The triumph of
Lisa Loeb's second children's album (following her first,
Catch the Moon, made with
Elizabeth Mitchell) is that it is narrowly focused. As the title Camp Lisa suggests, this is a thematic collection of songs about going away to summer camp. Some of its selections, including "Home on the Range," are the sorts of numbers that have been heard around the campfire for generations. Others, including "Ready for the Summer" (from the movie Meatballs) and
Neil Young's "Love Is a Rose," have been repurposed from other origins. Among the
Loeb originals are pop/rock winners like "Wake Up Song" and the
Beatlesque "It's Not Goodbye," the latter treating the inevitable if heartbreaking end of camp for the year.
Loeb is joined by lots of enthusiastic children as well as friends including
Maia Sharp,
Jill Sobule, and
Steve Martin, who contributes banjo playing to the shaggy dog story "The Disappointing Pancake." Camp Lisa is an album that will delight any children going to camp and any grown-ups who have ever been to camp. ~ William Ruhlmann