Urban Chipmunk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Urban Chipmunk |
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 4, 1981 (US) | |||
| Recorded | December 1980-January 1981 | |||
| Genre | Country, children's music | |||
| Length | 45:23 | |||
| Label | RCA Nashville | |||
| Producer | Larry Butler Janice Karman Ross Bagdasarian |
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| Alvin and the Chipmunks chronology | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
Urban Chipmunk is a fun country album by Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was their very first country album! It came out on February 4, 1981. The album's name is a funny take on a movie from 1980 called Urban Cowboy.
Contents
Songs on the Album
This album features many popular country songs. The Chipmunks put their own special spin on them!
Original Album Songs (1981)
Here are the songs that were on the first release of the Urban Chipmunk album in 1981.
| Side one | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Original Artist | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (John Denver) | John Denver | 1:43 | ||||||
| 2. | "The Gambler" (Don Schlitz) | Bobby Bare | 3:13 | ||||||
| 3. | "Lunchbox (feat. Jerry Reed)" (Albert Bouchard, Mike Diamond Sr.) | Jerry Reed | 3:10 | ||||||
| 4. | "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" (Chips Moman, Bobby Emmons) | Waylon Jennings | 3:05 | ||||||
| 5. | "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song (feat. Larry Butler)" (Larry Butler, Chips Moman) | B. J. Thomas | 4:48 | ||||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Original Artist | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "I Love a Rainy Night" (David Malloy, Eddie Rabbitt, Even Stevens) | Eddie Rabbitt | 3:06 | ||||||
| 2. | "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be |
Ed Bruce | 3:15 | ||||||
| 3. | "Coward of the County" (Roger Bowling, Billy Edd Wheeler) | Kenny Rogers | 3:57 | ||||||
| 4. | "Made For Each Other (feat. Brenda Lee)" (Ross Bagdasarian Jr., Janice Karman, Larry Butler, Bruce Pinkard) | original song | 5:28 | ||||||
| 5. | "On the Road Again" (Willie Nelson) | Willie Nelson | 2:30 | ||||||
Updated CD Version (1993)
In 1993, Urban Chipmunk was released on CD. For this new version, some songs were changed! "Luckenbach, Texas" and "Made For Each Other" were removed. They were replaced with "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "Boot Scootin' Boogie". Also, "I Love a Rainy Night" got a new title and some new talking parts. The album cover was also updated to show the Chipmunks' newer look.
| No. | Title | Original Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (Charlie Daniels, Tom Crain, "Taz" DiGregorio, Fred Edwards, Charles Hayward, James W. Marshall) | The Charlie Daniels Band | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be |
Ed Bruce | 3:15 |
| 3. | "The Gambler" (Don Schlitz) | Bobby Bare | 3:13 |
| 4. | "Lunchbox (feat. Jerry Reed)" (Albert Bouchard, Mike Diamond Sr.) | Jerry Reed | 3:10 |
| 5. | "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" (Larry Butler, Chips Moman) | B. J. Thomas | 4:48 |
| 6. | "Boot Scootin' Boogie" (Ronnie Dunn) | Brooks & Dunn | 3:11 |
| 7. | "I Love a Rainy Night (Saturday Morning Remix)" (David Malloy, Eddie Rabbitt, Even Stevens) | Eddie Rabbitt | 3:45 |
| 8. | "Coward of the County" (Roger Bowling, Billy Edd Wheeler) | Kenny Rogers | 3:57 |
| 9. | "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (John Denver) | John Denver | 1:43 |
| 10. | "On the Road Again" (Willie Nelson) | Willie Nelson | 2:30 |
Album Success
Even though some reviews were mixed, Urban Chipmunk was very successful! It earned a Gold award. This means it sold over 500,000 copies! It was the Chipmunks' second Gold album, after Chipmunk Punk in 1980.
The album also did well on the Billboard music charts. These charts show how popular albums are. Urban Chipmunk reached number 56 on the main Billboard Top LPs chart. On the country music chart, it climbed even higher to number 23!
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 23 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 56 |
Who Made the Music?
Making an album takes a lot of talented people! Here are some of the people who helped create Urban Chipmunk.
Singers and Musicians
These are the people who sang and played instruments on the album.
- Ross Bagdasarian Jr. — He did the voices for Alvin, Simon, and David Seville.
- Janice Karman — She did the voice for Theodore.
- Buzz Cason — He sang background vocals.
- Bergen White — He sang background vocals.
- Dennis Wilson — He sang background vocals.
- Bob ”King” Moore — He played lead electric guitars.
- Jerry Carrigan — He played acoustic and rhythm electric guitars.
- Hargus "Pig" Robbins — He played pedal steel guitars and piano.
- Ray Edenton — He played bass.
- Billy Sanford — He played fiddle.
- Jimmy Capps — He played percussion.
- Leon Rhodes — He played drums.
- Buddy Spicher — He played extra percussion.
Behind the Scenes Crew
These people helped produce and put the album together.
- Ross Bagdasarian Jr — He was a producer, helping guide the music.
- Janice Karman — She was also a producer.
- Larry Butler — He was another producer.
- Billy Sherill — He was the engineer, making sure the sound was perfect.
- Dain & DeJoy — They helped coordinate the album's release.
- Rick Detorie — He was in charge of the art and illustrations for the album.
- David Foster — He was a project consultant, giving advice.
- John Boylan — He was also a project consultant.
