Jeff Sharp : Acoustic & electric guitars, bass, vocals, ukulele, organ, percussion, drums, banjo, samples, pianoflute, mandolin and synthesizer
Joshua Lovvorn : Bass guitar, acoustic & electric guitars, vocals, synthesizer, percussion, accordion and mandolin
Bobby Blount : Electric & acoustic guitars, vocals, electric piano, backing vocals and percussion
James Pressnell : the drums
Whitney Inscho : lead vocals and handclaps
Mark Horton : lead vocals on “Doing The Math”
Jeremy Braswell : lead vocals on “Go Go Gorilla” and “Clean Up Your Act”, harmonica
Tasha Jones : lead vocals on “Mailman” and “Swing Swang Swung”
Mike Kilpatrick : lead vocals on “Shake It Up”, drums on “Clean Up Your Act”
Satish : trumpet, percussion on “My Shadow”
Will Peterson : trombone, organ on “Doing the Math” and “Clean Up Your Act”
Alan King : saxophone
Bill Thomson : lead guitar on “Go Go Gorilla”
Preston Grammer : slide guitar and jawharp on “Banjo Rock”
Brad “Breath” McWhorter : guitar and backing vocals on “Radio”
The Hand-Me-Down Children's Choir are Abbey, Amelie, Andre, Caroline, Chandler, Colin, Courtney, Hannah, John, Lillian, Molly, Paul and William!
Produced and engineered by Jeff Sharp and Joshua Lovvorn
Additional engineering by Bobby Blount, Lynn Bridges and Jamie Uertz
Recorded at The Lovvorn Institute of Sound Technology (LIST)
Additional recording at Science Fair Labs and SoundWorks
Tracks 2, 4, 6, 9 & 11 mixed by Greg Thompson
All other tracks mixed by Lovvorn, Sharp & Blount
Mastered by Bob Olhsson
Songwriting credits
1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13 & 16 written by Jeff Sharp
2 & 9 written by Bobby Blount
7 written by Joshua Lovvorn
3 traditional, arranged by Sharp/Lovvorn
10, 14 & 15 written by Sharp/Lovvorn
11 written by Brad McWhorter/Jeff Sharp
Graphic design by Luke Hamilton for TLH Creative
Concept by Jeff Sharp
All Rights Reserved, Science Fair 2009
Review by Warren Truitt, About.com's Children Music Editor
and founder of kidsmusicthatrocks.blogspot.com
"This North Alabama collective of music pros turns in a great collection of songs for the whole family, from Beatles-influenced pop tunes to down-and-dirty Tennessee River R&B. Tangerine Tambourine's core members, Jeff Sharp, Jamie Pressnell, Bobby Blount, Josh Lovvorn, and Whitney Inscho, have been performing together since 2008. The band are supported on their debut album by Jeremy Braswell, Mark Horton (who records as J. Crown), Tasha Jones, Mike Kilpatrick, and Subteriffic Chug-A-Lug alumni Alan King on sax and David "Super Dave" Ward on percussion.
The horn section is shored up by out-of-towner session guy Satish.
The album was mastered by Motown veteran Bob Ohlsson, and mixed by Greg Thompson, who worked on They Might Be Giants' recent GRAMMY winner Here Come the 123s.
The Music of Tangerine Tambourine
Tangerine Tambourine kicks off with the Muscle Shoals-powered R&B shouter "Doing the Math," complete with a double dutch chant breakdown. Then comes the Fab Four-inspired "Mix It Up," a tune about combining favorite foods that channels both The Beatles' "All You Need is Love" and George Harrison's "Crackerbox Palace." And "The ABCs" is pretty much exactly how The Ramones would play the alphabet song.
The food lover's tune "Bananas (Plum Crazy)" is reminiscent of a laid-back Sublime song, while the Celtic-flavored "In the Morning" features lots of onomatopoeias and an anthemic, Oasis-like chorus. And the highlight of "Go Go Gorilla," a rockin' Chicago blues call-and-response tune, is the blistering harmonica work by Jeremy Braswell.
Accordions and ukuleles abound in "Mailman," a tune describing the heroic perseverance of postal workers. "My Shadow" would've fit right in on the Jungle Book soundtrack with its world music rhythms, and "Shake It Up" is a twangy Elvis tribute, a la "Teddy Bear."
More Music from Tangerine Tambourine
One of the highlights of Tangerine Tambourine is definitely "Radio," a song about the joy of hearing your favorite ditty play over the airwaves, a tune that has Contemporary Country Hit written all over it. "Clean Up Your Act" is a Reggae-fied bathtime jam, while "Spit It Out" describes every parent's battle with orally fixated toddlers, via "stuck in your head" power pop.
"Hey Saturday!" is another sunny pop gem, this time celebrating the awesomeness of the weekend (listen for the melody of "A Day in the Life" sneaking into the bridge); while the wistful, waltzing "Swing Swang Swung" is reminiscent of the McCartney/Costello duet "You Want Her Too" from Flowers in the Dirt.
If you could still flip albums over, Side 1 of Tangerine Tambourine ends with a short, funky loop called "Banjo Rock," while Side 2 ends with a sweet, show-ending ukulele farewell, both invoking the band's name. That's right, Tangerine Tambourine is bringing back old school self-shoutouts, circa 1987!
The Verdict
Tangerine Tambourine's self-titled debut kids' album is a solid collection that makes you wish for a quick follow-up: on the strength of songs like "Radio," "Hey Saturday!" and "Swing Swang Swung," Tangerine Tambourine's second effort promises to be a children's music chart-topper."
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