Allan Sherman: My Son, The Box review
Jeff Morris
finally came out yesterday. (My Son The Box, Rhino Handmade RHM2 7891,
limited to 4000 copies) For Allan's hard core fans, it is a virtual
cornucopia.
It has nearly everything he recorded for Warner Brothers in the 1960s, which
constitutes most of his catalog. For those who are interested, I'll run
through some of the stuff, but if you want to wait until you get your copy
before hearing about the new items, beware of SPOILERS AHEAD!
Disc One openss with the special introduction that Jack Benny recorded for him
to use at the beginning of his early live shows. It's funny, and a great way
to start the set.
This is followed by all 10 tracks from his first (and arguably best) album, My
Son, The Folk Singer. Most people contemplating buying this set are probably
very familiar with this album, as it's one of the easiest comedy LPs to find
used. However, this marks its CD debut. Only four of its tracks have appeared
on CD before, and amazingly the hilarious opening track "The Ballad Of Harry
Lewis" is not one of those four. The audience reaction to this song is half of
the fun. Allan can barely get through some of the lines without them cracking
up. I don't know for sure if this was also the first song recorded at the
session, but it's quite possible.
It's hard to understand today just how outrageous Allan's songs were at the
time, but listening to the roars of laughter from his first album should give
somewhat of a glimpse into the 1962 mindset. As with the first track, the
audience really makes the whole album work. Even though Allan often had stage
fright, there's no doubt that he did his best work when in front of an
audience. He definitely had them on his side and they stuck right with him
through the whole session. (Of course, it didn't hurt that they were mostly
friends he had invited, but their laughter is genuine.)
The outstanding tracks, in my opinion, are "The Ballad Of Harry Lewis", "Sir
Greenbaum's Madrigal", "Sarah Jackman", "Oh Boy", and "Shticks And Stones" (a
wonderful medley of short parodies, perhaps the inspiration for "Weird Al"'s
food medleys), but really the whole album is solid and very enjoyable.
Next is a great treat - Allan's previously unreleased Jewish version of "My
Fair Lady", including the story and five song parodies. He performed this at
his audition for Warner Brothers in 1962. It has been in circulation among
collectors for years, but now it is available in quite good sound from a
restored acetate. (Unfortunately they did not locate the tape in time to use
it on this set.)
Disc two has all 11 tracks from My Son, The Celebrity, which is another
stupendous work which most people will be familiar with. It has many
outstanding tracks such as "Al 'N Yetta" (providing a snapshot of prime time
TV from the early 1960s), "Get On The Garden Freeway", "Harvey And Sheila",
"When I Was A Lad", and "Shticks Of One And Half A Dozen Of The Other" (another
great medley of short parodies). [Younger listeners may be mystified by "The
Let's All Call Up A.T.&T. And Protest To The President March", which refers to
"all-digit dialing". That is what we use today, as opposed to named telephone
exchanges had been in use for several decades. Phone numbers in the old format
in other popular songs include Beechwood 4-5789 (BE4-5789 -> 234-5789) and
Tidewater 4-1009 (TI4-1009 -> 844-1009).]
Next up are two unreleased outtakes from the sessions for the second album.
It's obvious why "Chopped Liver" (a parody of "Moon River") did not make the
cut, since Allan could not remember the words. It might be possible to edit
together a halfway usable version, but here it is unedited and complete with
someone else coming up to the mic and singing his own parody called "Yom
Kippur". It doesn't stand up well to repeated listenings, but it's interesting
to heard something of this nature. It's followed by the setup for "Won't You
Come Home, Disraeli" which leads into a brief but funny parody of "Heartaches"
called "Smart Ass". (Allan would parody this song fully on his next album as
"Headaches".)
Disc two concludes with the first side of My Son, The Nut, which was his third
album, and really gives My Son, The Folk Singer a run for its money. This was
the peak of Allan's career, and his third #1 album in a row. Again, there's
nary a bad track, but among the best on side one are "You Went The Wrong Way,
Old King Louie", "Hungarian Goulash No. 5", and "Here's To The Crabgrass".
Disc three (the only one with no previously unreleased material) features side
two of My Son, The Nut, starting off with his biggest hit single and a
perennial summertime favorite, "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From
Camp)". This is the first of five versions which are heard on the set.
Everyone reading this knows this song, so there is no point in me saying any
more about it. Other great tracks here are "Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue" and
"Hail To Thee, Fat Person".
Next up is "Sue Me" which features Debbie Reynolds and is from the Reprise
Musical Repertory Theatre recording of "Guys And Dolls". That album has been
available off and on over the years, but this is the song's first appearance
on an Allan Sherman compilation.
