Allan Sherman - My Son, The Box [2005] (6 x CD's)

 

NOVELTY, PARODY, STANDUP,  COMEDEY

Allan Sherman - My Son, The Box [2005] (6 x CD's)

Between the fall of 1962 and the end of 1963, Allan Sherman was perhaps the most popular comedian in America, and along with Bob Newhart he was one of the first to rise to fame through the medium of the long-playing record album. Sherman's gimmick was his gift for taking familiar melodies -- folk songs, old standards, hits of the day -- and pairing them with new lyrics that turned their original meanings upside down and threw them into a whole new (and very funny) light. Sherman's twin obsessions were Jewish-American culture and the daily outrages that were part and parcel of life in postwar America -- from cut-rate clothing and extended families to crabgrass and summer camp, Sherman could point out the foibles of muddling through the Kennedy era and show what was both funny and ridiculous about them. Sherman also had a remarkable gift for the language, and the craft in his best parodies was often every bit as graceful (if not more so) than the original lyrics they replaced. While "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp" would prove to be his most enduring number, the fact the man racked up three million-selling albums in a space of less than a year proves he certainly had a firm hold on the nation's ears for a while, and those albums -- My Son, the Folk Singer, My Son, the Celebrity, and My Son, the Nut -- proved wildly influential on a generation of musicians and humorists. Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction of Sherman's recorded output has been available in the CD age, but Rhino Handmade have finally remedied this situation with My Son, the Box, a six-disc set that presents an obsessively thorough documentation of Sherman's work. My Son, the Box features all eight albums Sherman recorded for Warner Bros. Records -- from the inspired 1962 debut, My Son, the Folk Singer, to the lackluster 1967 swan song, Togetherness -- along with a treasure trove of rare and unreleased material. The first disc includes Sherman's Semitic parody of My Fair Lady, which prompted the writer and television producer to take a shot at a new career in music, and outtakes and alternate performances from all eight albums are scattered through the box. The compilers have also included some true oddities, including sets of comic songs about paper cups and synthetic carpet fibers Sherman wrote under advertising commissions, and a rare "serious" single, "Oddball" and "His Own Little Island," in which the comic reveals his sentimental side. Sadly, the quality of Sherman's work began to slip after the My Son trilogy, and the last disc is tough going, dominated by the unimpressive Togetherness album and closing with a bizarre and ultimately heartbreaking live tape from 1967 of an obviously drunk Sherman performing "Hello Mudduh, Hello Faddah" at a nightclub gig as if he can't wait for the song to be over. Mark Cohen's superb liner notes provide a superb analysis of Sherman's work while not glossing over the tragedies of his life and the disappointments of his later years (he died in 1973, only 48 years of age). But if there was sadness in Allan Sherman's life, his art was comedy that celebrated the glories and failings of ordinary life, and there's not a disc in this set that doesn't generate a handful of solid belly laughs. My Son, the Box is a loving tribute to an overlooked comic master, and no one serious about collecting recorded humor should be without it. (AllMusic Review by Mark Deming)

Allen Sherman fans will surely love this extensive box set of his witty songs, most if not all of which are parodies of folks songs in the public domain along with many more parodies of rather famous songs written by noted composers including Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini. The real thrill of this box set is the sound quality as well as the release of so many tracks that have rarely, if ever, seen the day of day until this release. Unfortunately, Rhino Handmade was the releasing label who gave it a limited release of 4000 copies.

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Track lists

CD1

01 Jack Benny Introduction (outtake) 0:35

02 The Ballad of Harry Lewis 3:40

03 Shake Hands With Your Uncle Max 2:40

04 Sir Greenbaum's Madrigal 3:39

05 My Zelda 3:35

06 The Streets of Miami 5:20

07 Sarah Jackman 2:28

08 Jump Down, Spin Around (Pick a Dress o' Cotton) 2:15

09 Seltzer Boy 3:29

10 Oh Boy 4:04

11 Shticks and Stones 5:43

12 My Fair Lady - Scene I: Outside of the National Theatre, 2nd Ave., New York (outtake) 3:24

13 My Fair Lady - Wouldn't It Be Lovely (outtake) 1:25

14 My Fair Lady - Scene II: At the C & L Delicatessen, 76th St. & Broadway (outtake) 1:31

15 My Fair Lady - With a Little Bit of Lox (outtake) 2:26

16 My Fair Lady - Scene III: At Grossinger's (outtake) 0:24

17 My Fair Lady - On the Streets Where We Live (outtake) 2:02

18 My Fair Lady - Scene IV: At His Home (outtake) 2:24

19 My Fair Lady - I Got the Customers to Face (outtake) 1:14

20 My Fair Lady - Scene V: In the Candy Store (outtake) 1:04

21 My Fair Lady - Get Me to the Temple on Time (outtake) 1:34

CD2

01 Al 'n Yetta 3:26

02 Medley: Barry Is the Baby's Name / Horowitz / Get on the Garden Freeway 2:15

03 Mexican Hat Dance 2:04

04 The Bronx Bird Watcher 3:12

05 The Let's All Call Up A.T.&T. and Protest to the President March 2:38

06 Harvey and Sheila 3:35

07 Won't You Come Home, Disraeli? 2:21

08 No One's Perfect 3:35

09 When I Was a Lad 2:37

10 Me 2:36

11 Shticks of One and Half a Dozen of the Other 5:49

12 Chopped Liver (outtake) 4:12

13 Smart Ass (outtake) 1:32

14 You Went the Wrong Way, Old King Louie 3:30

15 Automation 3:24

16 I See Bones 3:19

17 Hungarian Goulash No. 5 2:37

18 Headaches 2:55

19 Here's to the Crabgrass 3:16

CD3

01 Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah! (A Letter from Camp) 2:54

