Urban Chipmunk

Urban Chipmunk was the first country album by Alvin and the Chipmunks, released on February 4, 1981. The title parodies the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy.

Original 1981 release
Urban Chipmunk was released on CD in 1993. For this release, the songs "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" and "Made For Each Other" were deleted and replaced with new songs "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "Boot Scootin' Boogie". In addition, "I Love a Rainy Night" was retitled "I Love a Rainy Night (Saturday Morning Remix)" with new dialogue added. The cover art was also modified to feature the current character redesign.

Reception
Steve Simels of Stereo Review wrote, on its initial release, that "there's something oddly soothing about the furry trio's harmonies; they sound so organic, so natural, to ears lately abused by their spiritual heirs, the Bee Gees. Moreover, most of the country hits that the tiny rodents essay here are of the ultra-commercial, protest-the-smell-of-cow-manure variety, so the Platinum Vermins' vocal approach seems eminently appropriate, far more idiomatically authentic than they were on the otherwise admirable 'Chipmunk Punk'". He added"In fact, now that I think about it, this may turn out to be a two-joke act, the second joke being that since these songs are not at all defaced by the ridiculous gimmick of the Chipmunks' electronically speeded-up singing, we may have to come to the grim realization that mainstream country is as bland, plastic, and soulless as any other musical genre that gets played on the radio a lot. To Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, then-thanks a lot, fellas. Rich Aregood of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote that "Alvin, Simon and Theodore have never been in better form than they are on 'Urban Chipmunk', an overdue sendup of the phenomenon that turned outlaws into drugstore cowboys." A critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer had a different reaction to the record, though, saying, "perhaps it's all very cute and fine for the Kiddy set, but why an adult would want to sit around listening to the Chipmunks doing 'Luckenbach, Texas' when they could hear Waylon Jennings' version is a puzzle." Martha Hume of the New York Daily News wrote that "Alvin and the boys took very few chances with material, since every single song on the "Urban Chipmunk" has already been a national hit. Nonetheless, the Chipmunks bring new life to such classics as 'Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be (Cowboys) Chipmunks' and Willie Nelson's 'On The Road Again', which Alvin persists in singing as 'Off The Road Again.' Actually, the Chipmunks have only one bad cut on the record, a cleaned up rendition of 'Coward of the County,' which, even sanitized, is not suitable material for the Chipmunks. That's just a minor quibble, however, and those people who can bear listening to 10 songs worth of falsetto trios that would shame even the Bee Gers will probably like this record." Al Freeders of the Dayton Daily News wrote that "all good songs are here, done in high fashion with nothing missing. Production from the hand of Larry Butler, Janice Karman and Ross Bagdasarian is great [...] just listen to 'The Gambler,' 'I Love a Rainy Night,' 'Thank God Tm a Country Boy,' and 'Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Chipmunks' for fine entertainment." Hardy Price of The Arizona Republic called it "a wonderful spoof of the current trend in country music [that] couldn't have come at a better time." Wrote Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times, however: The problem with "Urban Chipmunk" is that the producers ham it up at every turn. The secret to "Chipmunk Punk," the delightful spoof on punk-rock, was that the speeded-up voices were the only gimmick. The album sold a million copies because it caught on as much with rock fans as the pre-teens that you'd think would be the chief audience for this type of novelty.

This time, however, the innocence of that LP has been lost because the producers over-kill with voice-over gags and lyric revisions that turn things like "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" into "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Chipmunks." Even the kids will probably be bored.

Charts and certifications
The album ended up earning a Gold certification from the RIAA, the Chipmunks' second Gold album following 1980's Chipmunk Punk.

On the Billboard Top LPs chart, the record peaked at No. 56, while on the country chart, it reached No. 23.

Personnel

 * Ross Bagdasarian Jr. — lead vocals (Alvin, Simon, David Seville)
 * Janice Karman — lead vocals (Theodore)
 * Buzz Cason — background vocals
 * Bergen White — background vocals
 * Dennis Wilson — background vocals
 * Bob ”King” Moore — bass
 * Jerry Carrigan — drums
 * Hargus "Pig" Robbins — pedal steel guitars
 * Rick Carlson – keyboards and piano
 * Ray Edenton — rhythm guitars
 * Billy Sanford — auxiliary percussion
 * Jimmy Capps — rhythm guitars
 * Leon Rhodes — lead guitar
 * Buddy Spicher — fiddle

Production crew

 * Ross Bagdasarian Jr — producer
 * Janice Karman — producer
 * Larry Butler — producer
 * Billy Sherill — engineer
 * Dain & DeJoy — album coordination
 * Rick Detorie — art direction and illustrations
 * David Foster — project consultant
 * John Boylan — project consultant