John's Article by Johnny Memphis in the Hampshire Gazette 12/01/2005

Playing possum 

BY JOHNNY MEMPHIS

Sheldon, now living in Amherst, turned this encounter with a nonchalantly hungry marsupial into a kid's song called 'Possum in the Kitchen' and that became the title cut to a brand new CD. The CD is brand new, but actually the recordings were made in 1986 and put on a cassette that Sheldon mostly gave out to friends. Recently, a friend's children kept requesting to hear 'Frog Song' or 'Ping Pong Man' from the cassette every time they got in the car, and so Sheldon thought maybe he should finally release these songs on CD.

Saturday afternoon at 3:30 John Sheldon is having a multi-media CD release party for 'Possum in the Kitchen' at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls. Sheldon will be singing and playing guitar with Peter Kim on bass and John Kokosczyna on drums. Behind the band will be a slide show of drawings by Micha Archer that are based on the songs.

Sheldon has done a lot of things in his music career but this is his first children's CD. He was Van Morrison's guitarist in the '60s, in the 'Brown Eyed Girl' era. He has made a half dozen excellent rock'-n'-roll records under his own name and has written songs that James Taylor recently recorded. These have included 'Bittersweet,' which was featured on the 'The Best of James Taylor' in 2003 and went platinum after selling 1 million copies.

One of the best tunes on the new children's CD is 'Stickbug Song,' which was the first song that Sheldon ever wrote that he liked. 'I was in my 20s and all my friends were writing songs, but I just couldn't write one that I liked until this one,' he said. Sheldon has a highly developed sense of humor, which you might imagine would be the case for someone to write a song about an insect you can barely see. 'Stickbug Song' has a chica-boom guitar beat with fast-talking verses a la 'Hot Rod Lincoln' and a chorus that goes, 'Like a stickbug, I'm walkin' home to you.'

Another wonderful song on the CD is 'Back in the Sandbox,' which is based on a true story. 'My Dad was a schoolteacher and one day at recess he saw a kid come running out of the school and jump right into the sand saying, 'Back in the sandbox again, thank God!' Sheldon's song is heartfelt and funny at the same time, as it tells of a rough day at school with music that twangs like Neil Young in a country mood.

Shows:

Possum in the Kitchen at The Jones Library on March 11th - FREE

Possum in the Kitchen at The Red Barn (A benefit for the Hampshire Childrens Center) - April 9th

Possum in the Kitchen at The Eric Carle Museum on May 13th - FREE (with museum admission)

John is thrilled to announce the release of two new CD's: Elements and Possum in the Kitchen. You can also find John's score on Robbie Leppzer's new film: Peace Patriots.

John is currently working on a guitar instruction book that will teach his unique method of instruction. John is also developing an image presentation that will accompany his live show. A children's book could also be in the making.

jisheldon@excite.com