Lisa Loeb

That’s What it’s All About
from Lisa Loeb and The Hollow Trees

 An 11-track album that will take listeners on a song-by-song trip down memory lane

Up for Nomination in the GRAMMY® AWARDS for: 
Best Childrens Album
Best Americana Performance and Best American Roots song for “Take it While the Takin’s Good”
First Round Voting: October 4th-15th

Videos

Video Credits

“Take It While the Takin’s Good” and “Don’t Fence Me In” videos co-directed by Jessa Zapor-Gray and Darla Jacobs and by Jessa Zapor-Gray. “A Doodlin’ Song” video was produced and directed by Traci Green, edited by Mike Schnee, with Director of Photography Cheli Clayton, and features tap dancing choreography with Jeanne Simpson. “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake” was shot by Isaac Harris and edited by Jessa Zapor-Gray.

Behind the Songs

1. Mairzy Doats -  A song Lisa’s father used to play on the piano from the well-worn fake book every Sunday morning. She says it’s one that has always made her laugh. “This song is smack dab in the middle of that intersection where word games and silly songs collide. I’ve played the song for some folks lately, who have never heard it before, and I love seeing that “aha” moment when they figure out the wordplay in the lyrics.

2. If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - The popular radio hit she’d hear on visits to her grandparents in Sweetwater, Texas. The beloved classic from the 1950s, “If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake,” written by Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill, and Clem Watts, is a warm welcome to the album as its first single.

3. Playmate - “Playmate” (also known as “Say, Say, Oh Playmate”) brings fond memories to Lisa and Traci of doing the hand clapping game at recess in the schoolyard, while singing the rhyming song at full volume.

4. A Doodlin’ Song - One great example of the dynamic and varied musical styles captured on the album is “A Doodlin’ Song,” which features Lisa’s tap dancing. “While recording the song, we realized it needed a solo, but not just any kind of solo…but, a tap solo!” exclaims Loeb. You’ll hear Lisa’s tap solo, choreographed with her longtime friend and childhood classmate, and dance teacher, Jeanne Simpson, on the song, “A Doodlin Song.”

5. Take It While The Taking’s Good - Says Greg, “This song was inspired by old TV shows like The Little Rascals and The Three Stooges.” “We wanted to write a song with a bit of wisdom, and the images coming up seemed timeless and a little like we were looking into the past through a time machine,” Lisa recalls.

6. Keep Growing - One of two original tracks on the album, which Greg from The Hollow Trees wrote for bandmates Traci Green and Katie when they were both going through cancer. Says Greg, “She’s one of those people who are always rooting for everyone else and spreading love and joy no matter what life throws at them, and that’s inspiring.”

7. Put Your Little Foot - A song that Lisa says her mom used to sing to her at bedtime. “It’s a gentle, repetitive song that is actually perfect for dancing. We all became mesmerized by the song when we recorded it,” says Green.

8. Don’t Fence Me In - A classic cowboy song written by Cole Porter and made famous by so many, including Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and Gene Autry. “I’ve been singing “Don’t Fence Me In” since I was a little girl, sitting on my dad’s lap as he played it on the piano. I’ve always wanted to sing it on an album.”

9. Hokey Pokey - “The Hokey Pokey” begs to ask a huge philosophical question, “Is that what it’s all about?” but has also gone on to become one of the biggest dance floor magnets in history, at birthday parties and roller rinks all over the world.

10. Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo - “Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo” is a song that Lisa remembers used to play from her wind-up teddy bear as a child. The song was made famous by Mel and Leslie Caron’s French-accented version from the film “Lili” and the scene in which the singers perform with a hand puppet. Although wonderfully performed by Ricki Lee Jones, Jimmy Durante, and Nat King Cole, among others, Lisa and The Hollow Trees were mostly influenced by a more modern classic version done by Anne Murray, in which Murray starts off acapella and the song develops into a group song. “I always think of myself singing at a beer hall and everyone starts singing along as they sway.”

