Disneyland Records Meet Me Down On Main Street LP Vinyl WDL-1012
$
70
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Description
The Disneyland Records Meet Me Down On Main Street LP Vinyl Ultra Rare WDL-1012 features the iconic sounds of the Mellomen Barber Shop Quartet, housed in a 12" cardboard sleeve. This ultra rare vinyl record, released by Disney, captures the essence of English language music in a classic LP format. With a very good (VG) grading for both the record and sleeve, this collectible piece from the United States is a must-have for any Disney music enthusiast or vinyl collector looking to add a unique gem to their collection.
In 1957, Disneyland Records produced a fantastic album featuring the Mellomen Quartet singing a dozen barbershop ballads inspired by Disneyland's Main Street USA. This group also provided many vocal performances for both Walt Disney's animated and live-action films, television shows and theme park attractions throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The bass singer with the group was none other than Disney Legend and voice-over icon, Thurl Ravenscroft. Learn the rich history of Walt Disney and the Mellomen Quartet and hear the nostalgic and soothing album "Meet Me Down on Main Street"
The Mellomen were a four-part harmony singing quartet that was originally formed in 1947. The founding members of the group were Thurl Ravenscroft as bass, Bill Lee as baritone, Bob Hamilton as the lead tenor, and Max Smith as the second tenor. In addition to recording many barbershop singles on their own, they also performed back up vocals on many popular albums throughout the 1950's and 1960's for such artists as Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Dorris Day, Frankie Lane, Jo Stafford, and even the King himself, Elvis Presley. They became known all over Hollywood as the "Go-To" quartet any time a strong performance was needed, and this reputation did not evade Walt Disney in the slightest.
Their first Disney project came in 1951, when they performed in "Alice in Wonderland" as playing cards who were... "Painting the Roses Red." The following year they were a quartet of singing spirits in the Donald Duck classic Halloween short "Trick or Treat." Next came "Peter Pan" in 1953, where they performed as singing Pirates, and in 1954 they performed the narrative vocals in the special Disney short-subject, "Pigs Is Pigs." But perhaps their best known performance for Disney during this period came in 1955, when they became the singing dog pound quartet in "Lady in the Tramp." Their hilarious recording session for this film was even shown on Walt Disney's weekly prime-time TV series in a 1955 episode called "Cavalcade of Songs"
Two years later, Disneyland Records enlisted the Mellomen to record a special album dedicated to Main Street USA in Walt Disney's new Disneyland park. "Meet Me Down on Main Street" became one of their best selling albums of all time. The album consisted of an original Disney song, followed by several other traditional barbershop ballads from the late 1800's and early 1900's.
The one original song, which was also the title song of the album, was originally written in 1950 for a Donald Duck cartoon called "Crazy Over Daisy." The song was later recycled, without lyrics, for a 1956 theatrical short produced by Walt Disney called, "Disneyland USA," and was used again for a Disneyland Record called "Walt Disney Takes You to Disneyland." Then in 1957 new lyrics were added and the Mellomen performed their definitive rendition of this now classic Disney standard.
Today, perhaps they are best known by Disney park fans as the voices behind the singing busts in the graveyard segment of the classic Haunted Mansion attraction in Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. This performance of the song "Grim Grinning Ghosts" is always playing at a Disney park, somewhere on earth, 24 hours a day, and is viewed by millions upon millions of visitors every year.
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