Customer Reviews

The Remains of Tom Lehrer

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Tom Lehrer is one of the greatest anomalies in popular music: he burst on the scene for a dozen years with five albums (two of which where essentially live versions of studio recordings), then retired into academia, not performing in public for decades. To further discourage any chance of his becoming popular, his song medium was "novelty" parody and social satire, both of which tend to have short shelf lives.

Despite all this, Lehrer's pointed wit has remained popular among a small but passionate group who appreciate brilliant, cutting comments about the hypocrisies of our race relations ("National Brotherhood Week"), collegiate life ("Bright College Days"), and parodies of every song type.

This box set combines all of Lehrer's previously released albums, plus a smattering of bonus tracks, including songs written for the children's show "Electric Company" (who would've thought that the man who wrote "Masochism Tango" and "Vatican Rag" would be a good educational influence on children?)

The real bonus of this handsome box set, however, are the (hard-cover bound!) lavishly illustrated liner notes, which include an interview, notes, complete lyrics, and rare photos. Rhino did its homework on this one, and it shows. It would've been nice to hear some of the real obscurities ("Physical Revue" or the "Subway Song"), but I guess those would entail another studio session.

There are only a handful of novelty songwriters who deserve this kind of treatment, and none with the relatively limited output that Lehrer has. Congratulations, Rhino for a beautiful package on one of the seminal performers of this age.

...or at least that's how Tom Lehrer, with his customary self-deprecating wit, might describe it. To his fans, however ("all three of them," he might add), this boxed set is, to quote Christopher Walken in "True Romance," "as good as it's gonna get, and it won't ever get that good again."

If you are the sort of Pavlovian Lehrer enthusiast for whom the name "Tom Lehrer" calls forth such phrases as "pride of my record collection," "would even buy a bag of cow offal if it were a Tom Lehrer bag," or "what exactly DID the Sunday school teacher and the kindly Parson Brown do together?", you obviously must buy this set. In fact, you probably have already bought this set, played it an unhealthy number of times, and are unlikely to be reading this review anyway, since you hardly need to be sold on the myriad wonders of this collection. (Preaching to the choir is not only fun, it's easy.)

If you are the casual sort of fan who already owns the four available Lehrer CDs (the live albums and the Rhino collection of his two studio albums), you must then ask yourself if you desperately need the handful of previously unreleased songs, such as a few "Electric Company" ditties and a couple of newer tunes. If not, you may well opt to stick with your current Lehrer collection and eschew the repackaging, though you risk being snubbed by the Rabid Tom Lehrer Completists of America (twelve members at last count, of whom Lehrer himself is steadfastly not one).

If, however, you are new to the musical stylings of Tom Lehrer -- staggering thought, that -- there is no better place to start, and finish, than here. It contains well-nigh all things Lehrer, though I must wonder if Rhino will wait until Lehrer excuses himself from this plane of existence and then release "The Really Truly Complete Definitive Tom Lehrer, Really, And We Mean It This Time" boxed set. The thick supplementary book itself is worth the price, containing rare photos, complete lyrics, the original liner notes of all the albums, excerpts from an Internet interview, even "Mad Magazine" visualizations of "The Hunting Song" and "The Wild West Is Where I Wanna Be."

One final note on the admitted repetitive nature of much of the collection. Yes, roughly a third of the set can be seen as simply "live versions" of the studio recordings, or vice versa. Personally, I prefer the live versions, which contain Lehrer's pre-song witticisms and tend to be more animated than the lonely-sounding studio versions. But I'm happy to have the studio recordings as well, and any set that strives for completeness must risk a certain amount of redundancy. The important thing is that it's all here.

Now to the question of whether Lehrer devotees who already own the other four discs should now part with them, perhaps donating them to a local library or to unenlightened friends, thus spreading the Word of Tom and ensuring that he irrevocably warps the minds of that many more heretofore productive citizens. The alternative choice is to keep the discs for oneself and gloat over them. I still haven't decided yet. But by all means, if this review has appealed to you on any level (shameless or otherwise), your decision to purchase the boxed set is by now long overdue; put it off no longer, and go click on the funny little button.

Tom Lehrer is not dead! No, at age 72 he continues avoiding the spotlight and insisting that he is not in show business. This boxed set of his complete works is a testament to his genius for satire. His earliest work demonstrates his skill in parodying various song styles on albums he recorded in the mid-fifties. His political side is revealed in deftly turned tunes written for the 60's TV series "That Was the Week That Was". Also included are children's songs from "The Electric Co." There are a couple of new songs too. Dr. Demento's biographical notes are indispensable. Listening to Tom Lehrer's music is almost as good as being in his math class.

No, not swear words.

Really adult topics.

Like religion, prejudice, politics and chemistry. If you've never heard Tom Lehrer, and God knows, he doesn't get much airplay, you've missed the most influential comic musician of the last century. The Simpsons, Weird Al, Animaniacs, South Park -- all their creators have acknowledged a debt to Lehrer's intelligent but bitter humor. (Don't compare him to Mark Russell - that's like saying if you've never heard the Beatles, they sound a lot like the Backstreet Boys.)

