Putumayo Kids Presents: Sing Along with Putumayo

1	Bling Blang / Arlo Guthrie 3:38
2	Bananaphone / Rhonda Vincent 3:01
3	Man Gave Names to All the Animals / Rhonda Vincent 4:26
4	Old MacDonald Had a Farm / Rufus Thomas 2:31
5	Love Train / Keb' Mo' 4:24
6	Don't You Push Me Down / Taj Mahal 4:12
7	Red, Red Robin / Rosie Flores 2:10
8	Bushel and a Peck / Dan Zanes & Friends 2:48
9	Bellybutton Song / Music For Aardvarks & Other Animals 1:59
10	Michael, Row the Boat Ashore / Eric Bibb previously unreleased 2:35
11	You Are My Sunshine / Daniel Littleton 2:48
12	I Will Be Your Friend / Guy Davis 4:34

Barnes & Noble

The Putumayo kids usually span the globe for inspiration, but this time around they've found it a little closer to home. Sing Along draws on the talents of an impressive cast of traditional American folk and blues artists, including bluegrass sensation Rhonda Vincent, who lends her superlative vocals to the delightful, toe-tappin' "Bananaphone," and guitarist Keb' Mo', who renders the O'Jays' classic "Love Train" as an up-tempo blues number. Alt-country singer Rosie Flores raises a rockabilly ruckus on "Red, Red, Robin," while soulman Rufus Thomas raises the roof on "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," with plenty of horns and funky guitar riffs. Familiar kids' music purveyors also get into the action: Dan Zanes gets a little help from his pint-sized friends for the chorus of the classic "Bushel and a Peck," which stays very close to its folk roots, while Elizabeth Mitchell -- fresh from her recent collaboration with Lisa Loeb, Catch the Moon -- showcases her lilting vocals on a sweet, acoustic version of the familiar "You Are My Sunshine." The CD booklet includes sing-along lyrics in English and multilingual liner notes, making this remarkable collection perfect for the campfire, circle time, or any old time at all. Amy Barkat

All Music Guide

From Putumayo's children's division, Sing Along With Putumayo is a decent attempt to make an American roots music album engineered for kids. The bulk of the artists here aren't really from the children's music genre at all, but they sweeten their songs a bit for these recordings. The album opens up with a simple folky piece from Arlo Guthrie, then proper kids' songs from bluegrassers Rhonda Vincent and Tim O'Brien. Rufus Thomas contributes an excellent Memphis soul version of "Old MacDonald," and Keb' Mo' tosses in his own take on the O'Jays' "Love Train." Taj Mahal does a bit of ragamuffin, and Rosie Flores does a bit of old-style boogie woogie, Dan Zanes joins a crew of little ones for a full-fledged piece of folk, and the Music for Aardvarks troupe uses folk music as a vehicle for another piece entirely from the kids' genre. Bluesman Eric Bibb tosses in "Michael Row the Boat Ashore," and one of the few honest-to-goodness children's artists, a duo from the band Ida, contributes a soft rendition of "You Are My Sunshine." Closing out the album, Guy Davis spins a song in an older style of blues-tinged gospel that works perfectly for the piece. The music isn't what one would expect from a lot of the artists here, but it's quite good. Putumayo has possibly done something difficult for children's albums to manage: they have made a nice collection that the kids can sing along with (lyrics are available for the songs as well), and added some name recognition and nostalgia, along with higher quality songs, for the parents to stand on endless replays. Adam Greenberg