The Muppet Christmas Carol
(Soundtrack album)
Louise Gold featured as one of the Muppet Performers,
produced by Jim Henson Records BMG KIDZ, recorded at CTS Studios Wembley in
1992, reissued by Walt Disney Records in 2005. Soundtrack album for the film The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Catalogue number: (Jim
Henson Records/ BMG KIDZ CD - Canadian Pressing with full sleeve notes) 74860 30017-2, (Jim Henson Records/BMG
Kidz, - Canadian Pressing with short sleeve notes) BG2 30017, (BMG KIDZ CD - German
Pressing) 7432112194-2, (BMG KIDZ Cassette) 74869 30017-4, (Walt
Disney Records CD) 61414-7.
Cast
Muppet
Performers - Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Brian Henson, Mike
Quinn,
Scrooge - Michael
Caine
Belle - Meredith
Braun
Cover
version singer - Martina McBride
Background
Vocals - Miriam Stokely, Mae McKenna, Carol
Kenyon, Nick Curtis, Peter Becket, Lindsay Benson,
and, Phillipp Nicholl
Production Team
Original
Songs by - Paul Williams
Score by - Miles
Goodman
Arrangements
- Miles Goodman and Oscar Castro-Neves
Additional
arranging - Chris Caswell
Ms McBride’s
arranger - David Spinoza
Executive
Producer - Robert Kraft
Ms McBride’s
producers - Josh Leo and Robert Kraft
Songs
co-produced by - Paul Williams, Chris Caswell, and, Robert
Kraft
Track Listing (CD)
1. Overture (by Paul
Williams) - Instrumental
2. Scrooge (by Paul
Williams) - Cast (Frank Oz, Louise Gold, Steve Whitmire, David Rudman,
3. Room In Your Heart
(by Paul Williams) - Honeydew and Beaker (Dave Goelz,
and, Steve Whitmire)
4. Good King Wenceslas
(traditional) - Muppet Brass Buskers
5. One More Step Till Christmas
(by Paul Williams) - Kermit (Steve Whitmire)
6. Marley And Marley (by
Paul Williams)- Marley and Marley (Dave Goelz
and Jerry Nelson)
7. Christmas past
(by Miles Goodman) - Instrumental
8. Chairman Of The Board
(by Paul Williams) - Sam The Eagle (Frank Oz)
9. Fozziwig’s
Party (by Chris Caswell) - Dr Teeth and Electric
Mayhem (instrumental)
10. When Love Is Gone
(by Paul Williams) - Belle (Meredith Braun)
11. It Feels Like Christmas
(by Paul Williams) - Ghost Of Christmas Past with cast (Jerry Nelson
with: Louise Gold,
12. Christmas Scat (by
Paul Williams) - Kermit and Tiny Tim (Steve Whitmire
and Jerry Nelson)
13. Bless Us All (by
Paul Williams) - Tiny Tim and Family (Jerry Nelson, with: Steve
Whitmire, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, and, David Rudman)
14. Christmas Future
(by Miles Goodman) - Instrumental
15. Christmas Morning
(by Miles Goodman) - Instrumental
16. Thankful Heart
(by Paul Williams) - Scrooge (Michael Caine)
17. Finale - When Love Is Found / It
Feels Like Christmas (by Paul Williams) - Scrooge,
Tiny Tim, Ghost Of Christmas Present, and Cast (Michael Caine,
Jerry Nelson, with: Dave Goelz, Steve
Whitmire, Brian Henson. Mike Quinn,
18. When Love Is Gone
(by Paul Williams) - Martina McBride
The Cassette has the same listing as the
CD, with Tracks 1 to 10 on Side A and Tracks 11 to 18 on Side B. If getting the
CD version at least , the Canadian pressing with full
sleeve notes 74860 30017-2, is to be preferred, because the sleeve notes are
much more informative (containing the lyrics to all the songs).
This is the soundtrack album for the
film The Muppet Christmas Carol, all the
performers, and most of the production team on it also worked on the film
itself.
