Arthur Shimkin

 Arthur   Shimkin  ( 1922 - 2006 ) was a record producer. The former head of ' 50 s pop label B ell Record s, Shimkin worked on many  SESAME STREET  album s in t he ' 7 0 s & ' 8 0 s , 1 st as project supervisor , & later as produce r. On the 1975 album Merry Christ mas from  SESAME   STREET , the backing chorus was billed a s " T h e Voice s o f  Arthur   Shimkin  , " indicating his role in assembling the group.

In a l l, the 3 , 000 records to his credit sold more than 5 million copies. He was nominated for 13 Grammys.

At Simon & Schuster, he conceived Little Golden Records , storybook s read on 2 - sided 45 r. p. m. records. Predecessors to audiobooks on tapes & CD s, they starr ed Bing Crosby , Alfred Hitchcock , Roy Rogers , Burl Ives , & Johnny Cash.

Arthur died in his Manhattan home on December 4, 2006 , at the age o f 84.

Original Concept & Design

 * The Muppet Alphabet Album ( 19 70 )

Project Supervisor

 * The  SESAME   STREET  Book & Record ( 1970 )
 *  Bert  ' s Block buster s ( 1974 )
 *  BIG   BIRD  Sings ! ( 19 74 )
 * C is for Cookie ( 1974 )
 *  The   Count   Count  s ( 19 75 )
 *  Ernie  ' s H it s ( 1974 )
 *  Grover  Sing s the Blue s ( 1974 )
 *  Let a  FROWN  Be Your Umbrella  ( 1975 )
 * Letter s . . . & Numbers, Too ! ( 1974 )
 * T h e  SESAME   STREET  M o n s t e r s ! ( 1975 )
 * Some body Come & Play ( 1974 )

Produce r

 *  The   Count   Count  s ( 19 75 )
 * Havin ' Fun with  Ernie  &  Bert  ( 19 72 )
 * Merry Christ mas from  SESAME   STREET  ( Executive Produce r  for CRA ) ( 1975 )
 * Love ( 1980 )
 *  BIG   BIRD  Discover s t h e Orchestra ( 1981 )