VARIOUS ARTISTS; "The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney" (Walt Disney Records) * * * 1/2
VARIOUS ARTISTS; "Classic Disney, Volume III" (Walt Disney Records) * * 1/2
Disney goes to the well so often, it's easy to forgive the cynic who believes it should be dry by now. But here are a couple of disparate collections of Disney soundtrack songs that once again prove otherwise.
"The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney," despite its awkward title, is a clever, hip and highly entertaining collection of tunes from the animated classics performed by a variety of stylists.
This could have been a major disaster but instead is surprisingly ingratiating, with the best including Diamond Rio on "Beauty and the Beast," Tanya Tucker doing "Some Day My Prince Will Come" her way, Pam Tillis with "Colors of the Wind," and so on. Even George Jones and Kathy Mattea on "Toy Story's" "You've Got a Friend in Me" works quite well. But for my part, I was most charmed by Alison Krauss' interpretation of "Baby Mine," from "Dumbo," and Faith Hill's playful take on "Part of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid." And I could have done without Bryan White's schmaltzy cover of "When You Wish Upon a Star."
The two previous "Classic Disney" collections of soundtrack songs from Disney's animated and live-action films (and even a couple of the theme tunes) is a lot of fun, but "Vol. III" is a bit . . . if you'll pardon the expression . . . goofy.
There are a few gems here; "Heffalumps and Woozles" from "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," "Little April Showers" from "Bambi" and "Pink Elephants On Parade" from "Dumbo" are certainly inspired choices. But including John Davidson and Lesley Ann Warren singing "Are We Dancing" from "The Happiest Millionaire" and Roger Miller's "Oo-De-Lally" from "Robin Hood," along with quite a few other novelty songs, suggests a bit of desperation setting in. If they're considering a "Volume IV," dominated by songs from "The Black Cauldron," perhaps this well is dry.
RATINGS: four stars (* * * * ), excellent; three stars (* * * ), good; two stars (* * ), fair; one star (* ), poor, with 1/2 representing a higher, intermediate grade.