Marlo Thomas & Friends "Free To Be... You And Me" CD RE (2006)

Details: That Girl actress Marlo Thomas created a breakthrough and heartfelt album that is still as beloved today as it was when it was released in 1974. This is the reissue of the album released on Arista and Legacy Records. Comes with an O-Card sleeve with the CD housed in a plastic case. New item.

Description: "From the album’s opening sounds—the jaunty strumming of a banjo on the title track—Free To Be posited a world in which every boy “grows to be his own man,” and “every girl grows to be her own woman.” The land of Free To Be was a place where girls could grow up to be mommies and doctors, and they didn’t have to get married if they didn’t want to. It was a place where boys could cry or play with dolls without fear of scorn. It was a place where boys and girls could be friends, no matter what they looked like or acted like—unless the girl was a prissy princess, in which case she would be eaten by a tiger.

The brainchild of actress Marlo Thomas, Free To Be … You and Me was also the product of Thomas’ life lived in showbiz. Calling in favors from people she’d known since childhood—her father was the comedian Danny Thomas—and the clout she’d accrued as the star and producer of the hit sitcom That Girl, Thomas assembled a murderer’s row of early 1970s musical and comedy talent. Diana Ross, Harry Belafonte, and the New Seekers sang. Alan Alda, Tom Smothers, Mel Brooks, and Carol Channing performed. Shel Silverstein, Carl Reiner, and Mary Rodgers wrote songs and stories. But all those stars paled in comparison to Thomas herself, who sang and acted on many of the record’s tracks—and assembled its cast of characters, oversaw the album’s tone and direction, and promoted the hell out of it upon its release.

Even with all that star power, the project was, at heart, founded on some serious feminist ideology. Free To Be was shaped by the philosophies of Thomas’ friend Gloria Steinem and the staff of her new magazine, Ms.—particularly Letty Cottin Pogrebin, who was already using the pages of that groundbreaking publication to advocate for a new style of gender-neutral parenting.

Forty years after its 1972 release, Free To Be has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and for a generation of kids—my generation—was a cultural and social touchstone, played not just at home, but at countless schools where its anti-sexist storytelling was eagerly adopted by progressive teachers and administrators. A 1974 book based on the record became a best-seller; its accompanying TV special got better ratings than Gunsmoke and won an Emmy and a Peabody."--Slate

Grade: M (new stock)

CD TRACK LISTING:

1. The New Seekers - Free to Be... You And Me
2. Mel Brooks & Marlo Thomas - Boy Meets Girl
3. Diana Ross - When We Grow
4. Billy De Wolfe - Don't Dress Your Cat In An Apron
5. Harry Belafonte & Marlo Thomas - Parents Are People
6. Carol Channing - Housework
7. Tom Smothers - Helping
8. Marlo Thomas - Ladies First
9. Billy De Wolfe, Bobby Morse & Marlo Thomas - Dudley Pippin And The Principal
10. Rosey Grier - It's All Right To Cry
11. Sisters And Brothers - Sisters And Brothers
12. Dick Cavett - My Dog Is A Plumber
13. Alan Alda & Marlo Thomas - William's Doll
14. Alan Alda & Marlo Thomas - Atalanta
15. Diana Sands - Grandma
16. Jack Cassidy & Shirley Jones - Girl Land
17. Bobby Morse & Marlo Thomas - Dudley Pippin And His No-Friend
18. Marlo Thomas - Glad To Have A Friend Like You
19. The New Seekers - Free To Be... You and Me (Reprise)