Some Assembly Required

by Tom Chapin

Product Description:

Personnel: Tom Chapin (vocals, 12-string guitar, autoharp, 6-string bass); Jon Cobert (vocals, harp, accordion, piano, organ, synthesizer); Michael Mark (vocals, kazoo, bass guitar); Ira Siegel (electric guitar); Eric Weissberg (dobro, banjo); Larry Campbell (mandolin, fiddle); Joanie Madden (whistle); John Forster (synthesizer, programming); Clint deGanon (drums).

Additional personnel: Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, Vanessa Williams, Victoria Ambrose, Warren McKinzie, Rachel Melton, Janie Owens, Michael Roy, Gail Royster, Keith Artez Smith, Jane Sylvester, Charlene Weaver (vocals).

Harry Chapin's younger brother Tom has had a successful career of recording songs for children since the late 1980s. Bridging the gap between songs for the very young and bubblegum music, Chapin's unpretentious material is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating, predating late-'90s kid-oriented artists like They Might Be Giants and the Del Fuegos' Dan Zanes. His appealing SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED consists of a variety of folksy songs about puppies, astronomy, shoes, and, in a duet with Zanes, ecology.