Track List

1. Jack Jingle

2. Red Winged Blackbird

3. Simply Beautiful

4. Somebody's Hiding

5. I Shut The Door

6. Love Is Like Glue

7. Which Is The Way The Wind Blows

8. Train Is A-Comin'

9. At The Bottom Of The Sea

10. I'm A Little Golden Bee / The Bee and the Bagpipe

11. Oats Peas Beans & Barley

12. Sailing

13. Shady Grove

14. The Tree Song

15. I Love You In The Morning

16. White Coral Bells

17. Baloo Baleerie

18. Here Is The Mountain

19. Sing Me To Sleep (Susch Lullaby)

Terry Robbins - Whole Note Magazine

25 years ago musical entertainment for children was almost a Canadian industry. Streaming through the door that was opened by Raffi and blown in by Sharon, Lois and Bram came a whole procession of artists with a whole stack of accompanying record albums. They weren't all great, but Debbie Carroll is the equal of the best of them, and continues the tradition of providing high-quality music for young children.
 
This is her second album for Kathy Reid-Naiman's Merriweather label, following the success of her first CD, the award-winning “Up and Over the Moon”. The 19 tracks are a delightful combination of original material and traditional action and movement songs. Carroll has a sweet, perfectly-pitched voice reminiscent of Sharon Hampson, and sings simply and without mannerism. The sixteen backing musicians include names from the earliest days of Canadian kids music, including Dennis Pendrith, Bucky Berger, and the ubiquitous Chris and Ken Whiteley, the latter playing just about every instrument you can imagine plus a few you can't.
 
Indeed, one of the most pleasing aspects of this album is the care taken with the musical arrangements, which are sensitive and imaginative but never complicated. Just listen to Ken Whiteley's mandolin playing on Somebody's Hiding, or Christina Smith's fiddle on Red Winged Blackbird and you know you are in the presence of top-notch professionals.
 
Ken Whiteley also produced this album.........and 'simply beautiful' it certainly is.

BRAM (of Sharon, Lois & Bram):   "Another wonderful collection from Debbie Carroll and her musical friends - perfect for young children and their families!". 

THE FLYING DRAGON BOOKSHOP (Toronto):  "What a delight to hear your Simply Beautiful CD.  A tuneful treat for young and old alike.  This beautifully musical CD inspires dancing and twirling!  The natural timbre of Debbie’s voice is a joy to listen to … it’s simply beautiful.  We look forward to sharing it with our customers.  We think the CD is truly lovely!"  Nancy, Nina and Cathy

ANGELIQUE DAVIES (Project Manager/Invest in Kids): "Simply Beautiful is absolutely wonderful.  I love the representation of melodies from different countries, the instrumentation is gorgeous... I love how different songs put the spotlight on various instruments - jaw harp, hurdy-gurdy, bells.  Honestly, listening to many of the tunes makes me feel like clapping my hands, or dancing around.  The whole CD has such a nice feel, and a really appealing playful quality.  I appreciate children's CDs that are as enjoyable for adults as they are for children - this is made for children and grown ups to sing, play and dance together.  I love it!"  

LARA MUNRO (a mom of 3):  "Debbie Carroll's latest CD Simply Beautiful is just that.  The refreshing sound has our whole family singing and dancing.  We take great pleasure in trying to identify the different instruments, from the tuba in Jack Jingle to the bell in Sing Me To Sleep.  The album has piqued our five year old's curiosity and imagination as he tries to figure out what is behind the door in I Shut The Door.  Her new renditions of old favorites, such as Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley and Sailing has our three year old singing along, and our nine month old simply enjoys moving, dancing and clapping to every track.  As for myself, I am having a great time learning new songs to sing to my children as we move through our day." 

JUDY SIMPSON (primary teacher): "I used"Red-winged Blackbird" in my class and had the students singing with the chorus which I had easily pre-taught. The younger children enjoyed it in conjunction with the "Spring" unit and the older ones as a enrichment for their studies of animal habitats."