his other creative outlets -- one being film and the other being music. It was during his college years as a film student at University of California at Santa Barbara when Johnson began writing songs. He and old mates, Chris Malloy and Emmett Malloy, produced a surf cinema documentary entitled Thicker Than Water, in turn spotlighting Johnson as a talented cinematographer as well as a burgeoning singer/songwriter. His peers in and around the surf circuit praised his work, and Thicker Than Water received props in Surfer Magazine for Video of the Year during 2000. The follow-up surf flick The September Sessions also earned the Adobe Highlight Award at the ESPN Film Festival that same year. Still, Johnson steered away from a blossoming pro sports career and stuck with music -- something that would soon earn him additional honors. G. Love & Special Sauce quickly took notice to Johnson's lazy blues stylings, which also molded folk and hip-hop for a modern rock twist, and included Johnson on "Rodeo Clowns" from G. Love's 1999 release, Philadelphonic. Johnson's four-track demo also caught the ears of Ben Harper's right hand man, J.P. Plunier. This was surely mind-blowing for Johnson, for Harper's college rock mainstay Fight for Your Mind was one of his favorites and remained an inspiration. Aside from Plunier's production work, Harper also added his lap steel guitar work on Jack Johnson's sultry debut, Brushfire Fairytales (Enjoy Records) in winter 2001. Two co-headlining tours followed throughout spring and summer 2002; Johnson's sophomore effort On and On appeared in May 2003. Stateside dates with Ben Harper followed in June and July. A third album, In Between Dreams arrived in March 2005.
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