From
the personal website of John Frame, Brisbane,
Australia –
last
updated 25th August 2026
A select few late 50’s
vinyl records for children which I loved as a child:
reading and singing selections from A.A. Milne’s “When We Were Very Young” (World Record Club Childrens
Series)
reading and singing selections from A.A. Milne’s “Now We Are Six” (World Record Club Childrens
Series)
and
also reading
and singing selections from “Hans Christian Andersen” (World Record Club Childrens
Series)
“Capt Burl Ives’ Ark”
(1958 Decca vinyl LP) and the 78rpm single from that album: “Quack, Quack, Paddle-Oh! / Bongo And His Baboon Drum”.
See below for details of cover art, sleeve notes mp3 track selections
and access to the full mp3’s of my carefully restored transfers from vinyl.
Read the appreciative comments for assurance
that this is a safe page and genuine information.
David Tomlinson reading and singing “When We Were
Very Young”
World
Record Company 45rpm E.P.
This record is one that was a favourite
for my mother, as well as for myself and most of my siblings.
In December 2002 my mother commented that she really
would love to hear this record again (our copy had been lost to a roadside
cleanup by an overzealous father). This is an exceptional recording that should
remain available to future generations – and enjoyed by everyone with a taste
for romance and whimsy.
I had checked everywhere on the internet and the only
reference I found was where I was fortunate in purchasing a quite good
condition copy (from
I’ve used my best digital skills, and put in about 60
hours of work, to clean up the recording and it sounds marvelous. Click here to listen to “Buckingham
Palace” as a 128kbps mono mp3 (1minute 45 seconds, 2mb).
I’m happy to
give the complete recording to anyone who is keen (email
me and request the URL for downloading the 11mb 128kps mono mp3 ). Nearly
everyone who looks for this recording is doing so because it is a distinct
joyful memory from their childhood, and I’m especially interested in knowing
why people want to hear it, as well as how they have responded to hearing my restoration.
To me it’s a memory trigger as effective as eating a favourite
food from childhood. Further below I’ve included kind comments from people
around the globe who’ve enjoyed hearing this record again (or for the first
time).
Click each image for 200dpi full size images (approx
100k each)
Full
Cover text (with
the name of composer H Fraser Simson corrected):
WHEN WE WERE
VERY YOUNG
Poems by A.A. Milne – Music by H. Fraser-Simson
Featuring DAVID TOMLINSON,
With the
Conducted by Cyril Ornadel
SIDE ONE
Halfway Down
Politeness
Hoppity
The King’s Breakfast
SIDE TWO
Disobedience
Jonothon Jo
Happiness
Vespers
Featuring DAVID TOMLINSON. With the Westminster
Concert Orchestra, conducted by Cyril Ornadel.
Musical Arrangements by John Gregory.
Music by H. Fraser-Simson.
Lyrics by A. A. Milne.
A.A. Milne’s verses occupy a very special place in the
affections of all who are young in heart— and never more so than when matched
with the delightful music of H. Fraser-Simson. This record of nine of the
best-loved poems and songs is the one that was hailed in the British press as
one of the finest children’s discs ever made. It is one of the World Record
Club’s exclusive series that won the London Evening News’ special award in open
competition in the children’s class.
This is a simple, gentle, bedtime
recording, beautifully spoken and sung by David Tomlinson, well-known
British film actor and comedian. A father himself, Tomlinson has the rare
ability to talk intimately to small children on their own level without
appearing patronising.
On this disc, H. Fraser-Simson’s famous music has been
specially re-arranged by John Gregory. The accompaniment is by the full-sized
Westminster Concert Orchestra, conducted by Cyril
Ornadel, who is musical director of the famous London Palladium.
ANOTHER WORLD RECORD CHILDREN’S SERIES
With Dick
Bentley and John Gregory and his Orchestra
The Children’s
Record Guild of Australia
E.P. SPEED
45 CG7
In June 2010 I
bought a near mint Australian pressing of this vinyl from Vinyl Solutions in
Melbourne and then spent about 40 hours in digital restoration fixing each of
the thousands of extraneous noises. I had never heard this record before, but
it is a truly wonderful performance and production. Hear a sample track, my
immediate favourite, “The Knight Whose
Armour Didn’t Squeak” as a 128kps mono mp3 (3minutes 14seconds, 3mb).
I’m happy to
give the complete recording to anyone who is keen (email
me and request the URL for downloading the 14mb 128kps mono mp3 ).
Total duration: 14m 14s
Click each image for 200dpi full size images (approx
400k each)
Full
Cover text:
“The Best Of A. A. Milne”
With Dick Bentley and John Gregory and his
Orchestra
The Children’s
Record Guild of Australia
E.P. SPEED
45 CG7
Side A:
1. The End
(0:35) (poem)
2. Twice Times
(2:10) (song)
3. A Thought
(0:24) (poem)
4. The
Emperor’s Rhyme (2:33) (song)
5. The Friend
(1:23) (song)
Side B:
6. Sneezles (1:51) (song)
7. Wind On The Hill (0:38) (poem)
8. The Knight Whose Armour Didn’t Squeak (3:14)
(poem)
9. Furry Bear
Song (1:23) (song)
The secret of
A. A. Milne seems to be his unerring instinct for reaching the very heart of
childhood. His characters, from Pooh Bear onward, act, talk, think and react
just as children expect them to do… with a devastating logic and candour that
only children seem to possess – and only too rapidly lose!
Even the
characters (not even excepting Christopher Robin) who seem at times
inconsequential; or those who seem much too subtle for children to appreciate,
awaken a ready response - and this above all is a measure of Milne’s genius.
In this
recording, Dick Bentley sings his favourite songs, and
tells his favourite verses from Milne’s “Now We Are Six” – with original music
written by John Gregory, and with an engaging commentary between the items that
makes the record very much more than a mere recital. Dick Bentley’s voice and
personality are ideally suited to the purpose – warm and confiding – and there
will be few children who do not come to cherish this recording as one of their
best-loved.
Previous
recordings of A. A. Milne’s works: “The Hums of Pooh” with Norman Shelley;
“When We Were Very Young” with David Tomlinson; are available from World Record
Club on R.4 and R.53. Items on “When We Were Very Young” include:
They’re Changing Guards at Buckingham Palace; The King’s Breakfast;
Disobedience; Jonothan Jo; Vespers etc.
The Children’s
Record Guild of Australia sponsored by World Record Club Pty. Ltd., 330
Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Australia.
Dick Bentley reading and singing “Hans
Christian Andersen”
World
Record Company 45rpm E.P.
My great thanks to Alice Lamy for bringing this fine
record to my attention at a time when a near mint copy was still available from
the same source in
I’m also happy
to give this complete recording to anyone who is keen (email
me and request the URL for downloading the 11mb 128kps mono mp3 ). Further below I’ve included kind comments
from people around the globe who’ve enjoyed hearing this record again (or for
the first time).
Click each image for 200dpi full size images (approx
400k each)
Full
Cover text:
Hans
Christian Andersen
With DICK BENTLEY
The Four-in-a-Chord Vocal group and Orchestra,
Specially arranged and conducted by John Gregory.
Produced by Cyril Ornadel.
Interpreted by Dick Bentley
The World Record
EP Speed 45 CZ51
SIDE ONE
“I’m Hans
Christian Andersen”;
“Thumbelina”;
“The King’s New Clothes”.
SIDE TWO
“The Ugly Duckling” (hear
a 128kps mono mp3 of this song);
“The Inch Worm”;
“Wonderful Copenhagen”.
