Big Wide Grin

by Keb' Mo

Overview

The rise in the number of titles in the children's music category around the turn of the century was accompanied by a shift in the approach to such recordings. As baby boomers, who remain loyal record buyers, have become parents, the artists who appeal to them have turned to children's music, but it often seems as though the records are still being made for the boomers, not their children. Though the recordings often concern the subjects of childhood and parenting, it is often hard to imagine a child actually enjoying the music. Such is the case with the Keb' Mo' children's album, Big Wide Grin, which is better regarded as a regular Keb' Mo' album on the theme of family rather than an album for children. The singer covers a number of pop evergreens from the late '60s and 1970s -- the O'Jays' "Love Train," Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands," the Winstons' "Color Him Father," Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair," Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi," and Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" -- and he reaches back even further for the swing-era standard "The Flat Foot Floogie" and "America the Beautiful." All of these are likely to be familiar to parents of a certain age, and most have something to do with family issues, but only a couple are likely to appeal to children. This is not to say that, to be a children's album, a record must be filled with singalongs for the preschool set. But albums like this belong to a recent subset of the children's market that should perhaps be labeled "parents' music." In the case of Keb' Mo', the recording serves to ease him even more in the direction of being a folk-pop interpreter, an approach he has embraced increasingly since initially coming across as a new-style folk-blues singer. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	06/05/2001
Label:	Sony Music Distribution
UPC:	0074646382929

Tracks

1. Everybody Be Yoself
2. Love Train
3. Don't Say No
4. Infinite Eyes
5. Grandma's Hands
6. Color Him Father
7. Family Affair
8. The Flat Fleet Floogie
9. I Am Your Mother Too
10. Big Yellow Taxi
11. Isn't She Lovely
12. America the Beautiful

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Keb' Mo'   Primary Artist,Banjo,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Brenda Russell   Guest Artist
Kevin McCormick   Bass
Barbara Morrison   Vocals
Greg Leisz   Mandola,Pedal Steel
Luis Conte   Percussion
Robert Hurst   Bass (Upright)
Phillip Ingram   Vocals (Background)
Perla Batalla   Vocals (Background)
Randy Phillips   Vocals (Background)
Gerald Albright   Sax (Alto)
Danilo Lozano   Flute
Sergio Gonzalez   Drums
Roy McCurdy   Drums
Alex Brown   Vocals (Background)
Leo Nocentelli   Guitar
Laval Belle   Drums
Bobette Harrison-Jamison   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Bill Lane   Assistant Engineer
Kevin McCormick   Engineer,Producer
Bill Withers   Composer
Kenny Gamble   Composer
Ed Cherney   Mixing
Doug Sax   Mastering
Essra Mohawk   Composer
John Lewis Parker   Composer
Robert Spencer   Composer
Samuel A. Ward   Composer
Joni Mitchell   Composer
Samie Barela   Assistant Engineer
Carl Studna   Photography
Stevie Wonder   Composer
Bud Green   Composer
Sylvester Stewart   Composer
Gabe Veltri   Engineer
Leon Huff   Composer
Robert Hadley   Mastering Assistant
Richard Spencer   Composer
Zuriani   Composer
Katharine Lee Bates   Composer
JoAnn Tominaga   Production Coordination