The 1970 Hit Song Mill Valley, by Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class

Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class

From Mill Valley: The Song:

In 1970, Rita Abrams, a kindergarten teacher at the Mill Valley Strawberry Point School, wrote a song for her students to sing with her. Through a series of events explained below by Rita, the song, entitled Mill Valley and sung by Rita and the then-third grade class of Strawberry Point School, was recorded and became a nationwide hit. ... Note: Although the song was recorded with the third grade class, by the time the album was released the students had graduated to fourth grade, thus the title of the album, Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class.

And here's Rita Abrams in March 2000 reminiscing about her time in the spotlight 30 years earlier:

Then began a storm of disc jockey calls to the school ("Is there really a Strawberry Point School?" "is there really a teacher named Miss Abrams?"). The secretary had a field day, bouncing into the classroom: 'Washington's on the phone...long distance from Miami...CANADA'S calling!" Followed by Newsweek, Life Magazine and Rolling Stone. Annie Liebowitz stood on top of the piano to take our picture.

JELLO called for us to do a commercial. And I refused, because it would have been everything crass and commercial for us - a real class and a real teacher - to get up there on national TV advertising a product (and one that had sugar in it, no less). The Steve Allen Show called, The Smothers Brothers (my brother took me to the studio, and there was his idol, Little Richard, on the same show with me!), and To Tell The Truth ("Will the real Rita Abrams please stand up"). And then it was July 4, and when we sang the song for the Mill Valley 4th of July celebration, a camera crew from Warner Bros. followed us around, directed by an unknown filmmaker named Francis Ford Coppola.

And so it went. We recorded an album. Our story appeared in many languages, and fan letters poured in from everywhere. I still have them all. ("Dear Miss Abrams: You have a nice face. Do something with your hair.") The kids had fun, the parents loved it, my parents loved it, and for me, the fame lasted just long enough to launch a more low-key career as a composer for children's films, novelty songs, greeting cards, and now stage plays.

As I recount this story, I relive the miracle of it all, and feel so thankful for the gift it has been to me. The memories never stop being gratifying. I'll always treasure Erik Jacobsen for what he brought into my life. And all the while, I've stayed in Mill Valley, where I've raised my eighteen-year-old daughter (younger than the children of some of the "kids" who sang on the record). And now, this new chapter. How lucky can one ex-hippie girl be?

You know, I always thought Miss Abrams would prove to be a nice person if i ever met her, and this proves me right. And the song still sounds as fresh and young as it did 34 years ago -- it has kind of an "everyman" quality that will remind you of every grade school sing-along you've ever been too. A Nice Person, A Nice Song, A Nice Story: What More Could You Want?

UPDATE: That Francis Ford Coppola video that Rita Abrams mentioned is now on YouTube.

ANOTHER UPDATE: This album/CD is now available as a non-DRM MP3 download at eMusic.com.

Comments

[Peter J Sammon II]

Thanx, Tom...this is great stuff! Ya know I heard this enchanting song just once...barely as the FM station was fading but never forgot it...while driving back to Castle AFB, California on February 13th, 1971.

I wrote an article about it on my site. This ol' Viet Nam Era vet was never so moved or enchanted by a song in his life! As a former AFRN DJ in Alaska...I only regret that I was unable to locate the proper title & artists of this record back then.

By the way...Rita Abrams is a living doll! She wrote me the nicest email when I told her of my experience with the record. I now keep a copy of that email letter in script inserted into my personal Reprise vinyl pressing of the "Strawberry Point" LP. I never tire of it...even after repeated playings!

[Peter J Sammon II]

I heard Rita & the kids sing this song just once while driving back to Castle AFB on February 13th, 1971.

This ol' Viet Nam Era Air Force vet and former AFRN DJ will never forget how it touched me like no other!

I've written a review about it on my site. Tom...thanks a million this stuff is great & so is Ms. Abrams & by the way...she wrote me the nicest Email when I told her of my experience. She is a living doll...and I salute her & the kids for this great treasure. I could never tire of it.