Andersen –
Teller of Tales
In the golden days of childhood, when the world was a
place where everything was probable and nothing impossible, the Danish
shoemaker’s son, Hans Christian Andersen, wove his magic web of words end
conjured up the Ugly Duckling, the Snow Queen, Thumbelina, Inch Worm and the
King who wears invisible clothes.
A few years age, Samuel Goldwyn, one of she great names in film production, decided in make a movie
about his
childhood hero — Hans Christian Andersen — with Danny Kaye in the title role.
And one of
Dick Bentley, the Australian entertainer who has
become one of the greatest stars of B.B.C. variety, both in radio and
television, has been chosen as the ideal interpreter for the fascinating songs
on this Club release. On his way from
Later, with the remarkable success of the B.B.C.
comedy show, “Take It From Here”, his name became a
house-hold word throughout the English speaking world.
The Four-in-a-Chord singing group which features in the special vocal
arrangements on this disc is a combination well known in British radio and
television. They are talented, they are versatile, and, as these songs
demonstrate, they have just what it takes for child entertainment.
Children’s records deserve the finest artists. For this reason, the World
Record Club release of “Hans Christian Andersen” presents not only top-tine
vocalists but also uses an orchestral backing from a full
scale theatre orchestra, the Westminster Concert Orchestra, conducted by
brilliant young musician John Gregory. And the whole production is supervised
by Cyril Ornadel, the best known musical director in
the British stage world today.
The Club’s
series of children’s recordings, of which “Hans Christian Andersen” is a first class example, won an award in open competition for
recordings of the highest merit in child entertainment.
“Listen
To The Wind” by Dick Bentley
and others
World Record Club Childrens’
Series (Australian pressing) # CH2 (released 1956)
|
|
|
|
|
Click each small image of
the front and back of the ep cover to view a detailed 200dpi 12cm x 12cm jpg
file:
Here’s the full text from the back cover:
E.P. Speed 45 CH2
LISTEN TO THE WIND
A musical play for children, with lyrics and music by
Vivian Ellis.
SIDE ONE I’m a Naughty Gale Bird
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Timothy’s Under the Table (hear this song as a 128kps mono 2Mb 2 minute mp3)
SIDE TWO When I Grow Up
The Bread and Butter Song
Listen to the Wind
Featuring Dick Bentley, Vanessa Lee, Virginia Somers
and Joan Hovis. Orchestrations and Vocal Arrangements from the original West
End, London, Production. Conducted by Cyril Ornadel.
“Listen to the Wind” is the children’s own musical,
with lots of simple and gay tunes and lyrics by Vivian Ellis, who wrote such
famous stage shows as “Bless the Bride”.
Recounting the story of its success, Vivian Ellis
recently said: “When my old friend and collaborator Ronald Jeans told me his
daughter had written a children’s play, and could she send it to me with a view
to writing some songs for it, my heart sank. But not for long! The play duly
arrived, and I was enchanted with it. It was first performed at the Oxford
Playhouse and was immediately bespoken by three West
End managers. Eventually it was acquired by the London Arts
Theatre, and became a hit-show overnight.”
The London Star’s famous theatre critic Robert Wraight
wrote of it: “Move over, Peter Pan, Cinderella, St. George and the Dragon! You,
too, Noddy! Make room for your newest rivals, Emma, Harriet and Jeremy—a
youthful trio by whose adventures you can’t fail to be enthralled!”
The three children are among the most delightful
characters you could wish to meet. The story tells how they were kidnapped,
with their grandmother, from their home in East Anglia, rescued by the Gale
Birds, and taken to the Kingdom of the Winds. There, they are captured by
Thunder Cloud, but eventually are rescued again and
finally restored happily back to their family and home.
That’s all you need to know to be able to listen to
the delightful songs on this record. The Gale Birds— messengers of the
winds—are summoned up by the youthful adventurers by a twice-chanted “Listen to
the Wind”. But one of the birds (a squadron-leader, at that!) falls into
disgrace because he contracts cramp. Hence the catchy song “I’m a Naughty Gale
Bird”.
“Timothy’s Under the Table”, “When I Grow Up” and
“Listen to the Wind” itself have very strong melodies—which, of course, is just
right for children, who like a tune that they can begin to sing immediately.
The orchestra on this lovely little disc is conducted
by Cyril Ornadel, which in itself is a guarantee of
quality.
ANOTHER WORLD RECORD – CHILDREN’S SERIES
World Record Club – Finest On
Record
World Record Club Pty. Ltd., 330 Flinders Lane,
Melbourne, C.1., Phone MB5114
Burl Ives childrens records from 1954 and 1958:
As a young child my parents bought us the 1955 Australian pressed
78rpm single "Bongo And His Baboon Drum / Quack, Quack,
Paddle-Oh!", which was my favourite 78rpm. In January 2005 I bought an
average condition, yet listenable, Australian pressing on the “Columbia” label (#KO-1017) of the 78rpm
10” shellac “double A Side” single by
Burl Ives with orchestra conducted by Jimmy Carroll:
Bongo
And His Baboon Drum” (Susan Otto and William R Mayer -
Columbia Control)
Hear a pristine
128kps mono 5mb mp3 of these two songs, taken from my
carefully restored transfer from a near-pristine imported USA pressing of the
17 track 33 1/3 RPM vinyl LP “Capt. Burl
Ives’ Ark” (Decca DL8587) which I imported in January 2007. I've put a lot
of work into make it sound as perfect as possible, and it is a true
“High-Fidelity” record. Capt Burl Ives' Ark has never been released on CD, and is almost impossible to find on vinyl.
To hear my 128kps mono 40mb mp3 of the complete restored Capt Burl Ives’ Ark record, then please
email
me requesting the URL.
I have included further below the complete text from the back of
the LP, and also scanned images of the album cover art
- click each of these small images to go to a 12cm x 12cm 200dpi jpg file:
Full
text from the back cover of the LP:
Decca Records DL 8587 LONG PLAY 33 1/3 RPM
Capt. Burl Ives’ Ark
FOLK SONGS WTH GUITAR
SELECTIONS INCLUDE:
Side One
1.
THE SQUIRREL Schmertz
1.
THE BESTIARY Arr: Burl Ives
Burl Ives’ appeal to children is so
well known, that we need not comment. In these
17 songs, Burl has made a selection of
a wonderful miscellany of animal stories and songs. He has picked them from 3
sources — some are of today’s
vintage, written by some of the best writers in the children’s field — merry
and gay, with the sound of
contemporary music. Some are from the pen of Burl Ives himself — Some are Burl’s versions of the old
classics.
The songs to which Burl Ives wrote both words and
music are THE TENOR DOODLE-DOO, OLD MOBY DICK. MY OLD COON DOG and MISSOURI MULE.
Burl wrote the music for, and arranged in poetic form,
the list of animals in THE BESTIARY.
PROPER
CARE OF THIS RECORD will prolong its life and increase your listening
enjoyment: Keep in special protective polyflex envelope
when not in use; avoid handling playing surface; wipe with soft, slightly damp
cloth; set phono for proper needle and turntable speed; check needle frequently
for wear – if defective it can permanently damage record.
This
DECCA Long Play Microgroove Record can be played only on 33 1/3 RPM instruments.
“Decca”,
“D” symbol, “Gold Label Series”, “Deccalite” and “New
World Of Sound” are the registered trademarks of Decca
Records, Inc. Printed in U.S.A.
