Seth MacFarlane has spent years recording the Great American Songbook, and now he’s turning to a different kind of classic. On Sept. 18, the “Family Guy” and “Ted” creator will release “Seth MacFarlane Sings The Muppets,” a 14-track collection that pulls from three Muppet feature films plus “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show.” It arrives via Verve Records/Republic Records and is available for pre-order now.
The set leans on the songs fans grew up with, including “Rainbow Connection” and first single “Bein’ Green,” with writing credits belonging to names like Paul Williams, Joe Raposo, and Jeff Moss. MacFarlane approaches them in the orchestral style of mid-century arrangers rather than as playful children’s tunes.
Standards From a Different Childhood
MacFarlane framed the project as a love letter to songs he considers true standards. “Songs from ‘Sesame Street,’ ‘The Muppet Show’ and the Muppet films became bona fide standards,” he said in a statement. “My friend and the arranger of this album, Andrew Cottee, and I are contemporaries, and we both had fond memories of all those great Muppet songs from that era.”
“We both loved the idea of creating an album in which we selected our favorites and recorded them in the style that might have come out of orchestrators like Nelson Riddle and Billy May, had these songs existed in the golden era of arranging.” — Seth MacFarlane
MacFarlane is already a serious recording artist, not a novelty act. He’s a multiple Grammy-nominated singer whose albums have repeatedly hit the top five on Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Albums chart. The new record, produced by Joel McNeely, was recorded at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, with musicians from London and Los Angeles conducted by John Wilson. Its 14 tracks run from “Together Again” and “Happiness Hotel” to “Movin’ Right Along,” which features a guest vocal from Liz Gillies.
Why It Matters
The Muppets have been having a pop-culture moment, and a full jazz-arrangement tribute from one of the biggest names in TV is a sign of how deeply those songs have lodged in American memory. For MacFarlane, it’s a chance to honor the music of his own childhood with the polish of his usual big-band work. For everyone else, it’s a nostalgia record that treats beloved Muppet songs with the same seriousness as the Great American Songbook. It lands just before fall TV season kicks off, and it’s shaping up to be one of the more unexpected and endearing releases of the year.
