''Gossamer Wump'' is a children's record, published in 1949 by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, about a boy who learns to play the

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

. The story is narrated by

Frank Morgan Francis Phillip Wuppermann (June 1, 1890 – September 18, 1949), known professionally as Frank Morgan, was an American character actor. He was best known for his appearances in films starting in the silent era in 1916, and then numerous sound ...

, a Hollywood actor best known for his role as the Wizard in the classic film ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'', with music by

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet (TV series), The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad (TV series), T ...

, and written by Hollywood screenwriters Roger Price and

Helen Mack Helen Mack (born Helen McDougall; November 13, 1913 – August 13, 1986) was an American actress. She started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving to Broadway plays and touring one of the vaudeville circuits. Her greater success ...

. The character of Gossamer Wump is voiced by

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...

, the prolific voice artist who is perhaps best known as the voice of "Rocket J. Squirrel" in The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. The story is of a little boy named Gossamer Wump (a boy "with red hair, one blue eye, one green eye, and freckles all over - even his face") who learns to play the triangle to start a musical career. He makes unsuccessful musical attempts at Gaylord Gout's dance club, and then again with Stanislav Hudnut's Orchestra. His rather disastrous debut with the orchestra leaves Gossamer defeated and confused, until a certain man gives Gossamer a very important job - the job of playing the triangle on the ice cream wagon. The main theme of the record is an adaptation of the "

Dance of the Hours ''Dance of the Hours'' (Italian: ') is a short ballet and is part of the Act III finale of the opera '' La Gioconda'' composed by Amilcare Ponchielli. It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances. The opera was first performe ...

" by

Amilcare Ponchielli Amilcare Ponchielli (, ; 31 August 1834 – 16 January 1886) was an Italian opera composer, best known for his opera La Gioconda (opera), ''La Gioconda''. He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla. Life and work Born in Paderno Fasolaro ( ...

. ''Gossamer Wump'' was one of the first children's records to be issued on a 12 inch

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

vinyl disk. The standard format at that time was a 10 inch disk. Dealers of antique records report that ''Gossamer Wump'' is one of the most popular collector's items today - one dealer reports that it is in the top three. However, it is difficult to know how popular the record was when it was issued, as there were no charts maintained by Capitol Records at the time. ''Gossamer Wump'' did appear on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine's Children's Records sales chart. The record has been reissued by EMI in New Zealand. In 1960,

Mel-O-Toons ''Mel-O-Toons'' (sometimes erroneously spelled ''Mello Toons'') was a series of six-minute animation, animated cartoons, using limited animation. The cartoons were produced starting in 1959 by New World Productions, and syndicated by United Arti ...

made a cartoon called ''Gosomer Wump'', using a slightly abbreviated version of the recording. Capitol Records included Morgan's recording in 1963 on side 2 of a

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

album titled ''

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

's Picnic''. Popular roots rock band

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...

considered naming their band after Gossamer Wump, and band member

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was th ...

dedicated his 1985 solo album '' Centerfield'' to Gossamer Wump.

References

External links

Website where EMI NZ reissue can be purchased
{{Authority control 1949 albums Capitol Records albums Frank Morgan albums Children's albums