This year’s Record Store Day will feature two very special releases from hip-hop icons André 3000 and Slick Rick. Three Stacks will offer up a 7″ single version of his Beatles cover “All Together Now,” while Rick’s 1988 classic “Children’s Story” is being made into an actual children’s book.
André’s folky Fab cover was tracked in 2010 for a Nike commercial that aired during that year’s NBA Finals and this marks the first time it will be released on vinyl, back with a previously unreleased instrumental version of the track. Only 5,000 copies will be available.
Just as interesting, but way different is the puffy-covered The Great Adventures of Slick Rick… Children’s Book version of Rick’s classic 1988 “Children’s Story” single, which, spoiler alert, is not really for the children. The song, which touches on a junkie with a shotgun, a pregnant mom being held hostage, a police chase, an armed robbery and a kid gunned down by cops is a collaboration between Get On Down and Def Jam.
As described on the Get On Down site: “When it comes to Rick and his tales, though, the smash single ‘Children’s Story‘ is perhaps his best, recited to this day by fans and MCs in training as a rite of passage. Just hearing the opening lines begins a sing-along that can quickly fill a room: “Once upon a time / Not long ago / When people wore pajamas / And lived life slow….” Rick’s lines from the song are re-created in visual form in an 18-page book with a puffy cover – presented like a legit children’s book, thick pages and all. From the little boy who was misled to the tense police chase, to the unsure children hearing the story from their ‘uncle Ricky,’ this is the most unique way the story has ever been presented.”
The package also includes a picture sleeve 45 with “Children’s Story” and “The Moment I Feared” (featuring artwork taken from the original “Children’s Story” 12-inch) and a CD version of Great Adventures of Slick Rick.