Joe and Mike would like to share a few words on the remarkable life and music of Richard M. Sherman. Mike starts things off with a look back at Richard and his brother Robert's extraordinary achievements.

Since the first whistles came from Mickey Mouse's lips in Steamboat Willie, the work of Walt Disney and his media empire has been inexorably tied with music. From lilting tunes in early animated and live-action features ("Heigh-Ho," "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes," "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah") and forays into classical revivalism in 1940's Fantasia, to the modern Broadway and pop-inspired showstoppers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries ("Part of Your World," "A Whole New World," "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," "Let It Go"), the legacy of Disney is as much audio as visual. When Disneyland opened in 1955 and Walt Disney World in 1971, the cheery melodies that played through theme park attractions made the importance of sound that much clearer.

Of all the people who've made Disney music what it was, from Leigh Harline and Ned Washington to Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston; Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to Elton John and Tim Rice; Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez to Lin-Manuel Miranda, two men perhaps tower over the entire musical history of Disney as art form: the brothers Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman. The Walt Disney Company announced today, May 25, that Richard - the younger of the two - passed away at 95 years old.

Together with his brother Robert, who died in 2012, it is impossible to overstate the rich catalog the two men created as songwriters. If the stirring song score to 1964's Mary Poppins, a double Oscar winner, was all they composed, they'd have a substantial place in music history. Ditto the music from the Winnie-the-Pooh shorts, the bulk of The Jungle Book (1967), The Parent Trap (1961), The Aristocats (1970) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971); Disneyland theme park tunes like "It's a Small World," "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room," "One Little Spark," and "Makin' Memories"; and non-Disney fare like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Charlotte's Web (1973) or even "You're Sixteen," a two-time U.S. Top 10 hit for Johnny Burnette in 1960 and Ringo Starr in 1973. That all these songs came from these two men seems miraculous.

But "the boys," as Walt himself was fond of calling them, seemed innately, permanently tapped into all the wonderful emotions music can bestow upon us. The son of Tin Pan Alley songwriter Al Sherman, the pair stuck to a three-word mantra in all their work: songs were to be "simple, singable and sincere." The world peace earworm of "It's a Small World" - a song that is theoretically playing somewhere in the world at any moment thanks to several iterations of the ride at five Disney parks around the world (following a successful run at the 1964-1965 World's Fair in Queens) - bears out that mission, as do any of the whimsical tunes from Poppins (the madcap dance sequence of "Step in Time" is a personal favorite, although Walt's favorite, "Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)," is what I played when I read the news of Richard's passing, holding my newborn daughters and singing through tears), or the jazzy "I Wan'na Be Like You," or even goofy songs made delights by Annette Funicello, like "Tall Paul," "Pineapple Princess" or "The Monkey's Uncle" (the latter recorded for the 1965 film of the same name with unmistakable backing by The Beach Boys).

The Shermans' songbook could veer from whimsy to the heaviest lumps in your throat with unbelievable dexterity - a mark of the fascinating profiles of each man (immortalized in the must-see 2009 documentary The Boys). "Dick," as he was known, was the raconteur of the duo, a permanent twinkle affixed in his eyes as he regaled interviewers stories of playing Poppins tunes for author P.L. Travers and finding inspiration in unusual places (such as the polio vaccine his children got at school that inspired "A Spoonful of Sugar"). "Bob" would rarely be seen without a wry grin, but his eyes clearly carried different sentiments. The elder Sherman served in the Army during the twilight of World War II; he was one of the first Americans - a son of Russian Jewish immigrants, no less - to storm the Dachau concentration camp alongside the Allied forces, and came home with a permanent limp and a Purple Heart after a bullet blew out his knee. Late in life, Bob left the glitz of Beverly Hills behind for good, moving to England, which he'd fallen in love with during his service. The documentary shows that while both men loved each other dearly and were terrific creative partners, they were also very different people who could go long stretches of time without speaking.

But as assuredly as a Disney film, light would chase the darkest clouds away. The duo lived to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins become Broadway hits in addition to film favorites, and the depth of their works are still being explored. (A 2CD companion album to The Boys, Sherman Brothers Songbook, is a must-listen; and a deep dive will yield such fascinating finds as their 1973 song score for an adaptation of Tom Sawyer, augmented by underscore and adaptation by John Williams.) Wherever the young or the young at heart sing along to "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers," "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Ten Feet Off the Ground," "Let's Get Together," or any dozen of tunes the Sherman brothers made as simple, singable and sincere as they come, it's clear that - as with all great songwriters - their glorious impact will long outlast their time on this earth. As no less an authority than Walt Disney was fond of saying when he'd have the pair play him "Feed the Birds" before the end of a work week at the studio: "That's what it's all about."