Dave Goelz, and, Steve
Whitmire went on to feature on the album A Green And Red Christmas, for which Louise Gold, Jerry Nelson,
Frank Oz, Jerry
Nelson, Dave Goelz, Louise Gold and
Steve Whitmire were among the eight main puppeteers
on The Muppet Show, which
Muppet performers Frank Oz, Jerry
Nelson, Dave Goelz, Louise Gold,
and Steve Whitmire had previously featured on:
Muppet Show Music Album ,
The Great Muppet Caper (Soundtrack
album), John
Denver And The Muppets A Christmas Together, John Denver &
The Muppets Merry Christmas 45RPM, Christmas For
Kids, John Denver Christmas,
and, Muppet Hits 1 and Muppet Hits 2
(on the latter two of which Robert Kraft was also Executive
Producer). They also feature on Music Mayhem
And More and Muppet
Music Sampler (both of the latter also feature the song One More Step
‘Til Christmas).
Muppet performers Frank Oz, Jerry
Nelson, Dave Goelz and Louise Gold
have also featured on: The Muppet
Show Music Hall, The Muppet Show 2, For What It’s Worth, and
Jim Henson Presents Silly Songs,
they also appeared on The
Royal Variety Performance (1977).
Muppet performers: Louise Gold, Dave
Goelz, Jerry Nelson. Frank Oz,
The singing talents of: Nick Curtis,
Carol Kenyon, Miriam Stockley, and of
course Louise Gold, can also be found on Spitting Image.
Frank Oz, Dave
Goelz, Steve Whitmire,
Louise Gold, and, Mike Quinn puppeteered
on The Dark Crystal, for which Jerry Nelson did
some voice-work.
Louise
Gold, and, Mike Quinn, puppeteered in an item about The
Dark Crystal on Blue Peter.
Brian Henson, Dave
Goelz, Frank Oz,
Jerry Nelson and Frank
Oz can also be heard on Born To
Add
Louise Gold, Jerry Nelson, Frank
Oz, and, David Rudman can also be heard on
Elmo’s Lowdown
Hoedown
The brilliant Muppet singing double act Jerry
Nelson and Louise Gold can also be heard on Jerome Kern The
First 100 Years. They mauy also have sung
together on The Count’s Countdown,
although there has been some debate as to whether Louise Gold actually sang on that.
Jerry Nelson, Steve
Whitmire, and, Louise Gold appeared in “a
burlesque show with some of the Muppet-company”.
Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz,
Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, Brian
Henson, and, Mike Quinn had previously puppeteered
on the film The
Great Muppet Caper, whose soundtrack was also recorded at CTS Studios, Wembley.
Louise Gold,
Louise Gold, and, Mike Quinn had previously puppeteered on the UK Co-Production of Fraggle Rock, for which Jerry Nelson, and, Dave Goelz (besides puppeteering
on the main show) did voice-work.
Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, Steve Whitmire, and, Mike
Quinn had previously puppeteered on The Muppets Go To The Movies.
Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise
Gold, Brian Henson, and, Mike Quinn went on to puppeteer on the
film Muppet Treasure Island.
Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, and, Louise
Gold went on to puppeteer on The Animal Show,
on which Frank Oz did a guest puppeteering appearance.
Brian Henson went on to
produce Mopatop’s Shop.
The Muppet
Performers on this album, Dave Goelz, Louise
Gold, Brian Henson, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz,
Louise Gold,
Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, and, Mike Quinn went on to puppeteer on The Secret Life Of
Toys.
Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, Steve Whitmire, and, David
Rudman puppeteered on Sesame Street (in the early 1990s).
Muppet
Performers Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, and Louise Gold had featured in the documentary Of Muppets And Men,
on which
Brian Henson appeared in
the documentary The Wonderful
World Of Puppets.
