Eugene Sings!
Eugene Sings! is a musical album, from Tyndale Entertainment and Focus on the Family. It features songs written and sung by Will Ryan, voicing Eugene Meltsner from the Adventures in Odyssey radio drama.
A Christmas album, Eugene Sings! Christmas, was later made in 2005.
Track listing
- A Very Short Song (0:16)
- Fleebo the Dog Presented at Court (0:41)
- Have You Ever Been to Odyssey? (2:50)
- I Just Met a Girl Named Katrina (1:23)
- I'll Never Sneeze Again (2:41)
- Lift Up Your Heads! (3:10)
- Love One Another (1:54)
- My Dog Has Fleas! (1:39)
- O-D-Y-double S-E-Y! (1:42)
- Play Me a Ukulele Tune (1:54)
- Prestidigitation Number One for Tenor Ukulele (0:50 (Instrumental))
- Pulchra Nympha Tu! (2:43)
- The 21st Century Model T Syncopators Attend a Spelling Bee (1:18)
- The Moonlight a Tuba and You (5:06)
- The Only Thing Missing is You (2:54)
- The Rose of Antelope Valley (4:24)
- Them Birds, Them Bees (4:24)
- BONUS TRACK (Merged into track 17): Them Birds, Them Bees (4:24)
Eugene's Commentary
On the Whitsend.org website, along with Connie Kendall's “review” was a section where Eugene did a written commentary about the album, with previews of the music as he mentioned the songs. It read as follows:
| “ | Greetings and Salutations!
Recording this CD was more than enjoyable, it was Ultrasuprame- gamagnahyper- humungofunacious! And if that isn't already the name of a song by my producer Will Ryan, then it will be soon! I really loved recording all of the amazing songs on this CD and I hope you love hearing them! Be sure to read on for previews of songs in this first album! Here are a few of my comments on each one of these calliphonic cantabulations: This musical tribute to my hometown is the only recording in this collection in which you can hear actual ocarinas! Special thanks to The Gazebo Band, an award-winning assemblage of tuneful village green flaneurs and ascensionists. To get to the recording session, they had to fly all the way in from Rancho Cucamonga! Luckily, the Lair recording studio has a flat top, so the band could avoid traffic snarls by parking their balloon on the roof! (Preview of “Have You Ever Been to Odyssey?”) I always use this song to tune my Kokomo Ukulele. Some “ukesters” (my latest neologism) employ pitch pipes, but I find this tune is much catchier. You can tell I didn’t write this song because the lyrics include the word ain’t. (Preview of “My Dog Has Fleas!”) The fact that this may be the most exhilarating track on this CD has very little to do with me. But it has very much to do with everybody else, especially The Jubilo Singers with featured soloists Elaine, Janine and Francine Martin! People always like to quote Psalm 23. I just thought it was time to move on …to the next psalm! (Preview of “Lift Up Your Heads!”) |
” |
Review
On the Whitsend.org website, soon after its release, the album was “reviewed” by Connie Kendall. The article read as follows:
| “ | Miss Kendall recently reviewed Eugene Sings, and this is what she had to say:
“WOW! Talk about a classic! When was the last time you heard a catchy tune in Latin! But, hey, that's not all. Eugene Sings! cleverly covers all styles of music--from 60's pop to gospel to imaginary duck ragtime. (If only there were a vibrant, female voice to round out the mix, this CD would be perfect!) I give it three and half tubas!” Eugene assumes that the three and a half tubas rating she bestows upon the CD is out of a possible three. Also, Eugene suggested lifting out the word ‘Perfect!’ from her more nuanced wording and using only that one word for her review, maybe with a few extra exclamation points...for balance. |
” |
Eugene Live!
On July 11th, 2005, a concert was held at the Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was free to attend and featured Will Ryan, the Kokomo Kinderchor (A children's choir), an interview with Will Ryan and Paul McCusker , a prize giveaway, and an autograph signing session.
Fans eagerly await for the doors to be opened at the Eugene Live! event.
Will Ryan played a tenor ukulele, the soprano ukulele, and the 12-string guitar during the performance.
The Kokomo Kinderchor (a children's choir) performed on "Love One Another" and "Lift Up Your Heads."
Producer Marshal Younger answers questions while fans wait to get autographs.
Eugene himself visited the concert.
Many fans won prizes by looking under their seat for special tickets.
The Adventures in Odyssey video games were among the prizes.
After the show, Will signed dozens of autographs for Adventures in Odyssey fans.
Thanks to Michael Hettick for these two photos
Resources
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