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Charlie Faye & The Fanimals Danceable
Children's Music |
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On July 21st one of the most fun and danceable family albums will be
released. Although, billed as a children’s album Charlie Faye & The
Fanimals is really a record that the whole family can enjoy from a
toddler to a grandparent who may reminisce about dancing to The
Temptations, The Spinners, Martha and the Vandellas, The Marvelettes,
Sam & Dave, Booker T. & the M.G.s and Carla and Rufus Thomas. Charlie
Faye’s vocals add Soul and R & B to lyrics that kids can relate to and
the musical arrangements, the groove the vibe is something that will not
leave mom and dad or mom or dad or mom and mom or dad and dad sitting on
their sofas for long.
The album opens with the fun “7 Days of Fun,”
My dog’s name is Rufus. He is named after Rufus Thomas. Both Rufus and
Carla Thomas were Stax artists and Rufus Thomas is the guy who wrote
“Walking the Dog.” He also wrote “Do the Dog,” and “Can Your Monkey Do
the Dog,” and various other dog related songs. So, Rufus (the dog) was
named after Rufus Thomas.”
Jim Brunberg’s deep vocals make a cameo on this song and when we say
deep, we mean really deep. In addition to Charlie Faye’s lead vocals
there are outstanding background vocals served up by Dana Starr Brunberg
Sparling, Veronica Sue Brunberg Sparling, Akina Adderly and one of this
magazine’s favorite people Betty Soo.
So, enlighten us about Jim Brunberg?
“Jim Brunberg is so many things. He is a musician, songwriter and
producer, based in Portland, Oregon. He has an incredible ear and he is
also incredibly prolific.
He composed the song for the New York Times’ The Daily podcast. He has
done a bunch of cool stuff. We became friends connecting over music
stuff and kids’ stuff, because he has two girls. I sent him ideas, as I
was working on this record. We never got around to writing anything for
the record, but once I had the basic tracks, there were certain songs
that I felt needed something more, so I sent them to him at that point.
Specifically, with “Seven Days of Fun,” which I thought could be a great
song and it was almost there, but it needed something. I sent him the
basic tracks and he added so much. All those background vocal parts are
parts that he arranged and also the parts that Betty Soo and Akina are
singing. (In this song) it is his daughter who says, “What’s she talking
about?” He really added a lot and I am really grateful to have worked
with him on this (record),” she says.
As far as “Milo Wears a Tutu,” goes, “I started writing a song with a
tutu in it, because Edie asked for a tutu and for a while she was
obsessed with her tutu. Then I sat down to write a song with Sara
Hickman and I was telling her about Edie and the tutu. She told me she
knew a little boy named Milo who liked to wear a tutu. I thought what an
interesting idea to focus on a little boy who wears a tutu. We ended up
writing “Milo Wears a Tutu.”
“Octopus Getting Dressed,” was inspired by Edie’s pre-school teacher,
because I started writing this album and I was looking for more ideas. I
don’t know kids this age really well. I know my kid, what she likes and
what connects with her. I don’t know a lot of kids her age, but her
teacher does. Madison is super cool and I asked her if I could pick her
brain about what would be interesting to kids that age in a song. She
told me things that they are working on every day, like getting
themselves dressed, learning how to put on their own shoes and that is
how I started writing “Octopus Getting Dressed.”
Charlie, why did you want to create a children’s album? When we last
talked a few years ago Charlie Faye & the Fayettes were on their way?
“It happened naturally. I was making music with Charlie Faye & the
Fayettes, which was a sixties Soul Pop girl group. Then I had a baby and
four months later the pandemic hit. Charlie Faye & the Fayettes were
supposed to continue at that point. We were getting ready to have an
official showcase at SXSW that year, but the whole world shutdown. I was
just here in my house with my daughter.
I started making music with her and for her, because she was my only
audience (laughs lightly). I didn’t start off thinking I was going to
make an album. I started off writing songs for my daughter and in the
style that I love. There is a lot of cool stuff out there in kids’
music, but I can’t find anybody who is doing sixties kids Soul Pop
music. I thought maybe it would be cool to make a whole album of songs
like this and put it out there for people who want to listen to it with
their kids.
