Bert & Ernie Sing-Along

Infobox Album
Name = Bert & Ernie Sing-Along
Type = studio
Artist = Bert and Ernie


Released = 1974
Recorded = 1973
Genre = Children
Length =
Label = Pickwick Records
Producer =
Reviews = *Allmusic (3/5) [http://wc10.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dbfexqe0ldte link]

Last album =
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"Bert and Ernie Sing Along" is a "Sesame Street" album released in 1974 that involved the entire known cast of humans and muppets doing a sing-a-long in Bert and Ernie's bathroom.

Album's storyline

The album starts out with one of the rare times you hear of Bert taking a bath. As he does so, he is heard singing "Yankee Doodle". Eventually Ernie comes in and pushes their piano into the bathroom and decides to join in, much to Bert's dismay. He starts playing music, which accompanies Bert singing in protest of the whole thing ("I Refuse To Sing Along"), with Ernie, in counterpoint, trying to persuade him to sing along.

After the song, and just as it seems Bert is going to get Ernie and the piano out, David joins them, followed by Gordon and Bob, then by Luis, Maria and Susan. They would start off by singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad" then Gordon, Luis, Maria, and David would do "Old MacDonald Had a Farm". At this point Bert would start asking for a towel, conceding his bath to be over, but is either ignored or turned down by others because they couldn't access one for him.

Next, the other muppets would start arriving. Big Bird would be the first to arrive along with his assorted set of bells (as heard when he drops them all over the floor), and do a song called "Love is a Feeling". Following him is The Count who comes in and counts all the standing people (the humans and Ernie), one big bird, and one shivering person in the bathtub, then starts counting the bathroom tiles before Maria and Bob suggest he sing a song. He proceeds to sing "Bats in my Belfry" which consists of the lyrics "One bat hanging in the steeple. / One bat flies-a-through the door. / That makes two bats in my belfry. / Wonderful, but wait there's more." and continues this verse adding more and more bats, until the rest suggests throwing him in the shower.

Next ones rolling in (literally) are Herry Monster, Cookie Monster, and Grover, all on Herry's motorcycle and sidecar (which they managed to drive into the apartment then into the bathroom). Once they dismount, they grab their various instruments (Grover's banjo, Cookie's bass drum, and Herry's gong) and proceed to do a very bad rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (the round is led by Grover, then followed by Cookie and Herry) until some freak accident causes them to fall over one another and end the song abruptly.

Then Oscar comes in, and does nothing more than complain of their noise, and sings a short song threatening to call the police on them if they don't shut up. At that, the whole group sings "Oscar Don't Allow" (directly parodying "Mama Don't Allow") At the end he scoffs at them, but then the final human, Olivia, joins them by immediately singing a limerick telling Oscar off (he isn't heard from again in the album), kicking off "The Limerick Song (Come on and Sing Along with Me)", which Bob, Ernie, and Bert all contribute a limerick to. (The Count tries, but it turns out to be the continuation if his "Bats in my Belfry" [he's up to 85 by this point] and is quickly shut back down by the rest.)

Afterwards, Grover decides to contribute his own version of "On Top of Old Smoky" singing of him losing various things of his, including his way home, eventually finding his way home and finding his mother with everything he thought he had lost. Afterwards, Gordon and Susan sing "Living Hand in Hand" to end side one of the album.

Side two starts with Luis kicking off a staple called "What's the Name of That Song" where everybody, including Bert, contribute trying to guess what it is, but they end the song unsuccessfully. David then does a song called "A Very Simple Dance" where he got the whole group involved clapping their hands, stomping their feet, turning around, touching their toes, pulling their ears, flapping their arms, stretching up high, and all falling down.

Once the song ended, Bob told everybody to stay on the ground and keep quiet, while he sings a quiet song called "Morningtown Ride" about an overnight train ride to a town called Morningtown "many miles away".

Afterwards, Mr. Hooper arrives with three quarts of ice cream, and Ernie inspires the rest to sing "Everyone Loves Ice Cream". Afterwards, Ernie gets Mr. Hooper to confess he also had cookies with him, which of course wakes Cookie Monster out of his silence, and gets him to do a cranked up arrangement of "C is for Cookie", to which once the song ends, he eats every single cookie there himself.

The next song is called "Peanuts", which is started by Luis, and is basically about a man who had plenty of peanuts and gave his neighbor none. Prairie Dawn (whose entry was never revealed) sings a verse using "soft sweet soda crackers", then Ernie uses "nice rich ripe red strawberry shortcake", while Big Bird tries to top them all with "gooey sticky pizza with plenty of cheese, pepperoni, and anchovies on top, and maybe some orange drink", but his is so far fetched they shut the whole song down on him.

The next song they all sing together is "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt", which segues into "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain". Once that ends, Luis brings back up "What's the Name of That Song?" to which Cookie suggest "Moon Over my Cookie", and Big Bird suggests "The Blue Bird of Happiness", and The Count comes out of nowhere to suggest "604 bats hanging in the steeple", and is booed as they start the song again. Eventually, Bert jumps up and starts up a cranked up rendition of "Sing", much to Ernie's surprise.

After that song, punctuated by Bert and Ernie's signature laughs, you'd think that's the end, but no. We soon hear a band playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" in the distance, and Ernie suddenly remembers he also invited the University of Michigan marching band. At that the door opens and we can hear the band clearer, along with everyone else's sheer delight at their presence, as the album finally fades out.

ee also

*Sesame Street discography