Review: You Are My Little Bird - Elizabeth Mitchell

I wouldn't be here if not for Elizabeth Mitchell. Not in a "here on this planet" manner of speaking, but here, writing about music for kids and families. A webforum's random note suggesting her kids' music debut You Are My Flower prompted an impulsive purchase; listening to the album, brief though it was, opened my ears to the possibilities in listening to (and making) music with kids. It and its successor, You Are My Sunshine, became beloved and well-worn recordings in our household.

I mention this for two reasons: one, to express my debt of gratitude to Ms. Mitchell for that first album; and two, to give you a sense of my bias heading into the review of Elizabeth Mitchell's 3rd solo CD for kids and her first for the venerable Smithsonian Folkways label, You Are My Little Bird (2006). The pairing is so obvious that it makes you wonder why nobody had thought of this sooner. Mitchell's previous kids' albums (including another album made with her college bandmate Lisa Loeb) always relied heavily on traditional songs discovered or made famous by such Folkways standbys as Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and Elizabeth Cotten. (She also liked covering Bob Dylan songs, too, part of the albums' unique charms.) The folk approach (homemade sound, often only accompanied by husband and musical partner Daniel Littleton) also made it sound very Folkways-like.

This album is loosely organized around the avian theme of the title, with songs such as the traditional "Little Bird, Little Bird" and the Spanish-language "Los Pollitos" (The Little Chicks). (The use of non-English-language tracks continues the trend seen in the Mitchell-Loeb Catch The Moon album.) The album also includes slightly less traditional (but no less avian) covers of Neil Young ("Little Wing") and Gillian Welch/David Rawlings ("Winter's Come and Gone"). Some songs encourage listener participation, such as on "Little Liza Jane," which names cities familiar to the artists, while one of the album's standout tracks, "If You Listen," a sweet folk-pop track, encourages the listener to search for certain sounds (birds, different instruments). If there's a key song thematically here, this is it.

Another one of my favorite tracks is the cover of the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On," which, well, rocks in a way few if any other Mitchell's kids' music tracks do. It fits in well with an album which takes the homemade sound of her previous CDs and builds upon it in different ways -- the significant (but not distracting) presence of daughter Storey, the gradual building of voices in the opener "Little Liza Jane," the banjo on "Little Bird, Little Bird" (recorded by another stellar kids' musician and banjo player, Pete Seeger).

I can't discuss this album without mentioning Mitchell's voice, which is the sweetest and best voice in kids' and family music today. The crystal-clear quality of her voice not only is pleasant to hear, it's also essential to understanding the lyrics so you can then sing the songs to the kids in your life. (In fact, if I have one complaint with the album it's that some of the non-Mitchell-penned liner notes take up valuable space which could've otherwise been used to print lyrics.)

Like the other Mitchell CDs, the sense of calm that permeates the album makes it appropriate for a wide age range, but it's probably best for kids ages 2 through 7. You can hear 5 of the songs (including "What Goes On" and "Three Little Birds") in their entirety at Mitchell's website (click on "Sunshine," then "Listen.") You can hear samples from all the tracks on the album at its Amazon page.

If, like me, you are familiar with Elizabeth Mitchell's work, you will not be disappointed by this latest album -- it retains the simplicity and homemade sound of the earlier albums while expanding upon it in new and delightful ways. If, like me a number of years ago, you are unfamiliar with Elizabeth Mitchell's work, You Are My Little Bird is an excellent introduction. The album is a gift to kids and adults alike. Highly recommended.

Comments

[deb in sf]

oh, how I love this review. I think "you are my flower" is my favorite song of all time, but I've only heard the Carter family sing it. I keep meaning to get Elizabeth Mitchell's CD, but somehow, it keeps not happening. And now, with Smithsonian Folkways and Pete Seeger and you using words like homemade and sweetest voice and ...

She's hit all the points for me. I've got a feeling I'm going to take her music very personally...

[Jessica Rae Patton]

I am reading this review while listening to the sweet, sweet You Are My Little Bird. I jumped online to find out WHO Elizabeth Mitchell is and WHY I'm not yet familiar with her music! Thanks for letting me know more about her; I, too, adore the song You Are My Flower and can't wait to hear it filtered through Mitchell's gorgeous voice. As an editor at a magazine for teachers, I am blessed that wonderful materials for children and the people who guide them -- books, DVDs and audio -- cross my desk every day. This CD's cover folk art (by Ida Pearle) is whimsical and simple, and so perfectly matched to the songs within -- plucky, imaginitive renditions of songs that sound immediate as a family sing-a-long (in a family that happens to be ridiculously talented). Sigh.

[Shawn Wolf]

I too am a huge elizabeth mitchell fan. When i recommend her recordings to someone, I aways share this story..... We were in the car-i don't even remember which song was playing-i remember just filling up with feelings of peace and happiness and thoughts of how much i love my family. At the same moment, from the silence in the car, my five year old said, I love you mom. I knew the music was making him feel the exact same way I felt. That is Elizabeth Mitchell's music. It could have been any one of her songs playing at that time.