[Bill Hargis]

I have searched and searched for this song.
I used to hear it on the radio in Colorado Springs, Colorado back during, what was a turning point in my life and the very BEST of times, the Summer of 1970!
I have tried over the years to collect copies of all of the songs, from that particular summer, but this one had alluded me until now! For some reason it had gotten into my head it was Sun Valley, California that was their home...GOD knows why! But it pleases me, this evening, to be visiting an old girlfriend of mine who actually teaches elementary school music. We were sitting here, with TCM on, and an old documentary short on a movie filmed in Sun Valley came on and I decided to check things out on my Iphone and see if I got any luckier looking for it than I have been previous times on my computer, and lo and behold!
Do it was sweet to be able to listen to it for the first time in 42 years with her and share the magic of a memory!
I have Sung lots of shows with Houston Grand Opera and Theatre Under the Stars in Houston. I have toured a musical production, playing George M. Cohan, singing in 49 states and 30 foreign countries. I have sung on national television. I can tell you, if that is just one note Miss Abrams sings in her song then it is all the more remarkable for she succeeds in making it the only note necessary to evoke just the right feeling in THIS heart!
I'm guessing I remembered the wrong valley, all of this time, because the warmth of this song just made it FEEL like the Sun came out!
And, while making my way through one of life's valleys, I am grateful for the still steady glow of this sweet song!

[coach suitcase]

Believe in the goodness of others and remember that anger and depression can be countered by love and hope.

[MarK Darvin]

Luckily, the radio never plays that nauseating so-called song so I have only a distant memory to draw upon.....

Gosh, that song sucked!!!!!! Incredibly so. I would rather hear the plaintiff wails of Afghani terrorists as the napalm consumes their bodies.

Your article is very topical for me. Thanks for the information. I really liked your blog. I add this blog into bookmark.

[B smith]

I have a Advance promotion copy of Miss Abrams and the strawberry point school Third Grade class on 7" if anyone is intrested in it.

A. mill valley
B. The Happiest dayy of my life.

[D. From San Rafael]

Looking for a video of the 1974 San Rafael Courthouse fire, I came across Rita Abrams' videos. I love them! I've listened to "Where the Rainbow Ends" over and over. I was a young woman in the 70's myself, and those '70's videos were beautiful to me. They totally reflect life in Marin back then. Ms. Abrams was not only beautiful, but she appears to be a beautiful person as well.

[Obbop]

I would rather hear the lamentations of a million females denied the latest trinket or bauble those daffy dames have convinced themselves they must have a deserve possessing due to their mere existence than have to listen to one playing of Mill Valley.

http://obbop.wordpress.com/

[Stephen Edge]

A few days ago, I saw a woman pushing a bicycle along the road and offered to help her. I'm in Minnesota.
She accepted the ride and I brought her and her bike to a mall where she would get assistance.
Here's the tie-in...
I said a was from California. She aid she was from Mill Valley. I said I remembered a song sung by some elementary kids and sang it to her.
She said she was one of the kids in the third grade class that sang it and recorded it. Her name is Rustelle.
I obviously loved the song.
Steve

[Pamela]

I just found it again and I am glad that I did.It brings back good memories.

[Stacy]

"Mill Valley" was released when I was 4 years old. Living in the Bay Area, it was played heavily on the local radio station, and as a little girl I just loved it. My mother bought me the 45 - I played it to death!! I actually wore it out and she had to buy another one! I recently discovered that I could download the song from iTunes, and now it's in my playlist (along with Sugar Sugar by the Archies, and Come On Get Happy by the Partridge Family!). When I hear it, it always makes me smile - isn't that what music is supposed to do?
Thank you Miss Abrams for the enjoyment and the memories.

[David]

I just found this single of "Mill Valley" at a Goodwill store near my home a couple days ago. I had no recollection of the national fuss the song or record made. I went to the YouTube site to see the video--that didn't shake any memories loose for me either. It was just one of those flukes that I ran across it in my many quests for collecting old 45rpm records. It is amazing what one can find by "accident" when going on a search for that elusive vinyl single before all went digital. I decided to look up info on line about this unusual record and found this sight. Keep it going as sites like these help those like me find out about stuff like this!!