Comments from the small band of passionate folk
from around the world who determinedly sought out these recordings which are
not only key audio mementos of their own childhood experience, but also valued
gems which they hope their grandchildren will as lovingly embrace:
James
Tomlinson (youngest son of David Tomlinson, to whom I had
posted “hard copies” of my files on CD, by request) on 23rd February
2013 wrote:
Dear John
Your fabulous package arrived quite some time ago but I have been away so much.
Brother David is mentioned in the recording as you
know.
My Mum told me that Dad recorded it very very quickly!
It is the most remarkable work that you have done.
Thank you so much and thank you for taking the trouble
to send me the copies.
Kind regards -
James
Brian Sibley,
(England, UK) – 4th June 2012
(Brian is an acclaimed and prolific BBC radio author, producer and presenter as per: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Sibley
). He wrote:
Hi, John,
Thank you for
all these! The Tomlinson is total joy!
Just for your
information, the sleeve credit is wrong in that Harold Fraser-Simson spelled
his name without a 'p'. I have just taken part in a programme about HF-S that
is to be broadcast later this month.
Also much
enjoyed the Bentley recordings – as a child I used to listen to DB in the BBC
radio comedy show, Take it From Here. The restorations are fantastic.
I was also very
pleased to have the David Davis/Norman Shelley recording… DD ('Uncle David')
had a wonderful storytelling voice that I loved from my childhood listening to
what was then a daily radio show on the BBC called Children's Hour. My
very first radio programme was a 50th birthday celebration of Winnie-the-Pooh
(1976) and I had the privilege of working with Norman Shelley who provided the
voices of Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore for me.
Thanks also for
the Bentley HCA, the Juliet Mills Alice (within Addinsell's
charming music) and Burl Ives fab animal songs.
Martin Griffith on 25th August 2026 wrote:
Thank you so much for this recording. It is of course one of the
earliest memories of a recording I have. I was 3 or 4 when my father got it. My
mother would play it regularly to me. I remember every word.
I think your cleanup of tye track
makes it very good to listen to. I was expecting various clicks and pops but
nothing.
That sounds like some nice equipment you have there.
Thanks again. I shall enjoy having it.
Anne Okkerse on 9th August 2021 wrote:
Dear John,
It is even better than I hoped for! I sit here with tears in my eyes, listening
to his lovely voice. It’s so tranquille and
reassuring.
The quality of the recording is fantastic. And with astonishment I read your
account of the work you did.
It just sounds perfect and very clear without cracks.
I'm looking forward to sing along with my child
in the future. I feel I'm ready for the next generation!
I'm now going to listen to 'The Best of A.A.Milne'.
I don't know how to express how happy I am with this. But believe me I write this with a huge smile on my face.
Many greetings,
Anne
Susan Hirschfield (of Vermont, USA) on 11th December 2020 wrote:
Hi John,
Thank you so much!
I managed to download the MP3 and
burn it to a CD (no small feat for me, my first time trying to do this!) The
sound quality is amazing, and it is just as I remember it, although the
recording we had also included the poem Disobedience sung in a song.
I do hope my granddaughter will
enjoy it as much as my son did!
Thank you again. I can’t tell you
how much I appreciate your quest to find this recording and making
it available to others who share the fond childhood memories of listening to
this.
Sincerely,
Susan Hirschfeld
Kirsten Diack (of New Zealand) on 8th November 2020 wrote:
Hi!)
I have stumbled across your page while I have been looking for an audio version
of my favorite record as a child. As a child my father (very tech
minded) had speakers installed in my brothers and in my bedrooms and we
would get to request a record to be played at bedtime. I’m sure this was done
to save my parents from having to read to us.
My favorite was always A.A.Milne. And listening to the couple of recordings
you have put up I know all the words. We had (and I still have) the record.
Side one had When We Were Very Young AND now We Are
Six, with side two having The House at Pooh Corner and The Hums of Pooh. I
don’t ever remember listening to that side of it.
Anyway, fast forward through my childhood and teen
years, I had children (and the record), and it became their favorite to listen
to as well. I have very few records left but I have always kept my A.A.Milne record with me. Alas I
now don’t own a record player, so can’t even copy it nor do I know what the
quality of the record would be now.
And now my daughter is having a baby. We were just
singing the songs around the table the other week after I dug out my A.A.Milne poem book to add to the babys bookshelf. But I cannot seem to find anywhere a copy
of the songs, only the spoken versions.
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get the URL to be able to download it as a gift for
my daughter.
On 9th November
2020 Kirsten added:
OMG! I ate breakfast this morning singing along to
these! How absolutely amazing that you did this. I had
sent my daughter a link to Buckingham Palace song late last night and she replied this morning very excited that I had found it. I
explained that I hadn’t, only that one song but I had emailed you.
To be honest I wasn’t expecting a reply, but now thanks to you I have the whole
album plus others! Super excited!
The music you sent through is franticly being saved to add to our Apple music
apps despite the husband having no clue what I’m so obsessed about. My daughter
thought everyone “old” had listened to it when they were young, but when she has
talked to people at work and their clients, no one has a clue what she’s
talking about. I’m so pleased you took the time and effort to do this so future
generations of children get to enjoy the brilliant work by A.A.Milne and everyone that worked on the record. Such
an amazing piece of work that is miles away from the mass
produced rubbish put at these days. It’s so heart-warming and harmless
fun that you don’t get to see in today’s world.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Kirsten
LaDonna Winner (of Indiana, USA) on 17th November 2019 wrote:
Dear Mr. Frame,
Thank you so very, very much
for the opportunity to have this recording again. I lost my copy years ago and
bits of the wonderful songs have been crooning around in my mind ever since. I
am 87 years old and I brought my four children up on this record and they still,
in their graying years, refer to it. Now I have a chance to share all the songs
with them again and I am sure we will have a terrific sing-a-long!
And, oh, yes, a great-grandchild is in the future and will certainly hear what
will be unforgettable. Please tell me what I have to
do next to receive the music.
On
20th November 2019, after receiving my reply, LaDonna wrote:
Dear Mr. Frame,
Many thanks for the so welcome information you sent me
and many thanks for the work you did to save and gift this “When We Were Very
Young” to all who loved it who are lucky enough to have found your page.
Finding it turned out to be work, too, buried under all the Disney. But
what a thrill when I did find it! Now I will be
working to use the mp3 file.
Sincere thanks,
LaDonna Winner
Penny Clark 4th October 2017 wrote:
Dear John,
What an amazing job you have done on these recordings. I can well
imagine they took hours to do. They are just perfect and the songs such a joy to listen
too. I'm really delighted to have them. I'm going to see my granddaughter today
and will play them to her.
Thank you so much.
I had no problem listening to them on the URL. I'm making my way at
downloading them onto the computer so I can play it without being connected to
the web. I've done the first one ...not quite sure how I did it as I'm
struggling with the second one but it will come back
to me....or I'll get my son to help.
Anyhow many thanks again.
Penny
Nerida Farmer 5th February 2018 wrote:
Hello John
Just writing to say
thank you again for your generous sharing of your work. It's taken me a while
to get back to you, as I was using an old version of windows and couldn't
download the files. I have them now and it was lovely to hear in particular the David Tomlinson recordings.
I look forward to
playing to my granddaughter.
Regards
Nerida
Sarah Crossbrook 9th December 2018 wrote:
Thank you so very, very much for this terrific
recording!
I will treasure it!