02 One Hippopotami 3:35

03 Ratt Fink 2:24

04 You're Getting to Be a Rabbit With Me 1:53

05 Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue 2:24

06 Hail to Thee, Fat Person 1:44

07 Sue Me (feat. Debbie Reynolds & Allan Sherman) 2:33

08 The Twelve Gifts of Christmas (unedited single version) 3:27

09 Skin 2:30

10 Lotsa Luck 2:58

11 Green Stamps 2:42

12 Holiday for States 1:36

13 You Need an Analyst 3:23

14 The Drop-Outs March 2:48

15 I Can't Dance 2:29

16 Night and Day (With Punctuation Marks) 3:21

17 Little Butterball 1:53

18 Good Advice 8:36

19 My Son, the Vampire (single version) 2:23

CD4

01 Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp) (new 1964 version) (single version) 3:17

02 Grow, Mrs. Goldfarb 3:20

03 Your Mother's Here to Stay 2:47

04 Pills 1:53

05 Shine on, Harvey Bloom 2:46

06 J.C. Cohen 4:49

07 Pop Hates the Beatles 3:07

08 Beautiful Teamsters 2:45

09 Kiss of Myer 2:31

10 America's a Nice Italian Name 5:06

11 The Twelve Gifts of Christmas (edited version) 3:25

12 Bye Bye Blumberg 3:06

13 It's a Most Unusual Play 2:26

14 The Laarge Daark Aardvark Song 2:16

15 That Old Back Scratcher 2:33

16 Call Me 2:58

17 Peyton Place, U.S.A. 3:11

18 The Drinking Man's Diet 2:41

19 Secret Code 2:23

20 The Painless Dentist Song 2:43

21 Chim Chim Cheree 3:35

22 Go to Sleep, Paul Revere! 2:32

23 An Average Song 1:04

24 When I'm in the Mood for Love (You're in the Mood for Herring) (alternate version with extra verse) 2:32

25 Overweight People (outtake) 2:24

CD5

01 Crazy Downtown (extended version) 2:57

02 Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp) (new 1964 version) (alternate version) 2:34

03 Where Do You Come From Tex (outtake) 3:04

04 Between 18th & 19th on Chestnut Street (outtake) 2:27

05 Christmas '65 (Draft Cards) (outtake) 1:53

06 Intro to Allan Sherman Record (promo version) 0:18

07 Introduction Short Songs: Hello Muddah - Nevada Style, A Song Written by Elizabeth Taylor 1:52

08 Taking Lessons 2:53

09 A Waste of Money 2:16

10 How Van Nuys Got Its Name 1:05

11 Smog Gets in Your Eyes 1:23

12 Scotch and/or Water 0:31

13 Sorry 'Bout That 2:27

14 The Learner's Brassiere 1:38

15 Mononeucleosis 1:56

16 In Which I Finally Admit That I Won World War II Single-Handed 0:57

17 Dodgin' The Draft 2:15

18 The Rebel 3:42

19 Warning to Those Who Have a Low Threshold of Sex 1:11

20 When I'm in the Mood for Love (You're in the Mood for Herring) 2:15

21 Second Hand Nose 2:13

22 A Few Words About Chinese New Year 1:16

23 Sam You Made the Pants Too Long 2:45

24 If I Could Play Piano 2:10

25 Son of Peyton Place 6:16

26 His Own Little Island (outtake) 1:55

CD6

01 Odd Ball (single version) 1:47

02 His Own Little Island (single version) 2:00

03 Makin' Coffee 3:10

04 Vending Machines 2:58

05 There Are Cups 2:07

06 That's How the Change Is Made 2:19

07 The Wonderful Tree in the Forest 3:32

08 Scott Cups 2:29

09 Westchester Hadassah 2:01

10 Strange Things in My Soup 2:20

11 Turn Back the Clock 2:35

12 Signs 2:21

13 Down the Drain 3:21

14 Plan Ahead 2:06

15 Togetherness 1:40

16 Spanish Flea 1:37

17 My Aunt Minnie 2:14

18 If I Were a Tishman 2:47

19 There's No Governor Like Our New Governor 2:09

20 Dum Dum Song (outtake) 2:26

21 Somewhere (outtake) 4:28

22 Westchester Hadassah (alternate version) 2:00

23 Turn Back the Clock (Takes 1 & 2) (alternate version) 1:18

24 Down the Drain (take 1) (alternate version) 0:57

25 Plan Ahead (take 1) (alternate version) 1:21

26 Togetherness (alternate version) 0:43

27 Spanish Flea (alternate version) 1:36

28 If I Were a Tishman (alternate version) 2:49

29 There's No Governor Like Our New Governor (Takes 2 & 3) (alternate version) 0:47

30 Introduction 0:32

31 Encron Is a Brand New Fiber 0:37

32 Put Them All Together They Spell Encron 0:36

33 There Is a Fiber Called Encron 0:37

34 Encron Alive, Alive-O 0:37

35 Encron's the Name 0:37

36 Why They Call It Encron 0:37

37 Encron, Encron 0:36

38 Encron Is a Great New Fiber 0:39

39 Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp) (live version) 2:52

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