I don’t want it to just be something that parents can tolerate, but I
wanted to do something that the parents could enjoy, as much as the
kids. That is the goal for every artist who is making music in the
children’s music genre. Everybody wants the parents to enjoy it too. It
is a tough line to walk and I think I am erring a little more on the
parents’ side. I haven’t cut any corners. It was a full-on production to
make this record. I made this record in the studio with the greatest
musicians I could find. Just like I would have made a Charlie Faye & the
Fayettes record. Just like I would have made any record for adults, I
spent the same time, energy, money and effort. I put the same amount
into it.
There is no reason that music needs to be dumbed down for kids and there
is no reason that musical arrangements need to be. If you look at Motown
stuff you notice that the lyrics are very simple, but the arrangements
are complex. That is what makes it so great. The lyrics are something
that everybody can relate to, there is a hook, it has a great groove,
but at the same time there is a lot of thought that goes into it,” says
Charlie Faye.
Which brings us to another song, “Get Down.” If you are old enough to
remember the early Beatles’ songs or you are a lover of that music you
are going to love the song “Get Down.”
Charlie Faye imitates an early Beatles sound, “I was definitely thinking
is this too close? They do it in that song and then they do it in the
song “Do You Love Me,” (the first Beatles single to chart). It was just
a thing that they did back then, that kind of build.
The Beatles were influenced by Motown, Carole King and Gerry Goffin.
People forget that and think The Beatles created a whole new thing, and
they did, but it started off as their interpretation of American music.
That song didn’t start by being inspired by a Beatles song. It started
with me going, I need to write a great dance song for kids.”
So, we wondered what it is about the music of Motown and Stax Records
that appeals to Charlie Faye.
“I have loved that genre of music since I was a little kid and the way I
got introduced to it was through the movie Dirty Dancing. When I
was eight years old, I saw the movie Dirty Dancing and I became
obsessed with the movie. (You can hear her smile) A lot of parents
wouldn’t let their kids watch Dirty Dancing at that age (she says
it with a delicious tone of I got away with it!). All the stuff that
needed to go over my head, did go over my head. I had no idea what was
going on in a lot of that movie, but I loved the music and I loved the
dancing. That is how I first was introduced to Otis Redding, Solomon
Burke, The Shirelles and The Ronettes. That is where I heard all of
those (artists) for the first time. Ever since then all of that music
has had a really special place in my heart. It is something that I have
always come back to.
I am really a Stax girl. I really had a Stax phase in my twenties and
thirties. I think Stax is a little grittier and I think of Motown as
straight up Pop music. I have a lot of other sixties Pop influences too
that play into this stuff. You hear a little bit of Beatles influences
in places,” she explains.
As far as the recording process is concerned, “We mostly were all in the
studio at the same time, except for Jim’s overdubs and the background
vocals. Everything else was done in the studio altogether. It was so
great,” she says.
At this juncture Rufus the dog barks and this writer is thinking we did
not spend enough time talking about his song and he wants some more
love!
I knew I wanted to have Pete Thomas play drums on the record. Pete has
been in Elvis Costello’s band since the early days. He also played on
all of the Fayettes’ records. He’s my favorite drummer. I knew I wanted
to have him on the record and I saw that Elvis had a date in Austin, so
I reached out to Pete and said, Elvis has a date in Austin and I am
making a kids record. Do you want to stick around an extra couple of
days and go into the studio to do this? He said sure. Pete and I ended
up writing a song for the record, but we’ll come back to that. I booked
the studio for the dates that Pete was going to be in Austin.
I asked my friend Scott Davis, whom I had been in a little Rock ‘n Roll
band with if he wanted to play on the record. It was funny, because he
played guitar in that little Rock ‘n Roll band. I am picky about bass
players and I just felt like I wasn’t going to be able to find the right
person who is going to jive well with Pete, and Scott said, I am
primarily a bass player, which somehow, I never knew. Scott ended up
playing bass on the record.
I had always wanted to work with Adrian Quesada, because I was a big fan
of his stuff with Black Pumas and all of his projects, really. (Editor’s
Note: Adrian Quesada has been nominated eight times for a Grammy Award
and won an award as Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album.) Scott had
worked a bunch with Adrian and he brought Adrian in to play guitar on
the whole record. Trevor Nealon came in to play keys.
