STUCK IN THE VINYL AGAIN - CABBAGE PATCH KIDS - CABBAGE PATCH FREAMS

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Good morning record enthusiasts and welcome to the final Friday edition of Stuck In The Vinyl Again 2022. Today we celebrate the 76th Birthday of band leader, musical director, arranger, producer, piano player/multi instrumentalist and singer, Steve Chapin. Happy Birthday Steve ! He was one of four Brothers born in New York City to drummer Jim Chapin and Elspeth Burke Chapin Hart, with his most famous Brother being, Harry Chapin, and his most second famous Brother being Tom Chaplin, the multi instrumentalist, entertainer, singer-songwriter, storyteller, and producer who appears right alongside of him on this album. 

What is this album?  You make ask ….

Cabbage Patch Dreams is the first LP from by those cloth dolls with plastic heads, known the world over as Cabbage Patch Kids. 1984 saw it release by Parker Brothers Music and it was produced by Steve and Tom Chaplin. On it we find songs and stories of the origin of the CPK, which involves a stork, magic cabbage, and bunny bee crystals. Like any adventure story it needs danger and it does not fail in this department as it delivers 3 villains : Lavender McDade with a diabolical old lady with penchant for spoiling the Kids' chances of being adopted. She needs to enslave them to pick her lemons for her lemonade business. And then her henchmen the weaselly Beau Weasel , and jackrabbit Cabbage Jack, who just wants to eat non sentient cabbages. This terrible trio kidnaps a couple of the CPKs and stores them away in an old goldmine and it's up to the hero of the story, Good Ole Otis Lee (“got no hair, but he don’t care.”) to save the babies and restore safety to the patch.

The cast and crew of the disc is an interesting tale unto itself. It features the aforementioned Chaplin as producers, backup vocalists, with Steve on piano and Tom on  guitar, percussion. We also see trombonist, Dave Bargeron, and bassist, Wayne Pedzwater, both from Blood, Sweat, & Tears, fiddler and National Lampoon humorist, Kenny Kosek, Waylon Jennings harmonica player, Don Frank Brooks, Eric Clapton keyboardist, Robbie Kondor, Leonard Cohen double bassist, Don Payne, and banjoist, Eric Weissberg, of Dueling Banjos fame.

On the vocals/ voices side of things we have Harry and Sandra Chapin's daughter Jen, Horror director Wes Craven's daughter, Jessica Craven, pop singer, Ari Gold, Knowl Johnson, who was the voice of Brother Bear on the The Berenstain Bears,  Russell Horton, known for being the second actor to voice The Trix Rabbit, and Jonathan Paley of the 70s power pop brother duo, The Paley Brothers.

This is a truly well produced and and enjoyable album, and if you don't mind kids genre and are a fan of the Chaplin's, I recommend a listen. 

"Cabbage Patch Theme" (T. Chapin, S. Chapin) (1:52)

"Babyland" (John Forster) (2:46)

"Villains Three" (T. Chapin, S. Chapin) (3:36)

"Good Ole Otis Lee" (R. M. Sherman, R. B. Sherman) (1:55)

"Happy Birthday Hoe-Down" (R. M. Sherman, R. B. Sherman) (2:30)

Side 2

"The BunnyBee Song" (R. M. Sherman, R. B. Sherman) (2:18)

"Get Back Home" (John Carney) (2:04)

"Run, Run, Run" (T. Chapin, S. Chapin) (3:46)

"Cabbage Patch Dreams" (R. M. Sherman, R. B. Sherman) (2:07)

"Cabbage Patch Parade" (R. M. Sherman, R. B. Sherman) (2:30)

Vocals

D'Jamin Bartlett - Lavender McDade

Jen Chapin - Rachel-Marie

Stephen Chapin - Backing Vocals

Tom Chapin - Backing Vocals

Jessica Craven - 'Kid

Rebecca Feit - 'Kid

Ari Gold - Sybil Sadie

Russell Horton - Beau Weasel

Knowl Johnson - 'Kid

John Henry Kurtz - Colonel Casey, Cabbage Jack

Jonathan Paley - 'Kid

Tracy Paul - 'Kid

Jamilla Perry - 'Kid

The Suits - Backing Vocals

Personnel

Stephen Chapin - producer

Tom Chapin - producer

James A. Buchanan - executive producer

William C. Coleburn - executive producer

Jaime Chapin - production coordinator

Keith Walsh - engineer

Jim Regan - assistant engineer

Musicians

Dennis Anderson - saxophone, clarinet

Dave Bargeron - trombone, tuba

Don Frank Brooks - harmonica

Charlie Brown - electric guitar

John Campo - bassoon

Stephen Chapin - piano

Tom Chapin - guitar, percussion

Barbara Hart - flute

Robbie Kondor - synthesizer, piano

Kenny Kosek - fiddle

Barry Lazarowitz - drums

George Marge - bass clarinet

John Miller - bass guitar

Don Payne - bass guitar

Wayne Pedzwater - bass guitar

Georg Wadenius - electric guitar

Eric Weissberg - banjo, steel guitar