Even before he gave me a $50 bill at one of his concerts ("...that white brother in the back, come up...") John P. Kee has long been one of my favorite soul gospel choir directors. Mingling his entrepreneurial, musical and pastoral gifts, Kee now shows his parental concern with Lil' Rufus. The orange African-American puppet engineers The Melody Train for his debut.
Rufus sounds suspiciously like Kee coming down from a couple hits of helium. Don't that be a detriment to some simple fun.
The lil' guy covers the Christian kiddie basics with simple musical backdrops and what mostly sounds like his Jaleel "Urkel" White-looking self multi-tracked for the choral parts. Praising the Lord, counting and other typical subjects take up Rufus's attention, but a few musical surprises lurk among the routine subjects.
The hygienic command to "Take A Bath" inspires some whooping ala' Little Richard (who took them from some of the grand dames of gospel's golden age). A desire to hit the skins like the drummer in his church brings "Yo Chris" ("gimme those sticks!") to some licks straight off a '60s James Brown single.
For Spanish-speaking youngsters, Rufus re-records his genial "I'll Be Praying." Urban ankle-biters heretofore deprived of farm life will learn from Kee singing as himself on "The Barn Song" if "Old MacDonald" hasn't done the job already. The alphabet, career aspirations and counting, which Rufus does to the tasty green beans on his plate, get their due as well.
Balladic numbers age-appropriate enough for Kee's choirs slow down this Train some. Same might be said for fifteen of sixteen tracks being recorded in a Chipmunkish approximation of youthfulness. All that said, Lil' Rufus provides a welcome respite from all the vocalizing produce and critters taking up space on children's CD's.
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