All the best,
Sarah
Maggie Brady on
29th September 2017 wrote:
Thank you so much!!! It's truly a marvelous recording.
The sound quality is amazing. What a treasure for his family - I hear him
mention another son, David, on the record too. He must have been a very
affectionate father. I'm so excited to share this with my mother, it's so
wonderful! Thank you again!
Maggie B
Angela Rodd
(Melbourne, Australia) on 4th June 2017 wrote:
Hi John,
How wonderful to
find this album again! My little brother, ten years younger than me, used to
adore all the songs and the whole family knew them by heart. He will be 60 at the end of July and this will be a surprise gift. I can see us now, singing along with David
Tomlinson. I agree with your
correspondent who regretted the lack of musically interesting songs for children
these days. Don't get me started on The
Wiggles....
With best wishes and warmest thanks
for making "When we were very young" available again.
Angela Rodd
Melbourne
Alison Morrow on
1st June 2017 wrote:
Dear
John,
I have been
searching for this record for years. The eldest of six children brought
up listening to it most Sundays, it is an edible memory of our childhoods – but
one we thought was gone forever. Our mother loved AA Milne
and this record was bought for us when our parents could barely afford it.
It somehow disappeared years ago. We all hanker to hear it again
and pass it on to our grandchildren.
I can’t believe
your generosity in repairing the sound and passing it on. Our mother has
recently died, so this sound file will rain down a deluge of joy on us all.
Alison Morrow
Stephen Harrap
(Melbourne, Australia) on 15th March 2017 wrote:
Dear John
Tonight my 4 month-old
grandson sat listening to your recording. There was that undefinable something
about the mellifluous voice and the gentle music that captured his
consciousness I'm sure, however transiently. My 30 year-old
daughter was transfixed and transported to her own childhood.
Kind regards
Stephen Harrap
Greg Predmore
(USA) on 29th July 2016 wrote:
Years
ago I'd emailed you requesting the URL for David
Tomlinson's "When We Were Very Young."
It is definitely, as you say, a distinct joyful memory
of my childhood. I'd put it on a CD for my granddaughter who is now 8 and can
still sing some bits of some of the songs. Alas, the CD is gone, and the files
are in an external hard drive that has died.
By any small miracle is it possible for you to send me the URL again? I can
still recite most of "Disobedience" to my mother who is well into her
80s. Our dog likes to sit on the landing between the downstairs and upstairs,
and so I sing that to my granddaughter when we are sitting there petting the
dog.
I wish that children's records of this caliber were still being made. It
bothers me that somehow children are supposed to go directly from Raffi, et
cetera, to top 40. It seems that they ought to have a bit more of a childhood
in song.
Thank you so much for the work you put into it.
All the best,
Always!
Linden
Hall (Perth, Australia) on 12th July 2016 wrote:
Hi John
Just had to let you know that my brothers and Mum are
sitting here tonight having just listened to this album for the first time in
40 years – and we still knew all the words! Hard to believe that so many happy
memories could have come from just 10 minutes 57 seconds. Thank you so much for
sharing it with us!
Regards
Linden Hall
Geoff
Pitts (Australia) on 19th June 2016 wrote:
Thank you John. I have downloaded the recording as an mp3. It was great to hear the whole
thing in such clarity. I certainly appreciate your work.
Regards,
Geoff
Chris Ryan on 28th May 2016 wrote:
Thank you John
I can appreciate the
work you put into this.
I used to listen to
this when I was a child. Listening to it now I don't
think I've missed a word yet!
Something I would
like my grandchildren to listen to also.
Thanks again
Catherine Nicolson on 8th April 2016 wrote:
Hi John - many
thanks for sending me the mp3 of 'Listen to the Wind' music. I've
thoroughly enjoyed listening to it, and it's much closer to my musical memories
of the live performance that I watched when I was a child. You've done a
brilliant editing job too. I've only been looking for this music for the
past thirty years, so many thanks again for enabling me to hear it, in such a
lively rendition. It doesn't seem that modern singers and actors can put
across a song in the way they used to do! The variety of interpretation,
the dynamics, clear diction and recording quality are absolutely
right for the material.
All the best,
Catherine
Beverly
Chieffo on 15th March 2015 wrote:
Dear John:
I am so grateful for your generous offer
to download the A.A.Milne
works from your mp3 files. I received your letter and felt unsure of the
downloading process so I called upon my dear
granddaughter, Hannah and sent her the URLs. She then
made a CD for me with the selections and I finally got
it and played it! I enjoyed them all, but the one that really warmed my heart
was the David Tomlinson “When We Were Very Young” record.
I can’t tell you what this means to me to
be able to hear once more the delightful renderings that charmed my sons so
long ago and will now delight any young person who comes to visit me. I thought
it was going to be impossible to ever have these songs again, but now, thanks
to your ingenuity, hard work and generosity, I will continue to enjoy them
forever.
What a wonderful service you have provided
for those like me who remember with nostalgia, these enchanting poems and
songs. You are a very special person and I can’t thank
you enough.
Most sincerely,
Beverly Chieffo
Jeneva Storme on
25th January 2015 wrote:
Thank you so
much, this takes me back so far, to a very happy part
of my childhood. My daughter is going to be thrilled as well because she
enjoyed these as a child as much as my generation and
the one before me.
Alex Lobo,
(Spain) on 12th May 2014 wrote:
Dear John,
Thank you very much for your
generosity. I did receive the mp3 file attached to your email and I love the
record. Besides, the sound quality of your remastering is striking.
Best regards,
Alex Lobo
Penny Sowter,
(Australia) on 16th July 2013 wrote:
Dear
John,
Thank you so much for these wonderful recordings, which certainly do bring with
them a buzz of reconnecting with fond childhood memories. I have
listened, spellbound, to When we were very young, and it filled me with that
pure delight of my three year old self, eager to sing
and talk along with David Tomlinson, march with Christopher Robin, Alice and
the soldiers, moo out "I didn't really mmmmmmmmwean
it!" and pretend to slide with the king down the bannister. Having drunk
in the whole fabulous lot, I couldn't wait to replay it....again,
just like the old days. My oh my, what a treasure!
This has obviously been a labour of love for you and I, along with many others,
am indebted to you for the painstaking hours you have devoted to recording,
resulting in amazingly good sound.
I agree that there is a magical quality to genial David T's performance and
it's a wonderful thing you have done in capturing that in mp3 form, sharing it
with like minds and helping to preserve it for future generations.
With smiles of gratitude,
Penny
Carl Smith, on 9th
June 2013 sent two requests:
I'm 55, and my Mum bought me this copy
when I was 6! Now I'm teaching
Literature, and my copy has gotten lost over time, would it be possible to
download this from you?
would be extremely grateful,
Carl
Smith.=
Yep,
another request. We used to live in the
country, Dad was a Principal/teacher, had 16 kids
between Grade 1-6' (including me), and Mum had found ordering via mail to be
quite good. This is the second one I
remember, if I'm correct, the last song 2nd side (furry bear song) used to have
some deep notes in it, and I used to cry every time, didn't stop me from
wanting to hear it again, tho'.
Which
I'd love to again, I can't believe you have a copy, please please
let me know the address to DL this, it'd be great to hear it again!
Regards,
Carl.
'=
Susan Edmond,
(Australia) – 29thMarch 2013 - wrote:
Dear John,
Thank you so very much for your prompt response to my email. I am overjoyed and
have sat listening and singing along to this beautiful recording. Such gorgeous
memories. I will now be able to play it to my granddaughter. It is so very kind
of you to share your hard work with people such as myself. Wonderful that you
could send a copy to the Tomlinson family. David did such a warm and endearing
recording, I simply adore it.