All of us were in the studio together for two days. It is so funny,
because everybody in that group has kids. I booked our days in the
studio, early in the morning and ending in time for everybody to get
home in time for their kids (Charlie chuckles). We had a great time in
the studio. All of the guys have so much respect for Pete. They were
excited to be working on the record, but they were also really excited
to be playing with Pete. That brought everybody up to the top of their
game.
Some of the songs I had a really good idea of where I wanted them to go,
musically and arrangement wise. Some of them I had acoustic demos that
were a little looser, so we would sit there altogether and listen to the
demo. We started throwing around ideas (such as), what if the groove
sounded like this? No what if it felt more like this? We did a lot of
that in the studio together, which was awesome.”
So, what does Edie think of these songs?
“I definitely tried them out on her, before I recorded them. She has
gone through phases with them, as kids this age do. There was a time
when she wanted to listen to my demos over and over and over again. She
wanted me to play those songs at the dinner table, over and over and
over again. Then she got tired of them. After I made the record, I
wanted to play the full band recordings for her, but at first, she had
demoitis (don’t tell us this is not a real word, we are talking about
a young child here, we can make up our own vocabulary). She said, no
I want to hear the original and she meant my acoustic home demo (Charlie
laughs lightly). It took her a while to get used to the fully produced
recordings. Now she loves them and she calls them mama songs. I want to
listen to mama songs. Today she asked me if I could play “Cookie Tree,”
for her. I said I am going to have to relearn that one and I will play
it for you later,” she says.
It sounds like the song “Me and My Family,” will resonate with many
children, some in blended family situations and some from single parent
families, as well as other family dynamics.
Charlie answers thoughtfully, taking her time, “Yes, I think so. I am
grateful to see that at this point in our culture, in a progressive
place like Austin, things already do seem pretty normal, but you don’t
always get them reflected in a song. Everybody wants to hear a song that
they feel is about them. So, for a kid to hear it is “mama, mommy and
me, who has a mama and a mommy, they will say yes, that’s me, that’s me
in that song. They will hear “some days I am at mama’s house and other
days it is just dad and me.” That’s me. I have that! There is so much
joy in hearing yourself reflected in a song.
I think this was a song that came more from a desire that I had to
create a song like this, as opposed to something that happened with
Edie, my own daughter. I felt it would be good for kids to have a song
(in which) they could see their own families reflected in the song. It
was tough, because you only get three verses and there was so much more
I wanted to put in there. That is hard for me about the song is that I
only got to put three kinds of families into the song in the space of
three verses. My hope is that people will understand the whole point of
the song is no matter what your family looks like you deserve a song
that reflects your family.”
I think that is a good place to stop. Those last few sentences tell you
everything you need to know about Charlie Faye’s heart. Four years ago,
it was a privilege to talk with Charlie Faye and it was an honor to once
again, across the miles to have the opportunity to have a conversation
with a very talented singer and songwriter and someone Riveting Riffs
Magazine considers to be a treasured friend.
You can follow Charlie Faye
on Instagram and you can visit
her website with links to two of the new songs that
have already been released.
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Charlie
Faye talks about what inspired these songs, “Usually they were things
that just came to me as a parent and I would just think oh write a song
about snack time. They all come from different places. “Seven Days of
Fun,” I wrote, because Edie (Charlie’s daughter) and I had been talking
about the days of the week. I used to sing a song in Charlie Faye & the
Fayettes called “Seven Nights to Rock,” and in “Seven Nights to Rock,”
which I learned from a Nick Lowe recording. In (that song) you get to
yell out all the days of the week “(She mock yells out) Monday,
Tuesday…” I thought it would be great to have a song like that for kids
and Edie could learn the names of the days of the week. Guess what? It
worked. “Snack Time,” was obvious. Kids love snack time and everybody
loves songs about snack time. It is a time that already is generally
fun. I felt it was also important to write a song about bath time,
because when my daughter was younger, she didn’t love bath time, so I
thought okay let’s write a song about being in a bath. That turned into
“Puppy in the Bath” and we have a dog. Edie likes to sing “Puppy In the
Bath,” when we are giving our dog a bath and she also likes to pretend
to be a puppy in the bath (Charlie laughs). 
Continuing,
Charlie Faye says, “The way I like to make records and always have been
the old school way (Why doesn’t that surprise us?), get everybody
together in the studio and play music together.