This is followed by the single version of "The Twelve Gifts Of Christmas"
(mono, not remixed to stereo), which features the original line "statue of a
naked lady with a clock where her stomach ought to be". The word "naked" was
edited out when this was put on an album a year later.
Then we have Allan's fourth album, Allan In Wonderland. At this point, Allan's
popularity was starting to decline, but not the quality of his material. This
is still a great album, with tracks such as "Lotsa Luck", "Little Butterball",
and the epic "Good Advice". The latter may be Allan's most energetic
performance, and is perhaps my favorite track in his whole catalog. His
delivery on this is absolutely superb. It goes on for 8 1/2 minutes without
losing steam.
Disc three closes with another rare track from a single, "My Son, The Vampire",
the theme from a movie that was re-released and retitled in 1964. This track
has been available on Dr. Demento Presents Spooky Tunes & Scary Melodies for
the past decade, but now is available on an Allan Sherman compilation.
Disc four also opens with a version of "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!", this time
the equally funny follow-up from 1964 that was recorded on "The Tonight Show"
and released as a single. Then come his fifth and sixth Warner Brothers
albums. For Swingin' Livers Only is still prime Sherman, with hilarious tracks
like "Grow, Mrs. Goldfarb", "Shine On, Harvey Bloom", "J. C. Cohen", "Pop Hates
The Beatles", and "Bye Bye Blumberg" (as well as the edited version of
Christmas single from the previous year). This is the last album on which the
full genius of Lou Busch is heard. I'm not sure why a different
arranger/conductor was used on the next album, but for the first five albums,
the combination of Allan's delivery and Lou's arrangements really transformed
the songs from funny parodies you might laugh at once or twice into exciting
records you can listen to again and again.
My Name Is Allan was his sixth Warner Brothers album, and has a bit of a
different feel without Lou Busch. It's also the first time one of Allan's
albums contained a track recorded without an audience. "The Laarge Daark
Aardvark Song" had to involve overdubbing due to the sped up voice, but as is
often the case, the extra work put into it brings the listener a less rewarding
experience than the rest of the album which was recorded with a studio audience
as usual. This album seems a bit sub-par compared to previous ones, but
Allan's delivery is still good, and there are still fun songs like "It's A Most
Unusual Play", "Peyton Place, U.S.A.", "The Drinking Man's Diet", and "Chim
Chim Cheree" (a snapshot of 1960s advertising).
Disc four closes with two unreleased items from the My Name Is Allan sessions.
First is "When I'm In The Mood For Love (You're In The Mood For Herring)",
which also appears on the next album, but the version here continues for
another verse. I'm not sure why that was not used on the next album.
Following this is the previously unreleased "Over The Rainbow" parody
"Overweight People", whose lyrics were first seen in Allan's autobiography.
Now we actually get to hear him sing this little gem, which had actually been
in his act for two or three years by the time it was finally recorded.
Disc five starts off with the great Petula Clark parody "Crazy Downtown", using
the extended stereo mix that was on My Son, The Greatest, rather than the
single version which fades early. This is followed by four previously unheard
studio tracks, slightly out of chronological order. First is a studio
recording of the 1964 lyrics for "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!" I believe this
was recorded shortly before it was performed on "The Tonight Show", but then
they realized that the latter performance was better and used it for the
single, despite the lower sound quality since it came from TV. The studio
recording is well arranged but a bit sterile compared to the familiar
recording. Still, it's nice to have this previously unknown item.
Next are two unreleased tracks from the "Crazy Downtown" session. Presumably
the plan was to use one of them on the B-side of that single, and it's not
clear why that didn't happen. First is "Where Do You Come From Tex", which
is mostly a collection of cities which contain people's names ("Phil's from
Philadelphia...Louie is from Louisville..."), but surprisingly this seems to
get funnier the more I listen to it. It's Allan's delivery, plus the voice of
Tex, that make it a good listen. This is followed by a cookin' rendition of
"Between 18th & 19th On Chestnut Street" (a hit for Bob Crosby and others a
quarter century earlier), with updated lyrics for the 1960s. (Interestingly,
he mentions The Beatles in a more favorable light here than in "Pop Hates The
Beatles" from less than a year earlier.)
These are followed by one of the most puzzling tracks on the collection, the
scrapped 1965 single "Christmas '65 (Draft Cards)". It's a parody of "The
Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)", starting out "Draft
cards burning on an open fire..." I assume it was intended to be funny, but
parts of it have more of an air of sadness by expressing the turmoil that was
brewing 40 years ago.
