Shel Silverstein Albums (13)
What The Critics Say
If the Shel Silverstein book Where the Sidewalk Ends isn't already in every child's hands, it should be; it's as poignant and whimsical as the day it was written. The album version is another matter. Silverstein already had plenty of experience in the recording studio, and his musical delivery of his poems is certainly unique. He sounds a little like Emo Phillips reading verse. This album is sure to have fans who treasure it for its disquietingly offbeat delivery. ~ Paul Collins, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Shel Silverstein's poems exist within the same timeless canon of children's classics as Where the Wild Things Are, James and the Giant Peach, and Alice in Wonderland. Like an Edward Gorey illustration come to life, this wonderfully imaginative collection of poems, songs, and post-'60s hippie rhetoric bristles with unguarded enthusiasm and Willy Wonka-esque grandstanding. Silverstein is a gifted storyteller whose animated -- and undeniably creepy -- voice can light up a room. Like Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat, he surveys each situation with a winning combination of menace and whimsy, utilizing his experiences as a composer and producer to punctuate his verse with quirky melodies and sound effects. When he chooses to sing, like on "The Dragon of Grindly Grun," he retains the mad wink that fuels spoken pieces like "The Sitter" and "Zebra Question," experimenting with inflections like a junkie whose fix is the human personality. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
'The Great Conch Train Robbery'
Release Date 1/1/1980
Tracks 11
Label Flying Fish
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Silverstein is joined by Sam Bush, Josh Graves, John Hartford, Roy Husky, Benny Martin, Pig Robbins, Joe Stuart, and Amos Garrett. A great, funny album. ~ Chip Renner, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Songs & Stories (1978) -- the seventh long-player from the late great scatological renaissance poet, author, and satirist Shel Silverstein -- was issued six years after its predecessor, Freakin' at the Freakers Ball (1972). Both albums are decidedly adult in content and aptly demonstrate one of Silverstein's most distinguishing lyrical motifs when dealing with controversial material. Through innuendo, he primes listeners into filling in their own lurid deductions. This album features a baker's dozen of titles tackling a myriad of social taboos, including homosexual incest ("Father of a Boy Named Sue"), prolific marijuana ("The Smoke Off") and cocaine ("They Held Me Down") use, and even an interspecies love song ("The Cat and the Rat"). Silverstein's poetic mastery also spins with equal humor on the less confrontational, irony-laden, and sardonic tales "Diet Song," "Peanut Butter Sandwich," "Sure Hit Songwriter's Pen," and "Goodnight Little House Plant." While comparatively innocent in nature, these compositions retain the same irreverent spirit. Although Silverstein occasionally accompanies himself on acoustic guitar, the undeniable rhythms inherent in his lyrics provide a majority of the understated cadences as well as a quirky melodic sense. Likewise, there is a certain palpable comfort in his conversational style of delivery, ruminating line upon line, as if talking to an old acquaintance. This is particularly effective on "Never Bite a Married Woman on the Thigh," which contains the distinct elongation of the final syllable of each line. Another example can be found during the saga of the rock group called "Scum of the Earth," which is presented in a stream-of-consciousness recounting. The tune could easily be a follow-up to his lyrics for the Dr. Hook hit "On the Cover of the Rolling Stone." In 2002, Songs & Stories was issued on CD by www.laugh.com. Unfortunately, the audio was taken from a rather worn vinyl copy. The sound suffers immeasurably, almost to the point of being inaudible at times. This is due to the noise reduction that is used in masking the pops, clicks, and ticks inherent on the LP from which the compact disc is derived. Adding insult to injury, this is one of the very few Silverstein albums to have made the leap into the digital domain. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
'Freakin' at the Freakers Ball'
Release Date 1/1/1973
Tracks 15
Label CBS
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Multimedia satirist Shel Silverstein had been perfecting his craft since the mid-'50s, releasing seven long-players since his debut, Hairy Jazz (1959). Some 13 years later, Silverstein made his way on to the album charts with Freakin' at the Freakers Ball (1972). Accompanied by the relatively unknown Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, Silverstein turns his scatological mind toward the hippie counterculture. Their espousal of free love, copious drug use, and general antisocial promiscuity are rendered flaccid and otherwise ineffective throughout the dozen story-song fables. "I Got Stoned and I Missed It" takes a few fairly obvious digs at the futility inherent in substance abuse, while the ambiguity of "Thumbsucker" is awash in an undercurrent of sexual implications and understated humor. Similarly, "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most" almost jovially references communicably transmitted diseases. The title cut "Freakin' at the Freakers Ball" pokes