I Can Only Sing the High Part!

[bigbird]

I'm sure eveyone remember's this one. It featured 3 muppets all singing in their most comfortable tone of voice. First came the high part, then the middle and then the low part all singing the same lyrics until they did a beautiful trio which sounded something like "When you put them all together I am sure you will agree( agree) the whole sounds better than the parts as you can plainly see....La la lala...etc...As popular as this skit appeared to be, it seemed that it just fell thru the cracks over the years!

 

[fuzzygobo]

This song "High, Middle, Low" was included on the Sesame Street 2 album that came out way back in 1971 ( the Cookie Monster sticker that came with it is still stuck to the wall in my father's basement). But the record version featured Herbert Birdsfoot, Ernie, and Bert.
The TV version featured Jerry Nelson, Joe Raposo, and Jeff Moss singing the parts. And you're right. There's no reason this clip can't still be shown today.

 

[janicegroupie]

I don't remember the clip anymore but the song is on my Best of Bert and Ernie cd. It's a great song and I would love to actually see them singing it. I always get a new appreciation of the songs when can actually see the skits instead of just listening to them on cd. I love Bert's low singing voice.

 

[Censored]

This song "High, Middle, Low" was included on the Sesame Street 2 album that came out way back in 1971 ( the Cookie Monster sticker that came with it is still stuck to the wall in my father's basement). But the record version featured Herbert Birdsfoot, Ernie, and Bert.
The TV version featured Jerry Nelson, Joe Raposo, and Jeff Moss singing the parts. And you're right. There's no reason this clip can't still be shown today.

And the song book that went with the Sesame Street 2 album had illustrations of Big Bird, Grover, and a green mouse singing it. This seemed strange since it went with the soundtrack of Herb, Ernie, and Bert. Yet, for some reason, many of the illustrated songs in the Sesame Street 2 song book were inconsistent with the record.

 

[BEAR]

I like this song a lot, and yet another example of how wonderfully versatile Jerry Nelson's voice is.

 

[SesameMike]

On the Sesame Street 2 album, you have:

Herbert Birdsfoot - High part
Ernie - Middle
Bert - Low part

One tiny bit of trivia that I observed on my own about the vinyl version. In the high part, HB doesn't repeat anything. In the middle part, Ernie repeats once, as in "I know, I know". But for the low part, Bert repeats at every opportunity. He says "Low part, low part", "I know I know", and "low low part". He even adds two extra "la la"s between the two stretches. The lyrics in the book reflected all this.

When they put them all together, everyone but HB said "agree, agree" (he said it once and sustained the "e" from the first). In the "la la"s, Bert alone added his extra two. At the end Bert and Ernie did four extra "la"s (not listed in the lyrics IIRC) while HB dragged out the last "la".

I used to wonder why they chose to have only the lower voices repeat (kind of a kid's view where everything has to be even or "fair"), but now I realize it added a varied effect to the song. The more of their music I hear, the more I realize that Raposo and Moss are/were musical geniuses.

 

[BEAR]

On the Sesame Street 2 album, you have:

Herbert Birdsfoot - High part
Ernie - Middle
Bert - Low part

One tiny bit of trivia that I observed on my own about the vinyl version. In the high part, HB doesn't repeat anything. In the middle part, Ernie repeats once, as in "I know, I know". But for the low part, Bert repeats at every opportunity. He says "Low part, low part", "I know I know", and "low low part". He even adds two extra "la la"s between the two stretches. The lyrics in the book reflected all this.

When they put them all together, everyone but HB said "agree, agree" (he said it once and sustained the "e" from the first). In the "la la"s, Bert alone added his extra two. At the end Bert and Ernie did four extra "la"s (not listed in the lyrics IIRC) while HB dragged out the last "la".

I used to wonder why they chose to have only the lower voices repeat (kind of a kid's view where everything has to be even or "fair"), but now I realize it added a varied effect to the song. The more of their music I hear, the more I realize that Raposo and Moss are/were musical geniuses.

Also, that is just a very common thing in a barbershop quartet (or in this case, trio) arrangement, which is the way this song was written.

 

[Vic Romano]

I've heard Ernie, Bert and Herbert sing this on MCR.

 

[ssetta]

It was last shown in 1987, and it was retired in 1998 because the curriculum was whole/part relation, and that curriculum is no longer being used on the show.