Thank you again John, much appreciated,
Cheers,
Susan Edmond
Marissa Walls – 18th
September 2012 - wrote:
Dear Mr. Frame,
It's nice to
find that someone has this copy. I recently found it on Ebay, but I was too impatient to wait for it. It is
difficult to find anything on David Tomlinson, except for Mary Poppins,
Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and The Love Bug. I am taking a World Cinema
class at my local college and I am glad that I found
this copy of When We Were Very Young so I can use it in my project that I am
doing on David Tomlinson. This is an awesome copy. It's very clear
to listen to and I love it a lot. I am also using it to help my 2 year old son go to sleep and it's helping too. Thanks for making
it available for many people to enjoy. Feel free to post this in your
comments section.
Sincerely,
Marissa Walls
Leslie Evers,
(USA) – 17thJune 2012 - wrote:
Dear John,
It is marvelous.
What a rush of memories this has brought back. Passing it on to the children of
my friends and children of my own age as well.
Thank you so much.
Leslie Evers
Jo Morrish,
(England, UK) – 9th May 2012 - wrote:
Hello John
Your images and downloads have brought tears to my eyes.
I have been trying to track a copy of Dick Bentley’s ‘When we were very Young’
for such a long time to share with my own children as my parents did with me. I
have old vinyl copies of these records and would love to get hold of a copy of all of your downloads.
The sound coming out of my speakers, sent shivers of
excitement down my spine and seeing the images of the records was quite
haunting as I remember them all with such fondness and love.
The Burl Ives records I would love to listen too as well
if you don’t mind. Again, his voice brings back such
beautiful memories of childhood that I would love to share with my own 3 boys.
If I am being too cheeky in asking for all downloads,
I will not mind at all. However, listening to Twice Times again would be quite
special.
I thank you with all of my
heart in anticipation.
Jo Morrish
Emile Pandolfi, (USA) – 27th
June 2011 - wrote:
Thank you,
John,
Yes i got the
files and was able to save them. How kind of you to share hem. The sound
quality is gorgeous - I know that took a good deal of careful work, and the
result is lovely.
Thanks again. I
shall enjoy these with my grand children.
emile
Sue Mathews, (UK) – 31st May
2011 - wrote:
Dear John,
Thank you so
much for taking time to do this. I am so grateful. Saving using Internet
Explorer was absolutely no problem.
Its about 60 years since I heard these
songs. As a child I used to have them on 78 rpm and i
would play them endlessly. I don't think it was Dick Bentley or David Tomlinson
on my original, but the sounds/songs and tunes sound very very
similar.
Now children
and grandchildren can benefit.
Many many thanks,
Sue
Christina Hall – 8th May
2011 - wrote:
I loved this as a kid and just seeing
the cover art made my heart skip a couple of times after all these years. If
you have a chance please send the url
so that I can download the whole EP and share it with my kids. The David
Tomlinson rendition is by far the best and I especially liked 'Disobedience'.
Thank
you!
Sandra Fairbanks, (USA) – 6th
May 2011 - wrote:
Thank
you so much! I am very happy to hear the songs again!
Sandy
Eric Julien, (USA) – 1st
May 2011 - wrote:
Dear John,
Thank you so
much for these files! My mother, who passed away three years ago, dearly loved
A. A. Milne poetry and read it to me as a child. She gave me the record by
David Tomlinson, which I accidentally melted under a hot desk lamp. I romanced
my wife by taking her out for a picnic in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and
recited poems from When We Were Very Young and Now We
Are Six. Both of my children grew up with the poetry, because I recited it to
them at bed time.
Your careful
restoration of the David Tomlinson recordings are
truly wonderful. They are extremely clean with no hint that they were once on
vinyl. I must confess that the Royal Wedding on BBC got me singing
"They're Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace" to my wife. I went
online and looked, very hopefully, tried to find a way to recover the lost
music when I found your site. The music is playing as I write this to you. A
control-click on my Macbook Pro gave me the option to
send the file directly to iTunes. Clean, simple and very easy.
Again, thank
you, thank you, thank you!
Eric Julien
Blanchard Weber, (USA) – 27th/30th
April 2011 - wrote:
Greetings,
and many thanks for maintaining this valuable site.
I grew up listening to (and singing) Milne's poetry and Fraser-Simson's musical
settings and would love to accept your kind offer of the URL(s) for downloading
"The Best of A. A. Milne" and "When We Were Very Young".
….
Many
thanks, John!
The recordings are just what I was looking for and technically above reproach
as well.
They will be duly burned to CD and saved for posterity.
(Let's hope that CD technology doesn't soon go the way of 78s and LPs.)
May you and all the others who preserve important bits of culture be eternally
rewarded!
Best regards,
Blanchard
Carole Michie, (NZ) – 3rd/4th
April 2011 - wrote:
Hi,
these
bought back memories for me and my 8 year old has just
fallen for AA Milne in a big way, so I’d love to share them with her. If you
could link me to the URL, I’d be very grateful.
…
Hi
John,
completely
fabulous. Thank you very much for bringing me back such treasured memories and
allowing me to share them. You are a hero.
Carole
Roland Verhoven, (UK) – 14th March
2011 - wrote:
Dear John
I have just come from singing Vespers to
my 7 year old daughter and she asked me about how I
learnt it; I
have a copy of the original record on your site, but alas it was accidentally
stepped upon by my father many years ago and though I have kept it, I cannot
access the wonderful music therein.
I would be grateful if you would let me
have the url to download the tracks from 'when we
were very young' as I am sure even the older kids will enjoy hearing these
songs in the format that originally enchanted me.
Many thanks.
Kind regards
Roland
“Nahantjen”, (USA?) – 15th/16th
February 2011 - wrote:
Hi,
I found online that you had converted these songs to MP3 format. I
wanted to know if you could send them to me. My father used to have this album
when he was young and I wanted to have it for my children
to listen to.
Thank You Again,
…
Thank you. It will be priceless to see my Dad's
face when the kids know the same songs he listened to
when he was young.
Steven Eiler, (USA) – 3rd
February 2011 - wrote:
Might
I have a copy of this recording, please? Milne's Pooh books are my favorite children's literature, and I'm just now
discovering that there is music to go with them, too! I am a composer (and
specifically a songwriter) myself, and would very much
like to hear how such songs have been arranged and performed. Thank you for
putting in all the time to make these recordings available!
-Steven Eiler
Claire Clorie, (Minnesota, USA) – 1st
and 2nd February 2011 -
wrote:
Hello John,
I’ve just come
across this website and am absolutely thrilled! My younger brothers
and I listened to these records back in the wonderful 50’s.
They bring back very fond and happy memories, especially of rainy days and
of the long snowy winters of Minnesota when we always had the records
going while working puzzles or playing with paperdolls.
I’ve been looking for these for over 7 years, when the grandchildren
started coming. Halfway Down the Stairs, The
Christopher Robin lullaby, and of course, “I only want a little bit of butter
for my bread”, which always confounds the people
around the table when I ask to pass the butter. This is an amazing,
wonderful gift and I thank you deeply.
I pray you and
yours are surviving the devastating flooding and cyclone threats and that the
sun will shine soon.
….
