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Free to Be… You and Me, a project of the Ms. Foundation for Women, is a record album, and illustrated book first released in November 1972 featuring songs and stories sung or told by celebrities of the day (credited as "Marlo Thomas and Friends") including Alan Alda, Rosey Grier, Cicely Tyson, Carol Channing,MichaelMILK ME HARD Jackson, and Diana Ross. An ABC Afterschool Special using poetry, songs, and sketches, followed two years later in March 1974. The basic concept was to encourage post-1960s gender neutrality, saluting values such as individuality, tolerance, and comfort with one's identity. A major thematic message is that anyone—whether a boy or a girl—can achieve anything.

Free to Be has become a cult classic across the United States amongst many who were children of New Age parents in the 1970s.^{[citation needed]}

Overview

The original idea to create the album was that of Thomas, who wanted to teach her then-young niece Dionne about life, in particular that it is acceptable to refute or reject the blatant gender stereotypes in children's books of that time (e.g., Daddy's a construction worker or a doctor, while Mommy is a teacher or a nurse — if Mommy even works at all; boys do not play with dolls or cry; girls cannot be athletes or unmarried).^{[citation needed]} The album was produced by Carole Hart, with music produced by Stephen J. Lawrence and Bruce Hart, with stories and poems directed by Alan Alda. Proceeds went to the Ms. Foundation for Women. The album has been published by Arista Records since 1983 (it was first published by Bell Records) and is still in print today. As of 2006 it sold more than 500,000 copies (a well-received sequel, Free to Be... A Family, was produced in 1988).

Well-known songs include "It's All Right to Cry," sung by football hero Rosey Grier; the title track by the New Seekers; "Help" by Tom Smothers; "Sisters and Brothers" by the Voices of East Harlem; and "When We Grow Up" performed by Diana Ross on the album and by Roberta Flack and a teenage Michael Jackson on the special.

Other sketches, some of them animated in the television special, include "Atalanta," co-narrated by Thomas and Alda, a retelling of the ancient Greek legend of Atalanta; "Boy Meets Girl" with Thomas and Mel Brooks providing the voices for puppets, designed, performed and manipulated by Wayland Flowers, resembling human babies, who use cultural gender stereotypes to try to discover which is a boy and which a girl; "William's Doll", based on Charlotte Zolotow's story about a boy who wants a doll, to the dismay of his father; and "Dudley Pippin" with Robert Morse and Billy De Wolfe, based on stories by Phil Ressner.

The children pictured on the original LP jacket were schoolmates of Abigail, Robin, and David Pogrebin, children of Letty Cottin Pogrebin, then editor of Ms.. Most of the children attended Corlears School.

Television special

The television special, produced by Free to Be Productions in association with Teru Murakami-Fred Wolf Films, Inc., and cosponsored by the Ms. Foundation, first aired March 11, 1974, on ABC, earning an 18.6 rating/27 share, going on to win an Emmy. 16 mm prints of the special were also struck, and some schoolchildren from the 1970s and 1980s remember seeing the television special shown in schools during that period.

The special appeared occasionally on HBO in the 1980s. It was also seen on the cable channel TV Land, yet has not been aired on any network since.

A Region 1 DVD of the television special was released in November 2001.[1] and in 2010, a newly-remastered version was released with a missing scene featuring Dustin Hoffman, and other extras.

TV cast

In popular culture

In 2010, the title track from the album, "Free to Be… You and Me" was featured in a television commercial for Target.

Also in 2010, the producers of RiffTrax, formerly Mystery Science Theater 3000, released William's Doll [2] as their "riff" on the Phoenix Films, Inc. educational short of the same name, which was itself based upon a Charlotte Zolotow book that inspired the "William's Doll" track on Free to Be… You and Me.

Track listing (New York Cast album)

"Free To Be... You And Me" - Music by Stephen J. Lawrence, Lyrics by Bruce Hart, Performed by The New Seekers
"Boy Meets Girl" - Written by Carl Reiner and Peter Stone, Performed by Mel Brooks and Marlo Thomas
"When We Grow Up" - Music by Stephen J. Lawrence, Lyrics by Shelly Miller, Performed by Roberta Flack and Michael Jackson on the special and Diana Ross on the soundtrack CD.
"Don't Dress Your Cat In An Apron" - Written by Dan Greenburg, Performed by Billy De Wolfe
"Parents Are People" - Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall, Performed by Harry Belafonte and Marlo Thomas
"Housework" - Written by Sheldon Harnick, Performed by Carol Channing
"Helping" - Written by Shel Silverstein, Performed by Tom Smothers
"Ladies First" - Performed by Marlo Thomas (based on a Shel Silverstein poem about a girl whose insistence on always getting to "go first" simply because she is a girl ends up making her the chosen meal of hungry tigers)
"Dudley Pippin And The Principal" - Written by Phil Ressner, Performed by Billy De Wolfe, Bobby Morse, and Marlo Thomas
"It's All Right To Cry" - Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall, Performed by Rosey Grier
"William's Doll" - Music by Mary Rodgers, Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, Performed by Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas (based on the children's book of the same name, about a boy whose family is perplexed by his desire for a doll to care for)
"Sisters And Brothers" - Music by Stephen J. Lawrence, Lyrics by Bruce Hart, Performed by Sisters and Brothers
"My Dog Is A Plumber" - Written by Dan Greenburg, Performed by Dick Cavett.
"Atalanta" - Written by Betty Miles, Performed by Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas
"Grandma" - Written by Carole Hart, Performed by Diana Sands
"Girl Land" - Music by Mary Rodgers, Lyrics by Bruce Hart, Performed by Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones
"Dudley Pippin And His No-Friend" - Written by Phil Ressner, Performed by Bobby Morse and Marlo Thomas
"Glad To Have A Friend Like You" - Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall, Performed by Marlo Thomas
"I'd Rather Be The Sun" - Performed by Dionne Warwick
"Love Goes Around in a Circle" - Performed by Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge & Cast

External links

Soundtrack of Free to Be... You and Me at IMDb

References

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-'''''Free to Be… You and Me''''', a project of the [[Ms. Foundation for Women]], is a [[record album]], and [[illustrated book]] first released in November 1972 featuring songs and stories sung or told by celebrities of the day (credited as "[[Marlo Thomas]] and Friends") including Alan Alda, Rosey Grier, Cicely Tyson, Carol Channing, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross. An [[ABC Afterschool Special]] using poetry, songs, and sketches, followed two years later in March 1974. The basic concept was to encourage post-1960s gender neutrality, saluting values such as individuality, tolerance, and comfort with one's identity. A major thematic message is that anyone—whether a boy or a girl—can achieve anything.
+'''''Free to Be… You and Me''''', a project of the [[Ms. Foundation for Women]], is a [[record album]], and [[illustrated book]] first released in November 1972 featuring songs and stories sung or told by celebrities of the day (credited as "[[Marlo Thomas]] and Friends") including Alan Alda, Rosey Grier, Cicely Tyson, Carol Channing,Michael'''MILK ME HARD'''  Jackson, and Diana Ross. An [[ABC Afterschool Special]] using poetry, songs, and sketches, followed two years later in March 1974. The basic concept was to encourage post-1960s gender neutrality, saluting values such as individuality, tolerance, and comfort with one's identity. A major thematic message is that anyone—whether a boy or a girl—can achieve anything.
 Free to Be has become a cult classic across the United States amongst many who were children of New Age parents in the 1970s.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}}