This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Lounge lizard Harry Connick, Jr. covers the map, the waterfront and just about every Tin Pan Alley tunesmith, Disney theme song and New Orleans classic between on these two simultaneously issued discs.
Songs I Heard is ostensibly aimed at the younger set, since it consists of kids’ flick tunes like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead, A Spoonful of Sugar, Over the Rainbow and Do-Re-Mi. Most of them are delivered with Connick’s usual piano-bar Sinatra stylings, although a few tunes are outfitted with bumptious N’Awlins rhythms that make them more palatable to adults. On the other hand, 30 — the fourth of Connick’s releases titled after his age at the time of recording — is a 1997 set featuring Harry alone with his 88, covering personal faves from Fats Domino’s I’m Walking to Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree to Junco Partner to Don’t Fence Me In. All that’s missing is the tip jar. Ultimately, neither album breaks new ground for Connick, but his obvious love for the material and his craft get him by.