Joe shares a personal remembrance...

All I really need to know I learned from the Sherman Brothers.

One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation.

There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day.

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

It's a small world, after all.

I was a small child when my Auntie Marge flew me to Florida for the first time. She wanted to share the opening of this new theme park called EPCOT Center with her nephew. Needless to say, it was like nothing I'd ever seen - or heard. In those early days of EPCOT, the music of the Sherman Brothers was everywhere: the haunting "Magic Journeys," the jaunty "Makin' Memories," the enchanting "One Little Spark" from my favorite attraction, Journey Into Imagination, starring the impish purple dragon Figment. No wonder that when I first saw Mary Poppins not long after, I was immediately hooked on its songs: showstoppers overflowing with melody and brimming with emotion. If I was too young to give it any deeper thought, I understood the meaning of "Feed the Birds," so beautifully was it put forth. How little it takes - tuppence a bag - to show compassion and caring towards others. An important lesson was imparted in the simplest and subtlest of ways.

Richard and Robert Sherman might have been writing primarily for projects aimed at a family audience, but they never talked down to children. How many songs have conveyed that first blush of romance as honestly and ravishingly as "Are We Dancing" from The Happiest Millionaire? The wonderment and mystery of young love ("Is this feeling something real or will it disappear?") is captured not only in the universal yet specific lyric, but by the sweeping, swirling waltz melody.

Even the Shermans' most famous earworm of an anthem imparts very real wisdom; witness the laugh on a 1989 episode of The Golden Girls when a hotel lounge singer portrayed by Freddie Jackson gives a soulful, slowed-down treatment to those famous lyrics: "It's a world of laughter, it's a world of tears/It's a world of hopes and a world of fears/There's so much that we share/That it's time we're aware...It's a small world, after all." No truer words?

There are far too many Sherman Brothers songs to pick a favorite or even a dozen, but I confess that my head almost immediately went to "The Beautiful Briny." Accompanying a live-action/animated sequence in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the song and its performance by David Tomlinson and Angela Lansbury exudes charm, wit, sweetness, wonder, and even a hint of romance. The Sherman Brothers were, above all, superb musical storytellers who innately understood character and scenario - whether for film, television, theme parks, records, or stage.

In addition to theatrical adaptations of Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the Shermans composed a number of original musicals including Over Here!, which enjoyed a 1974-1975 run on Broadway; Levi!, beautifully staged in Los Angeles by Richard's dear friend Bruce Kimmel in 2017 (and happily preserved on CD); the delectable Busker Alley; and the Milt Larsen collaborations Victory Canteen and Dawgs. Richard and his longtime friend Milt also co-authored Pazzazz, the radio musical Charlie Sent Me, and the deliciously off-kilter album Smash Flops, all showcasing different sides of the Sherman talent for lyrics and music. What stayed the same in any setting was that elegant combination of heart and soul.

When I first had the privilege to meet Richard Sherman - our paths had crossed around a decade earlier but few words were exchanged - I'm sure my thanks were inadequate. Yet I was greeted by someone whose musical gift was commensurate only with his kindness and generosity. I'll always remember his smile, his warm and welcoming handshake (a hand that had been shaken by Walt Disney!), and his willingness to hear words he'd likely heard thousands (tens of thousands?) of times over, and react to them as if he'd heard them for the first time. I told him of my hopes to reissue his Suite for Orchestra, Mezzanine, and Balcony. Maybe one day it will happen; he was tickled by the notion.

In 2017, Richard was kind enough to share a few words for Second Disc Records' reissue of The Supremes' Merry Christmas, on which their rendition of his Happiest Millionaire tune "It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas" was included. I was thrilled to be able to present him a copy of the CD in person, and his effusive response was the best Christmas gift I could have possibly received.I saw him once more in 2022. The twinkle in his eye was every bit as bright.

Portraying apprentice witch Eglantine Price, Angela Lansbury shared one of The Sherman Brothers' most moving ballads in Bedknobs and Broomsticks.  The Academy Award-nominated "The Age of Not Believing" reflects on the moment when a child grows up and turns away from magic and make-believe: "Where did all the happy endings go? Where can all the good times be?  You must face the age of not believing," Eglantine offered, "doubting everything you ever knew. Until at last you start believing there's something wonderful in you." Richard M. Sherman never stopped believing in himself or in us. Thank you for the magic, wonderful Richard.