Ol' Brown Ears is Back


Songs from
Released	1993
Format	CD
Label	Jim Henson Records/BMG Kidz
Cat no.	74860-30023-2 74860-35023-2

Ol' Brown Ears is Back is an album featuring Rowlf the Dog in new recordings of songs that had all previously been covered on The Muppet Show.

Rowlf, at the piano, gives ebullient introductions and banter as he sings and plays some of his (and the Muppets') hit songs. The album was released on CD and cassette in 1993 by BMG Kidz/Jim Henson Records. The cassette release included a poster depicting Rowlf behind the scenes, recording and prepping for the album.

Although the album was first released in 1993, three years after Jim Henson's death, the songs were actually recorded by Henson (as Rowlf) and Derek Scott (on piano) almost a decade earlier in January 1984. The original recordings were re-worked by producer Robert Kraft and associate producer Chris Boardman for the release, adding a backing orchestra to the seasoned vocal and piano tracks.

The original intentions for the raw tracks and the reason for the 9-year recording-to-release gap are unknown. However, the recordings of "Memory Lane" and "You and I and George" were used for Rowlf's 1984 appearance on The Merv Griffin Show, in promotion with The Muppets Take Manhattan.

The album's title, Ol' Brown Ears is Back, is a reference to Frank Sinatra's 1973 album Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back.