Tunes of childhood

Mister Rogers opened each show singing a simple song about the beauty of his neighborhood, accompanied by a piano, percussion and bass.

And though the lyrics on a new CD of Rogers’ music sound the same, the arrangements featuring string musicians and backup singers, and recorded in high-tech studios, are all grown up.

Call it Mister Rogers’ coming of age.

The CD “Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers” features artists such as Amy Grant, Donna Summer and Ricky Skaggs singing about self-esteem, channeling your anger, and, of course, being neighborly.

It’s the first time Rogers’ songs have been recorded in styles such as bluegrass and big band by artists not associated with the children’s TV show.

“This is buried treasure,” says Dennis Scott, the CD’s Nashville-based producer, who recently came to Pittsburgh to meet Rogers’ widow and former colleagues.

“I wanted to do right by it. I wanted to preserve the integrity of it.”

Fred Rogers, who died of cancer at 74 in February 2003, had a lifelong love of music. He got a bachelor’s degree in music composition at Rollins College in Florida in 1951 and was the composer and lyricist of more than 200 songs.

Scott, who won the 1981 Grammy for best recording for children, spent two years finding artists to sing on the CD, choosing the songs, working on musical arrangements – and persuading Rogers’ producers at Pittsburgh-based Family Communications Inc. to OK the project.

Part of the proceeds from the CD, and an accompanying DVD about the making of the music, go to Family Communications’ Fred Rogers Fund, a charity for – who else? – children.

“I had some misgivings because I was used to hearing the songs in one way,” says Margy Whitmer, a producer of Rogers’ show, which still airs on PBS stations across the country.

But Scott’s persistence and ability to attract big names won Rogers’ people over. The result was a CD compilation of 12 of Rogers’ most well-known songs and an ensemble piece written by Scott but inspired by the man in the sweater.

Singer Maureen McGovern says she was impressed by Rogers’ music and the fact that it really wasn’t just for kids. She sang the song “This Is Just The Day” accompanied by an uptempo beat.

“When they hear his music in a different light, I think it will cause a big smile,” she says.

Singer Jon Secada says he was flattered to be a part of the tribute album and to sing “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

Secada emigrated from Cuba to the United States when he was 9 and says he learned English by watching TV shows such as “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

“I appreciate his message, his approach and his delivery,” says Secada, who hopes his own two children will become fans.

Rogers’ widow, Joanne, a pianist who shared her husband’s love of music, was skeptical of lending celebrities’ voices to her husband’s music. But she changed her mind after listening to the CD for just 30 seconds.

“In my heart, I think musically (Fred and I) were pretty much on the same line,” she says. “And I think he would have felt the same way about it.”