Finding gems one has on very very very worn wax in digital form to play on Sunday mornings.... I have been looking for this on and off for a long time and can only think I only found it thanks to somehandy search tricks I've picked up and the fact google just keeps getting better :)
I can't describe quite how important this album is to me, well I can but am saving a proper review for the Stink Finger - which might just appear on Monday - assuming I am not too bung Sunday.
I can't describe quite how important this album is to me, well I can but am saving a proper review for the Stink Finger - which might just appear on Monday - assuming I am not too bung Sunday.
Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Volume One: The Early Years (1961) combined dialogue and song in a musical theater format. The original album musical, released on Capitol, parodies the history of the United States from 1492 until the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783.
Freberg parodied both large and small aspects of history. For instance, in the Colonial era, it was common to use the long s, which resembles a lowercase f, in the middle of words; thus, as Ben Franklin is reading the Declaration of Independence, he questions the passage, "Life, liberty, and the purfuit of happineff?!?" He also takes the time to skewer McCarthyism, as his Franklin talks about "signing a few harmless documents, forgetting all about it, and years later finding oneself in front of a committee." Freberg blatantly skewered McCarthyism with "Point of Order," taken from Senator Joseph McCarthy's frequent objection, which executives truly feared to air.
Freberg describes being called in for a chat about this and being asked whether he ever belonged to any "disloyal" group. "Well," he replied, "I have been for many years a member of…"—the executive went pale—"…the Mickey Mouse Fan Club." "Dammit, Freberg," the executive angrily retorted, "this isn't a game." The parody was eventually aired, and Freberg never found himself "in front of a committee." McCarthyism is also obliquely mocked in "Little Blue Riding Hood," his Joe Friday parody: "Only the color has been changed to prevent an investigation."
The album also featured the following exchange, where Freberg's Christopher Columbus is "discovered on beach here" by a Native American played by Marvin Miller. Skeptical of the Natives' diet of corn and "other organically grown vegetables," Columbus wants to open "America's first Italian restaurant" and needs to cash a check to get started:
Native: "You out of luck today. Banks closed."
Columbus: "Oh? Why?"
Native: "Columbus Day!"
Columbus: "Oh, yeah." [pregnant pause] "We going out on that joke?"
Native: "No, we do reprise of song. That help, but…"
Columbus and Native together: "Not much, no!"
Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America, Volume Two was planned for release during America's Bicentennial in 1976, but did not emerge until 1996
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Freberg
No comments:
Post a Comment