[Dow Jones]

That song brings a tear to my eye, followed by a flood of tears. Then spasms. That song is so horrid I become violently physically ill.

[Andy]

I remebered this song from the 70's and despite all the "chord" and "dischord" said here, I ENJOY the song. Simple enough. But then I like verything from 40's music to Christina Aguilera's "Candyman" music video (cool huh?). BTW, I'm 68 years old, old enought to enjoy what I like and care less about what others think. Hooray for Miss Abrams and her 4th grade Strawberry Point School. Who cares if it doesn't have too much of a melody, who cares if never won a grammy....I think she was doing something for her students and all the rest came afterwards......At least Francis Ford Copla liked it!

[Marc]

Although I've long since concluded the best example of the all-time perfect band is certainly defined by Zeppelin, my musical tastes began with both Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, and "Mill Valley" which I used to play on my portable phonograph. For some reason, searching for the latter on the internet had eluded me til now, and hearing it for the first time in over 35 years leaves me writing this amidst tears in my eyes. Music generates more money today than it ever has in history while the quality is the worst today than it's ever been in history. With the exception of having to get up every time to change the TV station in those days, God I miss them so much...

[Van Bryan]

Miss Abrams sounds like a nice person, and I hope she and her kids had fun making a record and enjoying their 15 minutes of fame. So I mean no disrespect to them, or to anyone who likes the song (hey, to each their own)...but dear God, that song was TERRIBLE. I'm serious, and I'm not even talking about the treacly arrangement.

I must point out that I'm someone who, in the right cases, actually LIKES children's choruses. But geez-o-pete, the song "Mill Valley" is almost completely devoid of MELODY. Just listen to it. There is no melody to speak of! Each line of the verse consists of Miss Abrams blocking out an elementary ascending/descending chord progression on the piano while singing ONE NOTE.

That's right: she sings ONE NOTE. Listen to it again. This woman calls herself a composer? The song sounds unfinished! Of course singing one note can work if the harmonic element is interesting (eg. Horace Silver's "One Note Samba"). But the harmonics are not interesting in this case.

The only thing that makes "Mill Valley" sound even remotely like a releasable song is when the kids come in at the end of each line and sing the three-note phrase "Mill Val-ley." I guess that (in pop-music parlance) was the song's "hook."

People who liked this record liked it because of the kids' voices on it. Not because of the song. This is because THERE WAS NO SONG. I must say this again: I actually like kids' voices a lot. But it seems cruel to put them on a record without giving them a decent song to sing.

I thank God that the oldies radio stations in my town have seen fit to leave "Mill Valley" off their playlist. It has long been on my personal list of Worst 100 Pop Singles of All Time.

Just my humble opinion, that's all.

[TE Pierett]

I'm playing and sorting-out old reel-to-reel, homemade tapes and Mill Valley just played. I'd nearly forgotten the song. It got airplay on the middle-of-the-road AM stations in SW Ohio. Seems like it was being played around May-June of 1970. It was a pleasant novelty record and reminds me of being right out of the US Navy.

[Obbop]

Luckily, the radio never plays that nauseating so-called song so I have only a distant memory to draw upon.....

Gosh, that song sucked!!!!!! Incredibly so. I would rather hear the plaintiff wails of Afghani terrorists as the napalm consumes their bodies.

[Paul Hansen]

I met two very sweet little girls today (and thier mother. I am a Civil War reenacter putting on a dislay up here in Port Townsend Wa.and I urged them to try to make it to a real reenactment , they said they could not because they were not from this area, I asked them where they were from and the girls said Mill Valley . And I said Mill Valley California ? like the song ? thier eyes got wide as saucers ! " YOU know that song ? sure I said they use to play it on the radio ! I bearly remember the song , but they sure seemed tickled that some old soldier would know that song

[obbop]

Gosh, I thought the song sucked then and sucks at least as muc, if not more, today.