11. I Want to Shake Hands With The Man On The Moon - “I Want To Shake Hands With The Man On The Moon” is a track Lisa’s late cousin Danny had saved and brought to Lisa’s attention as one she should record. The song was written by Loeb’s Great Aunt Fan in the 1940s but had never been recorded. Lisa’s brother Benjamin, an acclaimed orchestral conductor, helped her arrange it in her key. In a text received from her cousin, before he passed, Danny told Lisa “I think it’s perfect for a [kids] album and not in a drawer in Dallas or Burlington,” referring to two cities where relatives live. 

Note- In the process,  Lisa and The Hollow Trees were also (an era which Loeb and The Hollow Trees are quick to note wasn’t exactly the best for everyone, however) Some people like to say ‘the good old days,” when referring to the past, but we know that it was something that wasn’t always good for everyone in any way, and avoid those classic phrases, as they’re not useful in describing so many people’s relationship to how people were treated in eras past and even in the present.  We hope people can share their memories and songs attached to them from their childhood.

ALBUM Credits

Mairzy Doats
Written by: Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston
Published by: Hoffman Al Songs Inc/Wise Music (ASCAP), Hallmark Music Co Inc/Spirit Two Music Inc (ASCAP), SONY/ATV Tunes LLC (ASCAP)

Playmates
Written by: Saxie Dowell
Published by: Anne Rachel Music Corp./Warner/Chappell Music Inc (ASCAP)

Hi Lili Hi Lo
Written by: Helen Deutsch, Bronislaw Kaper
Published by: EMI Robbins Catalog Inc (ASCAP)

Put Your Little Foot Right Out
Written by: Larry Spier
Published by: Larry Spier Music LLC/Atlas Music Group (ASCAP)

If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake
Written by: Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill, Clem Watts
Published by: Al Hoffman Songs Inc (ASCAP), Colgems EMI Music Inc (ASCAP), Golden Bell Songs (ASCAP)

Don’t Fence Me In
Written by: Cole Porter, Robert Fletcher
Published by: WC Music Corp. (ASCAP)

A Doodlin’ Song (Doop Doo De Oop A Doodlin Song)
Written by: Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh
Published by: Carwin Music Inc./EMU U Catalog (ASCAP), Hipgnosis Worldwide/Notable Music Company (ASCAP)

The Hokey Pokey Dance
Written by: Joe Brier, Robert Degen
Published by: Sony/ATV Acuff Rose

Take it While the Takin’s Good
Written by: Greg McIlvaine, Lisa Loeb, Traci Green
Published by: McIlvanity Music (BMI), Sunshine and Joy Music (BMI), Furious Rose Music (BMI)

I Want to Shake Hands with the Man in the Moon
Written by: Fannie Loeb
Published by: Fannie Levy Loeb (BMI)

Keep Growing
Written by: Greg McIlvaine
Published by: McIlvanity Music (BMI)

Produced by Lisa Loeb and Greg McIlvaine
Mixed by Clay Blair
Mastered by Hans DeKline
Recorded at Aloha Sound Recording, Los Angeles, CA and Kingsize, Highland Park, CA
Engineer – Rudyard Cullers
Production Coordinator – Traci Green
Cover Illustration – Meredith Knief
Design – James apRoberts / Subplot Studio
Group Photos ¬– Frances Iacuzzi

Lisa Loeb – Guitar, Vocals
Greg McIlvaine – Guitar, Vocals, Arrangements
Traci Green – Vocals
David Green – Drums (all songs except “I Want To Shake Hands With The Man In The Moon”)
Katie Cavera – Banjo, Background Vocals (all songs except “I Want To Shake Hands With The Man In The Moon”)
Adam Levy – Upright Bass
Mike Flanigan – Mandolin, Background Vocals
Gee Rabe – Accordion, Background Vocals
Production Coordinator: Traci Green
Art Direction: Lisa Loeb and James apRoberts

Management: Janet Billig Rich/Manage This Media LLC
Legal Representation: Adam Ritholz/Ritholz Levy LLP
Business Management: Carrie Malcolm & Yana Romano/CRM Management, LLC
Digital Marketing Director: Katie Kerins

Thanks to my parents for sharing their love of music and these songs with me, and to cousin Danny who brought me Aunt Fan’s song.