Things pick back up with the next album, which is preceded by a brief promo
spot. Allan Sherman - Live!!! (Hoping You Are The Same) is Allan's only album
that was recorded in concert, before a paying crowd (as opposed to guests
invited to the recording studio for previous albums). It includes audience
banter, which is absent from other albums, giving this a bit of a different
feel. Even though his popularity was sharply declining by this point, the
audience seemed very receptive, and he interacted with them well. Some of the
best songs are "Taking Lessons", "A Waste Of Money", "Mononeucleosis", "The
Rebel", and "Son Of Peyton Place" (which outshines the original version from
the previous album).
Disc five concludes with a song recorded the same day as the live album, but
left off the original LP since it was not a comedy song. This version of "His
Own Little Island" uses the closing verse that he used on his "Funnyland" TV
show as opposed to the one used on the single.
Disc six opens with the aforementioned single, "Odd Ball" and "His Own Little
Island". The former was written by Allan for his wife, Dee, and the latter was
from a musical. It was Allan's attempt at a serious single, and it seriously
flopped. Straight actors and singers don't often have a difficult time doing
comedy once in a while, but the reverse is not true. Once you are known as a
comic, it's often hard to get people to take you seriously, and this was
definitely the case with Allan. I'm sure it was frustrating for him. His fans
who haven't been able to find this rare single will be delighted to find it
here, and even those who already had it should be pleased to find it in stereo
for the first time on this box set. It's not a coupling of songs, just not
what people wanted to hear from Allan Sherman at the time.
After this comes one of the best rare Sherman items, the promo LP Music To
Dispense With Created By Allan Sherman For The Container Division Of Scott
Paper Company. This was made just for the amusement of people at that company,
but it turns out to have wide appeal as well. It's really a gem, with some
great parodies showcasing Allan's knack for in-jokes. The best tracks are
"Makin' Coffee" (parody of "Makin' Whoopee, which he also parodied on his album
that year as "Taking Lessons"), "Vending Machines", and "Scott Cups". The
tapes of this album could not be located, so a mint condition LP was used
instead. Also, the spoken intro from the single was omitted for some reason.
Next we have his last and rarest Warner Brothers album, Togetherness. Have you
ever wondered what Allan would sound like in a recording studio in 1967, with
no audience to encourage him? You'll find out if you listen to this album,
which has some parodies and originals, including songs from the musical he was
working on with Albert Hague. Most of the tracks aren't particularly exciting
on first listen, but may grow on you after a while. "Strange Things In My
Soup", "Spanish Flea", "My Aunt Minnie", and "There's No Governor Like Our New
Governor" are fun. The latter is one of the earliest songs about Ronald
Reagan's political career.
Then we have two unreleased outtakes from Togetherness, which might be better
than some of the things that ended up on the album. "Dum Dum Song (Somewhere)"
is kind of funny by being sly with rhythmic words in the chorus that imply
things about the verses. "Somewhere" is an intentional series of false start
attempts at a recording, with David Brenner playing the part of the engineer.
It's fun to see how many ways they can ruin a take, especially the soprano
who lets out a burp way out of her vocal range.
Following this are alternate takes of most of the songs from Togetherness.
Many of these are incomplete takes, and while as a recording engineer myself
I like to hear things progress in the studio, I'm not sure that these will be
tracks that bear repeated listening for most people. Among the complete
songs is "Westchester Hadassah" which has some alternate lyrics, but
unfortunately was mixed with two vocals running simultaneously, sometimes
singing different lyrics or out of sync. I assume the two vocals are just
two separate takes, not intended to be heard together, so why it wasn't mixed
with just the alternate vocal, I don't know. Also of note in the mixing
category is that the outtakes are mixed with very little stereo separation,
instead of the wide separation that is on the album and was standard at that
time. Another complete alternate is "Spanish Flea" which also has two
simultaneous vocals that are sometimes not in perfect sync, so again I wonder
if there was ever an intention to have these heard together or if they were
just two takes of the lead vocal.
Similar to the Scott Paper album earlier on the disc, we now have Allan Sherman
Pours It On For Carpets Made With Encron Polyester. This is a series of brief
parodies done as carpet commercials. It's not as great as the Scott Paper
album, but still fun, and much rarer. It is also sourced from disc.
The set closes with a live version of "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!" from the
fall of 1967. This was after the last album, after Allan's divorce, and
probably not at a great time in his life. He was also probably sick of
performing this song for the past four years. This recording shows how he
was slipping downhill, and is sort of a sad closing, which is ironic since it's
the song of his which has brought the most happiness to the world.