Review
by Emma Shane
Of
the albums from the various Muppet movies, this is probably my favourite. It is
a lovely score mainly by Paul Williams, who must surely be one (Joe Rapso being another) of the best songwriters ever to
write for the Muppets, after all he did write the score for The Muppet
Movie, including the beautiful Rainbow Connection. The
whole Muppet Christmas Carol album seems to capture the spirit of
the Muppets, while also having some very moving tender moments. It is truly Jim
Henson’s Muppets singing in a way that they know how to do best, and
putting across a powerful message. Although Michael Caine
and Meredith Braun sing well, the real singing honours on this album go
to the puppeteers themselves. Although sadly minus Richard Hunt’s
wonderful voice, and Jim Henson’s unique talents, the remaining muppeteers put on a good show, in this they have the super
advantage of using two of their very best singing talents, Jerry Nelson
and Louise Gold. In addition, several other pretty notable performers,
such as Steve Whitmire,
All
the numbers are more than listenable to, although some are, to my mind, much
better than others. When Love Is Gone was clearly meant to be the
big romantic hit of the film, like Rapso’s The
First Time It Happens in The Great Muppet Caper, but I
don’t think it quite succeeded, although it is by no means a bad song.
Similarly Room In Your Heart, although given a good performance
by Steve Whitmire and Dave Goelz, is a nice Muppet number, but not that
remarkable. It is however worth noting how much Dave Goelz’s musical performance has
improved since the early days of The Muppet Show. Then there is Good
King Wenceslas, which is well performed and great in setting the scene,
and makes a nice Muppety Christmasy
accompaniment. Chairman Of The Board is lyrically very
interesting, and nicely sung by Frank Oz, it provides a lovely possible
insight into how people’s perceptions might perhaps be shaped by their early
experiences. Experienced muppeteers Jerry Nelson
and Dave Goelz lead the cast in Marley
And Marley, which is a great reminder of what happens when the Muppets
get hold of a classic story, and perform it very well in their own unique muppety way.
It
is the Muppeteers themselves who are the real stars
of this soundtrack album. Stepping literally into Jim Henson’s role, of
Kermit The Frog, Steve Whitmire gets his real
moment of glory with One More Step Still Christmas. It is a
lovely summation of Christmas Eve, and would be a great song to play on that
day. But for anyone who likes the Muppets, the number does something much
greater; it is a new beginning, for Kermit. Steve Whitmire
displays a real Henson-like quality with this number, and yet at the same time
he does the character in his own way, it is not an imitation, more an
interpretation, but one that is very close to the original (his
Muppet-colleague Louise Gold often achieves a similar sort of effect
when she sings songs written for Ethel Merman, very similar to the
original, but without actually being an imitation). Another soloist is that
wonderful Muppet singer Jerry Nelson, who gets two wonderful
opportunities to shine, and exercise his considerable vocal talents. As his
performances of, such songs as: While My Guitar Gently Weeps and New
York State Of Mind, as Floyd Pepper, not to mention Halfway Down
The Stairs as Robin The Frog, on The Muppet Show proved, Jerry
Nelson can be a very emotional singer. But on this soundtrack with Bless
Us All he excels himself, I can’t help but cry every time I listen to
it. This time it sounds like he really truly means it, he is singing absolutely
in character, and is the character of Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol.
He sings with such feeling it is as if there is something much more than just
acting in that performance.
Two
of the most fun numbers on the film are just the Muppets being the Muppets
doing a jolly film. The first of these is Scrooge, which gives most of the Muppeteers a chance to show their individual and collective
talents. Frank Oz has a few memorable lines, including the opening one,
and later on one about a crust of bread. Louise Gold is next, for once
she actually has an excuse to do English-accented Muppets, and gosh does she
get the most out of her lines “But there’s nothing in nature that freezes
your heart like years of being alone”. Meanwhile
All
in all, for anyone who enjoys the spirit and the musical talents of the Muppets
in general (and Jerry Nelson in particular, along with: Steve Whitemire, Louise Gold, and,
Critics Comments
.
Links about The
Muppet Christmas Carol (Soundtrack album)
Muppet Wiki’s page for
the album: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Muppet_Christmas_Carol_%28CD%29
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