Oh John -
they're perfect!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just sent
them along to my little brothers in Minnesota. The yougest
one used to sing 1/2 Way to his kids when they were little. I know they
never expected in a million years to ever hear these wonderful gems
again. I can't wait to hear back from my brothers -Â Â they're not going to believe it.
…
You have
absolutely made my year!
Gratefully
Yours,
Claire
Megan Crowhurst, (Texas, USA) – 22nd
and 23rd January 2011 -
wrote:
Greetings,
I grew up on David Tomlinson’s recording of “When We Were Very Young”. It
was such a family favourite that it was the only recording that survived our
emigration from Oz to Canada in 1968. I enjoyed hearing
Buckingham Palace again, and
would very much like to have access to your recording, if possible.
…
It DOES sound great! Loved to death indeed. In the mid 60’s when I was
about 4, my mother often put me in what seemed then to be an enormous stuffed
chair in the lounge room and played this record. I’d sit enraptured,
listening to it, looking at the cover. Thank you so much for this
tremendous gift. I also enjoyed looking at the queer radio site; nice to
see how the younger set are carrying the torch.
All best,
Megan
Shari Steinberg, (Philadelphia, PA, USA) – 20th January 2011 -
wrote:
Hi
John!
How perfectly amazing that we are on opposite sides of the world, and we both
love AA Milne and want to share what we can. It is past 2 am, Thursday, Jan
20th, and I can barely go to bed, wanting to stay at my computer to listen and
sing along with the gift you just sent so generously.
I will share it onward to a friend for his 60th birthday tomorrow.
He is a wonderful baritone and might like to sing along too.
I hope that your countrymen can recover from the horrible floods. How can there
be such delight in one place, and such devastation elsewhere at the same time
too?
Again, thank you for your splendid work and the joy in bringing the world the
wonders of a 'hoppity hop' for our reminiscing and amusement.
"Little boy kneels," and maybe I'll go off now too.
Thank you so much!
Shari
Ted Martin – 10th
January 2011 - wrote:
Hi
I came across your site and nearly fell
out of my seat. This was one of my favorite albums when I was a kid. I still know all of
the songs by heart and sing them to my daughter, I would love to be able to download
the album and let her hear those songs as I did.
Thank you very much
Ted
Martin
Gerard Wong, (Singapore) – 10th
January 2011 - wrote:
Dear John
Hi, I'm Gerard from Singapore.
I chanced upon your website and was delighted to read that you have just the
recordings that my mother-in-law has been hunting for.
I would like to ask if you can send me the link to the two records ie
1. David Tomlinson's "When We Were Very Young" and
2. Dick Bentley singing 'Hans Christian Andersen"
I can't wait to put the recordings on a CD and then watch my mother-in-law's
face when I play it as a surprise for her.
Thank you so much in advance.
Yours sincerely
Gerard Wong
Isobel Clowes, (New Jersey, USA) – 3rd
January 2011 – wrote (nearly a year
after my first reply):
Dear John
Your email has been sitting in the in box since you were so kind to answer my
inquiry Re the songs. So this morning at the
crack of dawn. I opened it again! The recording is wonderful!
I would absolutely love having a copy. I
thank you for your kind offer and hope it still stands after all this
time!
My now 6 year old Granddaughter, Madison, and I
used to descend the stairs each day, when she was learning to come down sitting, singing the Stair Song--she was
"very young" too. She knew all the words and started singing as
well. She is the last and fourth of my two children and 2 grandchildren
to have enjoyed these songs. But I am forgetting the early days of my
teaching when I first discovered Christopher
Robin Saying his
Prayers in sheet music which I taught to my classes in Quebec just
after the War. I still have that!
When I thought that we had lost the music book, I went online a found early editions to replace it. Priceless to me.
As the years went on, she had her favourites for me to sing--my old voice
barely able to do justice to them.
Isobel Clowes
Adam Wilson, (Australia) – 2nd
January 2011 - wrote:
This was my favourite record
for bed-time as a child. I have spent weeks searching
for it – and have now found it. Thank you for posting The Knight Who’s Armour Didn’t Squeak – I
would appreciate the link to the full publication. My memory tells me that he
(or an actor with a similar voice – perhaps Ian Carmichael), also recorded the
Winnie-the-Pooh stories – do you have those too?
Best regards
Adam
Anne Marie
Whittaker, (USA) – 1st
December 2010 - wrote:
G'Day!
I'm writing
from Alexandria, VA USA (I'm just a few miles from Washington, DC).
I would very
much like to have the URL's for the records and God
bless you for offering this; it shall be my Christmas present for myself!
Hope you are
enjoying your spring and have a very happy holiday!
Anne
Marie Whittaker
Dan Hamill, (USA) – 27th/28th
November 2010 - wrote:
Hi,
I listened to David Tomlinson's
"When We Were Very Young" and Dick Bentley's "Hans Christian
Anderson" when I was young. I have been looking to find these to play for
my grandchildren.
Would you please forward a link to
download these recordings.
…
Thank you very much. I listen to these
and I'm 6 again.
Dan
Reg Gillard, (Australia) – 22nd
October 2010 - wrote:
John,
Thanks for the
feed.
We have a
meeting of oldies tomorrow and we are reliving some of their earlier Years.
Regards,
Reg
Barbara Schultz, (USA?) – 23rd
July 2010 - wrote:
My sisters and I listened to this album again and
again as children. I recently remembered singing Halfway Down while
sitting on my grandma's curved stairway and began to look for the music. I would so appreciate sharing it with my grandchildren. Thanks
for your willingness to share!
Barbara Schultz
Karen,
(USA?) – 22nd March 2010 - wrote:
I saw your
website and am deeply appreciative for your hard work restoring the
record. I would love to have this recording for my grandchildren. I
loved it as a child and played it for my children until the record was broken,
sadly. It was the most beautiful of all works written for
children and I am hopeful to continue the tradition!
Thanks,
Karen.
And
on 16th June 2010 she wrote:
Many thanks
John...I so enjoyed hearing them all again. I did notice some changes to
Disobedience from the original recording we had, but it just seemed like a
slightly faster version. It is incredible that I remember all the words
from my childhood...this is amazing work and God bless for sending this
out! I plan to share this with others so that it can be remembered
always. Karen
NB: I had told Karen
that the only embellishment I added was to enhance one “s” sound in the last
poem Vespers – in the line “and nobody
knows that I’m there at all”. My Luxman turntable has a stroboscope
pitch control and I made sure the pitch was perfect
while I recorded both sides of the record.
Oh you are so wonderful and generous
to make these recordings available and for free!! I would gladly pay for
them. Would you please send me a link for both When We Were Very Young and Hans Christian Andersen?
I too listened to them as a child in Vermont in the
1960's and don't think I have heard them for 35 or 40 years and still they
are fresh and funny and still make me want to listen. What a shame that they
are not in production. Your sound is amazing - probably much clearer than
I ever heard on our little phonograph in the upstairs hall playing our old scratched records. Thank you for your truly
monumental labor of love. I shall pass them on to my sisters and their
children to listen to and hopefully help create another generation of
children who loves something other than the
Disney versions of stories and fairy tales.
Yours Gratefully,
Thea in
Peter
Wilkes – 1st February 2010 - wrote:
I was delighted
when searching the web to find this superb record on your site. This was a firm
favourite in our home when I was young. Myself and my
two older brothers elder brothers used to march around
the house to
Now that we are all grown up (58, 55 and 46) I thought it would be nice to have
a copy of the recording for my own son. I would like to let him enjoy it to.
Please can you email me the link so I can download it, and
share this superb experience with him.