If you are a serious fan of Allan's (no, that's not a contradiction in terms),
you will no doubt enjoy this set. If you have not read his autobiography A
Gift Of Laughter, it is highly recommended, especially to get a sense of the
cultural impact of his enormous popularity from 1962-1964. It also contains
lyrics for some unreleased songs, including his original "Hello Muddah, Hello
Fadduh!" follow-up from the fall of 1963 which he sung at the University Of
Illinois: "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, Here I am at Alma Mater..." It's
really marvelous, and it's a shame there's no recording of it (or if there
is, that it's not on this set).
His autobiography was published in 1965, and as such does not cover the
remaining years of his life up to 1973. Mark Cohen, who wrote the liner notes
for the box set, is doing research and may one day publish a biography which
fills in some gaps and gives us another perspective on Allan's life.
The box will probably satisfy nearly anyone who wants a thorough collection
of Allan's work. Anyone who enjoys this should also get the Peter And The
Commissar CD from Collectors' Choice Music, which is his 1964 collaboration
with Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops Orchestra. For the hard core fan, there
are still items we've heard about that are not on CD, including the 1951
Jubilee single, the promo interview for Commissar, the rest of his Warner
Brothers audition, material from "The Fig Leaves Are Falling", and the golf
album which he was working on in 1973 but which was never completed...not to
mention innumerable TV appearances. It's questionable whether there will
ever be demand to release any of this material, but we can now rest assured
that all of his best material has been digitally preserved for posterity.
Tim Ryan
Office trucks went by yesterday and today without leaving a package.
Maybe tomorrow.
"Jeff Morris" <> wrote ...
> After MANY years of planning and preparation, Rhino's Allan Sherman
box set
> finally came out yesterday. (My Son The Box, Rhino Handmade RHM2
7891,
> limited to 4000 copies) For Allan's hard core fans, it is a virtual
> cornucopia.
>
(read about the first three disks, will wait to read the rest)
-Tim
bassdad...@gmail.com
within ONE HOUR of receiving the Rhino Handmade e-mail announcing that
advance orders were being accepted, or I might not have gotten one at
all! (#2314/4000? How did that happen?) I've been waiting forever. Now
I can die happy!
Jeff Morris wrote:
> After MANY years of planning and preparation, Rhino's Allan Sherman box set
> finally came out yesterday. (My Son The Box, Rhino Handmade RHM2 7891,
> limited to 4000 copies) For Allan's hard core fans, it is a virtual
> cornucopia.
> -snip-
Jeff Morris
>Mine arrived yesterday. I guess it's a good thing I placed the order
>within ONE HOUR of receiving the Rhino Handmade e-mail announcing that
>advance orders were being accepted, or I might not have gotten one at
>all! (#2314/4000? How did that happen?)
As far as I know, when Rhino Handmade originally started in 1999, the
releases were distributed in numeric sequence. At least, I assume so,
since I ordered the Wild Man Fischer set as soon as I heard about it, and
I got #54/1000.
At that time, the only way to order their product was through the web site.
But now it's distributed through other channels, such as Collector's Choice
Music and other retail outlets. So they must send some numbers to other
places. Whether they keep the lowest numbers for the web site, or if there
is any regard for the sequence at all, I have no idea. Perhaps someone
who orders from CCM can report their sequence number.
Carl Pearson
web a couple of days ago but for some reason it didn't go through, had
to call just before they closed for the evening).
The nice lady on the phone said it was still in stock, & I already have
my email confirmation. Didn't spring for FTL shipping, so it's not
already here, probably take a week or so...
BTW, Jeff, thanks for the great review! It's gotten me to thinking
that, 30+ years after I've first heard a bunch of his songs (I had
'Nut', 'Folk Singer' & 'Celebrity' on vinyl back in the early 70's, all
long-since gone to that great shelf in the sky), whole verses are still
floating around the ole' pea-brain.
I'm so glad Rhino finally put this out.
Tim Ryan
> Mine arrived yesterday. I guess it's a good thing I placed the order
> within ONE HOUR of receiving the Rhino Handmade e-mail announcing that
> advance orders were being accepted, or I might not have gotten one at
> I can die happy!
Mine arrived today. #3570/4000. Got got home in the evening. Will
listen tomorrow and the coming week.
-Tim
Kimba W. Lion
> I guess it's a good thing I placed the order
>within ONE HOUR of receiving the Rhino Handmade e-mail announcing that
>advance orders were being accepted, or I might not have gotten one at
>all!
>(#2314/4000? How did that happen?)
jbmo...@steel.ucs.indiana.edu (Jeff Morris) wrote:
>Perhaps someone
>who orders from CCM can report their sequence number.
