(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
It’s easier to find songs for big people than for little people.But the market in children’s music is growing. I’m Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. We tell abouta company that makes music for children — this week, on the VOASpecial English program THIS IS AMERICA.
(“RAINY DAY BLUES”)
VOICE ONE:
That’s BB King, the great blues musician, and his famous blackguitar he calls Lucille. The song is “Rainy Day Blues.” Later in thesong, he asks children to play a game called “BB Says.” It is alittle like a game that a parent would play with a small child.
(“RAINY DAY BLUES”)
VOICE TWO:
Babies learn about music from the simple songs that their mothersand fathers sing to them. When the children are older, their parentsmight teach them songs as part of a game. BB King’s recording of”Rainy Day Blues” follows this tradition.
Most of his fans, though, may not know about his recordings forchildren. They only know that he makes very popular blues recordingsfor adults.
BB King recorded “Rainy Day Blues” for a company called Music forLittle People.
VOICE ONE:
It all began when a man named Leib Ostrow was looking for musicfor his children. He searched in stores, looked through books andphoned toy companies. He could not find anything he really liked.
So Mister Ostrow decided to begin a recording company of his own.He went to a bank and borrowed some money. He began the company inhis home. He used the part of the house where most people keep theirautomobile.
Soon he was recording music for children. Many parents thought itwas a great idea. So did many recording artists.
Music for Little People is located in northern California. Itstarted as a mail-order business in nineteen-eighty-five. Today itis one of the largest children’s musical and educational companiesin the United States.
It has released more than eighty-five recordings. And it has wonmany awards.
VOICE TWO:
BB King is only one of the performers on Music for Little People.Others include country music stars Faith Hill and Charlie Daniels.There are also recordings by Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur, Aaron Nevilleand Linda Ronstadt, and the rock groups Red Hot Chili Peppers andLos Lobos.
The members of Los Lobos are from Los Angeles and are of Mexicanancestry. Their songs on Music for Little People are in both Spanishand English. In one recording they had the help of Lalo Guerrero, aMexican-American singer.
Listen for a moment as Lalo Guerrero and Los Lobos perform “LaBamba,” a traditional Mexican song. You may have heard it before. Itwas a very famous song in the nineteen-fifties.
“La Bamba for Little People” begins with Lalo Guerrero tellingeveryone — not just children — to dance!
(“LA BAMBA”)
VOICE ONE:
Leib Ostrow, the man who started Music for Little People, says hewants children to hear good music by great performers from aroundthe world. The company sells many different kinds of music. If aparent thinks a child might like rock music, they have it. If aparent wants music in French, Spanish, Swedish or Zulu — they havethat, too.
There are religious songs, dance songs, slow songs, fast songs,songs from movies — just about anything a child might like.
Taj Mahal is another artist well known to fans of blues music.Here, he and Linda Tillery sing “Shake a Tail Feather.” This songwon several awards, and was a nineteen-ninety-eight nominee for aGrammy Award for Best Children’s Recording.
(“SHAKE A TAIL FEATHER”)
VOICE TWO:
Dan and Kiley McMichael have a two-year-old daughter named Fiona.Fiona likes music. And, like most little children, Fiona wants tohear the same recordings over and over again. Her mother does notmind. She says she likes the Music for Little People as much asFiona does.
Here is one of the songs that Fiona likes. It tells a story aboutthe power of music to calm the fears of a little boy. The groupsinging is Ladysmith Black Mambazo, from South Africa. The song is”The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
(“THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT”)
VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Paul Thompson and produced by CatyWeaver. Our studio engineer was Suleiman Tarawali. Music For LittlePeople can be found on the Internet at mflp.com. I’m Faith Lapidus.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for the VOA SpecialEnglish program THIS IS AMERICA. We leave you now with a song called”Three Sisters: Corn, Beans and Squash.” It’s performed by NativeAmerican singer Joanne Shenandoah.
(“THREE SISTERS; CORN, BEANS AND SQUASH”)