…
What can I say? Superb! Excellent quality on both recordings, I'm sure we will
have many hours of listening to these, me reminiscing, my boy laughing and
gurgling along, can't wait!
Many many thanks again,
All the best
Pete Wilkes
Valerie
Clowes,
Hi there,
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I
tripped over your web info about “When we were very young” –someone put a link
to it at Mudcat.org. Our family had this record when I was a child. My mother
also played piano and sang several songs from (her mother’s) book by the same
title, and also from Now We Are Six. I have the books
now, but don’t play piano.
If the old recordings are available for download I would truly love to hear these again!
Still shaking head in amazement,
And with a goofy grin on my face,
Valerie Clowes.
Paul
Freeman,
I'd be very grateful if you could send me
the link for this. I work at a Montessori school & the theme this term is
Celebrations & we'd like to mark A. A. Milne's birthday on Monday.
Paul Freeman.
…
You're very kind. We had them singing
along to '
Thanks again,
Paul.
I replied :
Hi
Paul,
Glad
to hear you all had a good time. After growing up with these AA
Milne recordings I can't read them and imagine them working in
any other arrangement. On the technical side, here's how I processed my
recordings of these vinyl records:
I
used a Luxman P284 direct drive turntable with Shure M92E cartridge, connected
to a Luxman L30 integrated circuit amplifier. All "vintage" 1970/80's
HiFi gear. The audio was transferred to PC via Line In and edited using
the CoolEdit2000 software program.
"CoolEdit2000"
was designed by Syntrillium as a very good quality
and low cost (~ US$100) version of their professional program "CoolEditPro". Adobe acquired Syntrillium
in 2003 and did away with the lower cost product, renaming the
professional product as "Audition" (now
US$350).
CoolEdit2000 was
sold as a basic single stereo file editor, but with the option to buy
add-on packs for multi-track editing (up to four simultaneous stereo tracks)
and for noise reduction. For both of these records I
used the noise-reduction features extensively - especially the option in the
"Click/pop/crackle eliminator" to carefully fix each individual
noise (pop, click etc - and there were several hundred on each), without
damaging the integrity of the original recording.
These
are mono records which were played using a stereo cartridge and sometimes a
noise is only in the left or right channel, and to fix
it you copy the audio from the clean channel to both. At other times you
can copy the split second before the unwanted noise and paste it over the
damaged area. It's a small victory to fix a glaringly obvious noise to the
point where no-one could ever tell it existed in the
first place.
Most
(if not all) of the automatic audio cleaning programs are quite
indiscriminate - they cannot accurately distinguish between the range of
unwanted noises and the audio which was meant to be there, and if you
do adjust the program to automatically eliminate all of the
audible noises, the end result is often unpleasant at best.
Martin
Griffith – 1st October 2010 - wrote:
Hi John,
Thank you so
much for the files. You have done an excellent job with cleaning up the files.
My parents were members of the world record club and
we had the 7" disks. When I sing these songs or recite the poems I always remember the extra bits from the
records. When my children were little I used to
sing the songs to them myself. I did have one of the disks which had survived
but it was not in great condition. I am very pleased that someone has taken the
time to restore them. Using a book is not the same because half the fun is
singing the song version.
To download the
files on the Mac it is exactly the same. ie. right click (They may look like a single button mouse but the current ones are not. People with older single
button mice should simply hold down control while the click) The files can be
imported to iTunes or Quicktime.
I thought there
was also a red disk which had some Winnie the Pooh songs. I was wondering aloud
"What did happen on Friday?" to my daughter and her 4 week old son today. Oh bother, I remember it well and I
think David Tomlinson say it too.
Regards
Martin Griffith
Carol
Hardiment,
Hi
I am living with my Granddaughter,
her husband & 2 Great Grandchildren and I would love to have the complete
record of "Dick Bentley - Hans Christian
Andersen". I really would appreciate the link and if possible, also the
link for the record "David Tomlinson - When We Were Very Young".
Thank you so much for your help and co-operation
Kind Regards
Carol
Esther
Howe,
Hi there,
I would love to download this album. I listened to it as a child and would like
to share it with my kids. :)
…
It's a lovely
recording. Thank you very much for all your work cleaning it up and getting it
into digital format.
Best,
Esther
Esther Howe
Kay
Russell – 5th January 2010 - wrote:
Dear John,
I have been
searching for ages for the records from the World Record Club that we listened
to as children. Tonight I stumbled upon your work and am delighted, no,
thrilled to find it. Please send me the URLs for When We Were Very Young and also for Hans Christian Anderson. Do you have any
others? In particular I remember records on the lives
of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin.
Waiting in excited anticipation, Kay.
PS. I have never downloaded or listened to MP3s so if there are any
instructions I need to follow please let me know.
Thanks.
Pat
Griffin,
Hello,
Wow, I’m so lucky to have found you!
I am 52 years old and *still* have these songs in my head. I had the 33 album in the
US as a child, with the Hans Christian Andersen songs
on one side and the Milne songs on the other… I would
so appreciate
you forwarding me
the links to both of these!
....
Wonderful - thanks so much! These
are the exact recordings of my childhood, with even better sound quality!
Your hard work in restoring these
recordings is much appreciated!
Happy Holidays,
Pat
Maggie
Kent – 16th November 2009 - wrote:
Dear John
Thank you so much for your incredibly prompt
response and fantastic recording. I can barely believe that I now have a copy
of a cherished childhood memory and can share the wonderful recording, not only
with my own children, who are now teenagers, but with my new pupils at primary
school. Know that through your careful work and generous gift a whole new
generation will be able to enjoy these poems and stories afresh.
Very many thanks
and best wishes
Maggie
John,
Thanks for the reply! So here is the
deal, I was using IE, not firefox but for some reason
the Save Target As was not available from the email.
Quick time player set itself as the default player for those files and I
think that may have had something to do with it. I opened Windows Media
Player and selected File… Open URL and pasted the link in there. It
started playing and as it was playing I could choose
file Save As in Media player and got it to save locally! Wanted you to
know in case someone else runs into eh same problem.
This IS the record I had as a child and I
LOVED it. Not sure if you are gay, but I am guessing so from the Queer
Radio website (great stuff), but I am, and grew up to
be a performer in Musical Theatre. I listened to and sang along with
these albums constantly as a child. When our family home was sold, this
is one of the records that got given or sold away. At the time it was no
big deal but now that my husband and I have a daughter (3 ˝) I have been
hunting for a copy of this album since the day she was born. You have NO
idea how many thrift stores I hunted through!
WHAT A JOY to be able to share this with
her and tell her daddy used to listen this when he was
young. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
All my best!
Christina
and Denis Daly,
Dear
Mr Frame,
Thank
you for the links. Your generosity in putting in all the hours of work and then
passing it on freely to others is much appreciated and will no doubt produce a ‘ripple effect’ that will delight many
children in years to come.
I
loved hearing ‘The King’s Breakfast’ again with David Tomlinson’s wonderful
character voices, and my other personal favourites are ‘Disobedience’ and
‘Halfway Down’.
The
Hans Christian Anderson songs are great fun and very uplifting.
My
husband has just gone off to post a CD of the songs to our little granddaughter
Tilly (Matilda), and we have included a note saying how special these are, with
an outline of all the work you have done to make these available.
Hopefully
she will love listening to them as well.
