While poking around at Seattle's Easy Street Records a few days ago (I was waiting for Bobbby Bare Jr*. to show up), I ran across a pile of Shel Silverstein CDs. Apparently, these recordings were done in the eighties and re-released in 2000. The re-releases feature Silverstein reciting 47 poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends and 39 from The Light in the Attic. The critical responses that I saw described Silverstein as "[possessing] a warm, pleasingly raspy voice not unlike that of Sterling Holloway (the original voice of Disney's animated Winnie-the-Pooh)", and sounding "a little like Emo Phillips reading verse". I'm having some trouble picturing this, so I'm eager to hear the recordings for myself.

*Coincidentally, Bobby Bare Jr. knew Silverstein well, and Silverstein helped him out with several songs.

Labels: Shel Silverstein