"Tim Ryan" <TimRyanA...@NOSPAM.net> wrote:
> Mine arrived today. #3570/4000.
Got mine from CDUniverse.
#3496/4000
Kimba W. Lion
Matt J. McCullar
all his LPs?
Tim Ryan
"Jeff Morris" <> wrote ...
> After MANY years of planning and preparation, Rhino's Allan Sherman
box set
> finally came out yesterday. (My Son The Box, Rhino Handmade RHM2
7891,
> limited to 4000 copies)
> ...
> beware of SPOILERS AHEAD!
>
> Disc One ... My Son, The Folk Singer.
> ...
>
> ...should give
> somewhat of a glimpse into the 1962 mindset.
Another pop-cultural reference that can be confusing. In "Streets
of Miami" he sings about renting a Pinto from Hertz-Rent-A-Horse. This
is 8 to 10 years before Ford came out with the Pinto car. For those
really young, the Ford Pinto was a compact car.
-Tim
Daniel Armstrong
because the top of the gas tank was also the floor of the trunk(My mom owned
a Pinto wagon so she was very aware of the problems with the car version).
kpkenney
> Mine arrived today. #3570/4000. Got got home in the evening. Will
> listen tomorrow and the coming week.
>
> -Tim
I got #3750. I was a little dissapointed, since a few items that had
been played on the Dr. Demento show were not present in the set: Lox
(not the My Fair Lady one), A Satchel & a Seck, and Strange Things in
My Soup. I guess the Doc wasn't consulted for this...
Jeff Morris
>I got #3750. I was a little dissapointed, since a few items that had
>been played on the Dr. Demento show were not present in the set: Lox
>(not the My Fair Lady one), A Satchel & a Seck, and Strange Things in
>My Soup. I guess the Doc wasn't consulted for this...
"Strange Things In My Soup" is definitely on the set.
The unreleased "Lox" (or "We Ain't Got Lox") that Dr. D played a couple of
times in the 80s wasn't on the set because they didn't have the audition
tape. It's unfortunate that they didn't make the right contacts in time
to get items from that included.
"A Satchel And A Seck" and "Jake's Song" were apparently omitted intentionally.
They aren't Warner Brothers material, but Jubilee (pre-WB), but I'm told that
Rhino owns the Jubilee catalog, so presumably they could've easily included
them if they wanted to.
Tim Ryan
>
> The unreleased "Lox" (or "We Ain't Got Lox") that Dr. D played a
couple of
> times in the 80s wasn't on the set because they didn't have the
audition
> tape. It's unfortunate that they didn't make the right contacts in
time
> to get items from that included.
>
> "A Satchel And A Seck" and "Jake's Song" were apparently omitted
intentionally.
> They aren't Warner Brothers material, but Jubilee (pre-WB), but I'm
told that
> Rhino owns the Jubilee catalog, so presumably they could've easily
included
> them if they wanted to.
Maybe those can be put on the revised, delux, executive edition.
There is space on disc 1 for more material, where it seems like these
would fit in after the other early material.
Actually, it would be good if they offered a revised disc 1.
-Tim
R H Draney
>
>"Jeff Morris" wrote ...
>>
>> "A Satchel And A Seck" and "Jake's Song" were apparently omitted
>intentionally.
>> They aren't Warner Brothers material, but Jubilee (pre-WB), but I'm
>told that
>> Rhino owns the Jubilee catalog, so presumably they could've easily
>included
>> them if they wanted to.
>
> Maybe those can be put on the revised, delux, executive edition.
>There is space on disc 1 for more material, where it seems like these
>would fit in after the other early material.
> Actually, it would be good if they offered a revised disc 1.
Hey, you have to leave *something* for the guys in the binaries groups to
bootleg....r
Carl Pearson
order & shipment.
ETA is between 11-24 & 11-29. Hoping it doesn't take that long!
kpkenney
title tune 'The Fig Leaves are Falling' (one of two songs Dr. D had on
tape from it). Also, the 'Lox' song Dr. D. played was supposedly
taped by someone at a party - I don't think it was ever done in studio.
Now if there were more surviving tunes from the show, that'd make an
interesting add-on disk.
(BTW, I heard the Dr D. tapes of the songs mentioned at
themadmusicarchive.com, before the lawyers shut it down. And oh yeah:
'disappoint'. )
Carl Pearson
Oddly enough, noticed a 2nd charge from CC, somehow the web order that
got "lost" kicked out a week or so later & by the time I called them
about it shipment couldn't be stopped.
When it arrives I'm supposed to return to sender for a refund.