Thank
you once again,
Christina
Carolyn
Schlemmer, Ohio, USA – 20th September 2009 - wrote:
Dear John,
When my sister and I were very young, we listened to this exact recording (in vinyl
of course) and it turned both of us into lifelong
raging anglophiles. I have hunted and hunted for it for my
grandchildren. Listening to "Changing Guard at
Carolyn Schlemmer
Sheila
Wilner, NY, USA – 31st
August 2009 - wrote:
Dear John,
Thank you for such a speedy reply and
accompanying treasure! My mother read me these poems when I was little
and 65 years later, I love them just as much. The music is absolutely charming and the artists are perfect. If
only there were more such offerings for children of all ages.
Congratulations on your magnificent
endeavors.
(…)
I'll never get to sleep........I've been
singing Hans Christian Anderson all evening!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Most sincerely,
Sheila
Laura P. Fernández,
Dear Mr. Frame,
You have made a dream come true. My sister and I have
been looking for this album since forever. She is an
avid Mudcatter and just sent me your link.
Those songs go so very far back in our lives (I'm 61) and they float in and out of my mind. Thank you for making
this "whimsy" available. I would be grateful if you could send me the
attachment of the file.
(…)
Thank you so much for this very speedy reply. I have
saved the files and am enjoying them already.
I also remember the Danny Kaye record very clearly.
Sadly, all these treasures had been lost along the way, until now.
Thanks again and best of luck in your endeavors.
Laura
Matt Hamlin (UK)
– 21st July 2009 - wrote:
That's so kind
of you John, And it IS a very good piece of
restoration! I don't do any restore work myself ( my
wife does photos) but I am a network engineer so
appreciate what you're up against. I don't think the original record was
as clear when it was brand new!!
My wife has a
childhood book of AA Milne poems so I couldn't wait to play her this! I used to
tell her about it but I don't think it sunk in until
now.
…
My family also
had a World Record Club Hans Christian Anderson record - it had the
"I'm Hans Christian Anderson" song on it. You know I can't remember
the others! I think this record became unplayable when I was old enough to hear
it ( I'm the last of 5 children so I think my siblings
wore it out ).
There was also
a 45RPM ( World Record Club? I don't know?) called
Songs Of The Sea.
Don't know if
you know it.
Don't know if
you're interested but a family friend used to buy me the Thunderbird and
Stingray records. It is to my regret that they are no more. Nevermind I guess. You may remember how expensive
records used to be. Phew! They were some presents!
Good luck with
this restoration but I don't think you need any luck given the quality of this.
many thanks
again - you really have resurrected this work for another generation and
probably more..
Matt
Heather Doyon
(Australia) – 16th July 2009 - wrote:
Dear John,
Please oh
please send me the file for When we were very young. It has been so many years
since I have heard this. It was a prized possession of mine that vanished from
home. Mum must have had a clean up! Listening to
I can’t wait to
get it. I am so excited tonight.
…
Thank you so much it’s a wonderfully clear recording. It takes me right back to growing up in our house of 7 kids where we
didn’t have much but you could play a record over and over again for free. I have sent it to my mother
and sisters already.
Many thanks
Heather Doyon
David Mellonie
(Australia) – 12th July 2009 - wrote:
Hi John.
What a
surprise!
I've recently
moved house, and am unable to find my record of When
we were very young – I assume it's in storage (I hope), but I can't find it.
I would really
like to be able to play the recording to my grand-daughter,
who loves music, and I think she would get as much enjoyment from it as I
always have since my father bought it for me, and as my daughter has.
If you could
send me a digital copy, that would be fantastic, and I'll hopefully be able to
burn it to a cd sometime.
Wonderful that
you managed to spend the time recording it for posterity!
Kind
regards
David Mellonie
Cristie
Hutchison (Australia) – 22nd June 2009 - wrote:
Hi John,
Thank you so much for your speedy reply. I
must apologise for my lack of niceties in my email
yesterday. My mother and I were so excited to find your file that I just
quickly shot off that email before I served up dinner. Later I realised that it was very abrupt, I'm sorry.
I grew up listening to my mother sing
these poems (my favourite is "Halfway up the
stairs" and "James James Morrison
Morrison") and it was only recently that I asked how did she learn the tunes? And she told me it was a very
fond memory from her childhood of her grandmother getting out the record. So in this amazing day of
everything at your fingertips I hopped onto google. Unfortunately
I was not getting any joy. I saw a record in
I agree, it does seem remiss that no
record company has released a digitally remastered cd,
when you walk past the bargain bins I can't believe some of the stuff they waste their time on!
Thanks again.
Kind regards Cristie Hutchison
John - thank you so much!! Listening to this brought
so many memories back. I'm sure my daughter will love it too. The Kings
Breakfast is one which I quote often. It still gives me a hunger for a thick
slice of toast with butter and marmalade :)
Thanks for making this available - I'm sure it would otherwise have disappeared
altogether.
Tim
Alice Lamy,
France – 16th June and 23rd July 2009 -
wrote:
Hello!
I found your
page via a lyrics site forum. When We Were Young is a
record that I have been searching for about 2
years! I didn't get very far, as I didn't know the name of the man who
narrated and sang, or the record company, much less!
I perfectly remember each song and the
fact that the singer had an English accent and that there were choruses on
certain songs and an orchestral type of arrangement.
So...........all to ask - would you send
me the URL for the entire recording? That would be very generous of you, as my
sister has kept equally fond memories of this record.
We are American, and both our parents were
very musically inclined.
We must have listened to this record
around the age of 8 or 9, say, in '64 or '65, and much longer.
I'd really appreciate it !
I would love to find an old copy of the record, as you did, but I'm not really
counting on it.
Thank you very much!!!!
…I love the Tomlinson record - it's just just so - neither maudlin nor
ridiculously child-pandering, as so often children's records can be. It
is charming poetry sung to charming melody. My children are 25 and 23
and were brought up in
Once again, thank you for offering your recording - it
IS a good copy. Good job!
And on 23rd July 2009 Alice wrote regarding
the Dick Bentley “Hans Christian Andersen” record, which I only found because
of her passionate prompting:
Hey, John,
Thank you for
sending me a version you've pampered so lovingly! and with obvious technical
skill. It's good to have such a passion.
Fabulous!
regards,
Rae and Mike
Huston,
Dear
John,
Thankyou
so much for your kindness in sending this to us. Our daughter and her husband
were with us for lunch today and she and her Dad
started reminiscing over childhood rhymes and they both started reciting all of When We Were Very Young. It was lovely. Our daughter
is thirty three and pregnant with her first and they
are twins (much excitement). The record that we have was my husbands as a child
and he knew it backwards and forwards, and when our daughter was born he played it to her and the two of them recited it from
it seems day one. She will be thrilled that there is now a copy of this loved
piece that she can play when her little ones are born. This is the “stuff” that
makes for traditions and creates the magic of childhood.
Thankyou
again so much for your kindness.
Very
best regards,
Rae and Mike
Joanne
MacLaughlan,
My dear Mr. Frame,
I am listening to the album as I write to you to say thank you.It is fantastic! Exactly how I remember it but your copy is far better than the one I listened
to as a child in
My mom exposed my sisters and I to poetry and music as children and was
surprised I was still looking for this album. When my children were young I read A.A.Milne
to them but they missed out on this great audio which I couldn't find.
For years I thought Danny Kaye was the artist who read and sang
these poems. David Tomlinsons' voice was and still is enchanting to
listen to.
I can't thank you enough for sharing not just the music but the memories
this album brings back!
Peace Love and Laughter
Joanne MacLaughlan