My Son the Nut

Allan Sherman (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 7, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collectors' Choice
• ASIN: B003SWFLMY
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,781 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. You Went the Wrong Way Old King Louie

2. Automation

3. I See Bones

4. Hungarian Goulash No. 5

5. Headaches

6. Here's to the Crabgrass

7. Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp)

8. One Hippopotami

9. Rat Fink

10. You're Getting to be a Rabbit with Me

11. Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue

12. Hail to Thee, Fat Person

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here's to the Crabgrass, September 7, 2010

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: My Son the Nut (Audio CD)

Allan Sherman had the incredibly special gift of being able to take well known songs and ballads in the public domain and pair the musical themes with hysterical lyrics of his own. His audiences loved him for it; and although he really couldn't sing very well it never seemed to matter--he was an excellent performer with a great deal of self confidence onstage. Initially many of his funny lyrics were about Jewish humor, but on this album he pokes fun at other issues such as people being replaced by computers (as in "Automation" on this album) and the mid century mass exodus of families from the cities to the suburbs (as in "Here's to the Crabgrass"). In addition, this CD is particularly good for anyone who never bought this box set "My Son the Box" and I also recommend it for people who just want one or two of Allan Sherman's albums. The sound quality is very good; and Allan's rapport with his audience is wonderful to hear.

There are quite a few very good songs on this album; I especially like "You Went the Wrong Way Old King Louie" which is based on the theme of "You Went the Wrong Way to St. Louis;" and other favorites of mine would have to include "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" which was a huge hit for Allan Sherman and still gets some airtime today; "Automation" using the music from "Fascination" as Allan laments the replacement of a pretty woman by a RCA 503 computer; "Headaches" which parodies "Heartaches" as it makes fun of aspirin commercials and "Rat Fink" which blends music from "Rag Mop" along with a very jazzy twist to let it also poke fun at the dance crazes of the day.

Overall, Allan Sherman fans can consider this a must-have (unless, as I mentioned, they already have "My Son, the Box") and this also makes a fine introduction to the unbelievably talented Allan Sherman. It's impossible to ignore the effect Sherman had on future performers including "Weird Al " Yankovic; and Adam Sandler's "Chanukah Song" would have made Sherman very proud indeed! Even though Allan Sherman's time in the spotlight was not as long as it should have been, he gave us nothing but the best in high quality control song parodies that you will never forget once you've heard them.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 - Early `60s song parodist hits his commercial peak, September 8, 2010

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Son the Nut (Audio CD)

Sherman's third album, released in 1963 and recorded less than a year after his debut, was his most solid collection of songs, and spun off his most famous composition, "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!" As on the previous albums there's a live studio audience, but with his humor now a known quanity, these feel more like staged performances than impromptu party appearances. The applause and laughs are genuine and well deserved, but they're polite rather than the uncontrolled punctuations of his first album. Traces of his earlier Jewish humor can still be heard here, but the broader reach of My Son the Celebrity is the real pay off. The opening treatise on the French crown, "You Went the Wrong Way, Old King Louie," is both a funny history lesson and a rocking good time. Sherman's musical director, Lou Busch, continued to write serious arrangements to contrast with Sherman's hilarious lyrics, but he also managed to mock musical icons of the time, slipping Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme" into the opener and revving up a parody of "Rag Mop" for Sherman's "Rat Fink." Sherman unleashes his imagination on the complexities of early computerization, modern medicine, international cuisine, and suburban vexations. The album's crown jewel, "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp)," is like a musical version of a Bob Newhart phone call. Even here, among the numerous hazards that befall the summer campers, Sherman manages to work in an intellectual reference to James Joyce's "Ulysses." The single won a Grammy and peaked at #2 on the Billboard chart, and seemed to be everywhere in the summer of 1963. Collectors' Choice straight-up reissue includes new liner notes by Dr. Demento. 4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, clean, and intellectually stimulating! And funny, too! (Did I say funny? It's really funny!), July 11, 2009

By 

David L. Bump "the Old Dreamer" (Flushing, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Son, The Nut (US Release) (MP3 Download)

Perhaps the best collection of combined music and comedy of all time -- not counting Victor Borge, who's in a classical class of his own. Even if you're not familiar with the popular and classical music behind these songs, the satire and nimble word play will tickle your funny bone -- if you have one that responds to intelligent humor, and not just the stuff retrieved from toilets and public restroom walls that passes for jokes these days. This is all good, clean fun suitable for all ages, but only people with sharp minds will catch all of it. I hope some hints about the individual songs will encourage you to BUY THIS GEM which deserves to be preserved. In alphabetical order, with a couple exceptions:

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh -- Probably Allan's biggest hit, also known as "Camp Granada" -- A letter from a boy to his parents written from the world's worst camp! What a nightmare! ... or is it?

Automation (music = "Fascination") -- Written back when computerized machines replacing workers was a new thing, but with a science fiction spin that we've yet to see in real life!

Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue -- Taking an old song about a "Five foot two, eyes of blue" cutie and making it the song about a weird and wacky Martian beauty! "Her steering wheel has sex appeal..."

Headaches (music = "Heartaches") -- Aspirin commercials have changed a lot, but if you don't remember how they used to harp on "tension, pressure, pain" you'll still get the funny satire here quickly. Then again, those more recent "Head On" commercials might have made you consider the surprising solution at the end of this song.

Here's to the Crabgrass -- Ah, the genteel music of "English Country Garden" backs up a couple singing about their flight from "the city" and its "rat race" to the joys of suburbia -- where they find a whole new set of problems!

Hungarian Goulash -- Classical "Hungarian" music for hungry people who like food from all around the world (including the jungle where the Mau Maus enjoy "missionary pie," oh my!). Guess what you get when you "mix them all up, in one big mish-mosh..."

I See Bones -- I like this version of "C'est Si Bon" better than the original! As Allan's doctor describes ("in French" but supposedly translated by Allan, ha ha) what he sees in Allan's X-ray, it seems our Mr. Sherman has an anomalous and amusing anatomy: "There are things in your peritoneum that belong in a British museum!"

One Hippopotami -- "cannot get on a bus, ..." Going nuts with plurals and throwing the dictionary, grammar, and logic out the window in the process! "Nobody knows just what a paraphenalia is, and what's half a pair of scissors? It's a single sizz!... a parallelogram is just a crazy square."

RRAATTFFIIINNKK -- Even if you don't remember Rat Fink, let alone the old ragtime song Rag Mop, you can enjoy this bouncy, jazzy song. (Remember the Beanie and Cecil version of Rag Mop?) (For those not in the know, the double letters are a play on the spell-it-out lyrics: "R, I say R.A., R.A.T., R.A.T.T..."

You Went the Wrong Way Old King Louis -- The jazzy song "You Went the Wrong Way to St. Louis" is here applied to ... the French Revolution?!? "And when that guy down there is through, with what he's gonna do, you'll have no place to wear your crown!"

You're Getting to Be a Rabbit with Me -- Replace "rabbit" with "Habit" and you've got the original song. A lover laments that his Playboy Bunny (remember them?) wife seems to be more of a bunny than he bargained for (her "tail was attached permanently" and she ate the "two carrot ring" he bought her), and she's getting bunny-er all the time! Ah, but it has a surprise twist happy ending. Well, a happy Furry ending.

Hail to Thee, Fat Person! -- A spoken finale, possibly lost on those who didn't grow up back when mothers encouraged their children to eat "because people are starving in [insert part of globe where people were starving]" but possibly comforting to a lot of us old fat people.