fun at "love-in" type assemblies, even inspiring annual events, that would devolve into free-for-alls held in the name of hedonism. The self-absorption and intemperance of the so-called Me Generation is brought to bear on both "All About You" and the slightly more gynocentric "Liberated Lady 1999," a track best described as an ode to the feminist movement. Less confrontational is the whimsical "Sahra Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out," a bit of poetry that could have easily fit into his one of his numerous children's books. Below the surface lies clever alliteration of a tale decrying the laissez faire attitudes of an entire generation. [When the platter was issued on CD in 1999, three bonus selections were added, the single-only sides "A Front Row Seat to Hear Ole Johnny Sing" and "26 Second Song," as well as Silverstein's own version of "Everybody's Makin' It Big But Me," notably covered by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show on their Bankrupt (1975) LP.] ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Although he had already recorded half-a-dozen LPs, Freakers Ball was to be the first 'hit' for Shel Silverstein, who was already recognized as one of America's premier satiric voices with his essays, lampooning cartoons, poems and stories. This title actually (OK, barely) cracked the Top 200 album chart, coming in at number 155 and remaining on the survey for over a month in 1973. It was also the disc that helped establish a long-standing relationship with the New Jersey-based Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, who -- for all intents and purposes -- became an outlet for Silverstein's musical leanings. While many considered his choice of subject matter as an endorsement of the ultra-liberal counter culture, a closer examination reveals that his viewpoints are not only swaddled in satire, he allows humor to deal the often uncomfortable truth about sexual promiscuity, drugs and other activities for what he invariably views as an apathetic generation. Standout performances include his rather poignant observations regarding substance use and abuse on "I Got Stoned and I Missed It." The clever "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most" recalls the pitfalls of STD-related practices long before the term 'safe sex' was coined. "Polly in a Porny" turns an impervious eye to the world of explicit cinema. Both "All About You" and the slightly more gynocentric "Liberated Lady 1999" evoking similar gender-specific opining from the likes of Frank Zappa. While a majority of the platter consists of adult-oriented titles, "Sahra [sic] Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out" is a fable about laziness, and could have been a prime candidate for one of Silverstein's best-selling children's books. Collectors' Choice Music issued Freakers Ball on CD under the name Freakin' at the Freakers Ball (1972), with the supplemental single-only sides "A Front Row Seat to Hear Ole Johnny Sing" and "26 Second Song," as well as the author's version of "Everybody's Makin' It Big but Me," a selection that is best-known from Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show's Bankrupt (1975) LP. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
'Crouching on the Outside'
Release Date 1/1/1971
Tracks 25
Label Janus
See Album Tracklist and Review
'A Boy Named Sue and His Other Country Songs'
Release Date 1/1/1968
Tracks 12
Label RCA
See Album Tracklist and Review
'I'm So Good That I Don't Have to Brag!'
Release Date 1/1/1966
Tracks 13
Label Cadet
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In October of 1965, Shel Silverstein, who was one of Chicago's more notable artistic luminaries, got Chess Records to record him live over two nights at Mother Blues. The result was one of the most delightful albums of its decade, and the probably best record ever cut by any white artist by Chess Records (now there's a real distinction). I'm So Good That I Don't Have to Brag is an extraordinary document, a strange and compelling body of white folk, country, and, most especially, blues -- not blues played by a white man, but blues as it exists in some strange alternate universe where the music was invented by whites. Silverstein wasn't even as good a singer as Bob Dylan, and he had no particular fixation on a specific style of music -- but he sang from the heart and he made up in honesty and instinct (especially where words and their meaning were concerned) what he lacked in actual vocal ability. The resulting album is a beautiful, piercingly funny, savagely satirical musical statement, mostly about sex -- Little Walter is aboard on blues harp for four numbers, and a pre-Spanky & Our Gang Malcolm Hale is playing guitar with Silverstein, but the focus has got to be that voice, raw, whiny, and sincere (or is he?). Among the better of the songs premiered here are "I Can't Touch the Sun," "The Mermaid," and "Plastic," several of which became popular in the hands of performers as varied as Glenn Yarborough and the Serendipity Singers, and "Yowsah!," which anticipated Silverstein's subsequent composition, "A Boy Named Sue." One of the more obscure records in the Chess/"Cadet" catalog, I'm So Good That I Don't Have to Brag (even the name is a send-up of a typical Chicago blues title) was reissued in 2000 by England's Edsel Records. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