While most of this music is over 40 years old, the irony has not rusted. (Ooh that's good! I'm copyrighting that phrase!) His pointed barbs at society and church are as sharp as ever. Consider the Vatican Rag, at one time banned on most stations as vehementally anti-Catholic: "Get into that long processional, step into that small confessional, then the guy who's got religion'll, tell you if your sin's original. If it is then play it safer, drink the wine and chew the wafer, 2-4-6-8, Time to Transubstantiate."

Lehrer's clever rhymes were non-pariel - who else could create lyrics consisting solely of the names of the elements? Check the Rhino website for the Tom Lehrer chat.

But don't miss this set.

How can you describe Tom Lehrer's work to someone who has never encountered it before?
Satirical? Yes, but only partially.
Biting? Always, but sometimes with a touch of silliness.
Wicked? Definately, but with a twinkle in the eye.
Perhaps the one word to descrobe Tom Lehrer's work is, quite simply, funny.
Having discovered Lehrer through a chance hearing of his most famous song, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, I became hooked. This box-set presents all of Lehrer's recordings along with a fantastically produced hard-backed book chronicalling just about all of the information there is on the man (he's a very private individual) as well as all of the lyrics.
Taking each of the three discs individually I shall start with the second one. Disc Two features Lehrer's two original recordings from 1959 and 1960 - 24 tracks in all. Each song is a gem but standouts include the aforementioned 'Pigeons' as well as The Hunting Song, My Home Town, Oedipus Rex and The Masochism Tango. The titles themselve point at the very political-INcorrectness of the content! These recordings are live and include the bridging introductions and gags (some of which are even funnier than the songs) and are boosted greatly by the presence of a very receptive audience.
Disc Two is virtually the same set of songs as Disc Two but without the audience and dialogue. These versions were recorded in a studio and suffer badly without the rapport that Lehrer has with the live audience. The only reason to listen to Disc One over Disc Two is for the two extra tracks slipped in at the end. Both I Got It From Agnes (how you interpret this song shows how dirty your mind is!) and That's Mathematics (a riff on That's Entertainment) are little treasures well worth re-visiting.
Disc Three is a mixed affair that is never short of genius. The first 14 tracks are Lehrer's work featured on the US version of That Was The Week That Was. These are all performed with an audience and bridging dialogue and are just as good, if not better than those on Disc Two. Classics here include Smut (my personnal favourite from the whole collection), Pollution and The Vatican Rag (which has the assembled audience in stitches!). The titles here rightly suggest that more satire is apparent in this set of songs than the earlier work. This slightly dates the content, but not so much as to render it redundant. Also on Disc Three are four of Lehrer's earlier works (from Disc Two) with full orchestration instead of the usual self-played piano. These are wonderful to hear, but still lack the audience reaction. Also here are songs that Lehrer wrote for The Electric Company TV show (funny, educational and yet, still a little subversive!) and a few little oddities including I'm Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica (a Jewish 'Christmas' song) and Selling Out (another personnal favourite).
By the end of the third disc I was a little depressed that this comic genius had not made any more recordings. We must be satisfied with what he has left us, and look at the quality not quantity. Start again as soon as you're finished listening, these songs have great 'repeat appeal'. The only other recording of Tom Lehrer's work available (if it still is available) is the cast album of Tom Foolery, a revue of Lehrer's songs from 1980, performed by a cast of four and produced by (a young) Cameron Mackintosh. Although Lehrer himself does not appear on this recording, the cast work well with the material and the inclusion of a live audience helps too. I own a copy of this recording and treasure it.
Lehrer's final (to date) public appearance was as part of the Cameron Mackintosh celebration Hey, Mr Producer! Here he performed Poisoning the Pigeons in the Park and here is where I took an interest in the rest of his work. This performance is available on DVD, video and CD.

The man has no recognizable talent, a voice that sounds as if he gargles with old razor blades, and a piano style reminiscent of a 50 pound cat! (Having heard an interview of the man today, I KNOW how he loves terrible reviews!)

That aside, this CD, a compendium of everything he purports to have put on tape, is a must-have for any true Lehrer fan. Although the second CD is merely the live versions of the first CD, it is still well worth the money. The previously unissued recordings make the collection, in my opinion.

It was interesting to listen to the compendium of Lehrer songs, many of which I had only heard in excerpts or through rumor. It's remarkable how well some of them have held up, for topical humor. I was surprised, though, by how many of them were gruesome and macabre. Some of his humor wasn't all that funny. Even so, I laughed out loud at "National Brotherhood Week" and "Werher Von Braun," and a few others. And all the recordings are from really high-quality masters. It could have been recorded yesterday.

Not so heartwarming, though, was the sheer repetitiveness of the set. CD's 1 and 2 are virtual duplicates of each other, one being studio recordings and the other live performances. And it's remarkable how similar they are. Boy, he rehearsed one delivery style and then he stuck to it.

The third CD has some great songs not on the other two, but it also has a lot of fluff from The Electric Company and some orchestrated versions of songs on the other two disks. Lehrer's voice and delivery really don't lend themselves to orchestra accompaniment.

My recommendation? Unless you're a serious Lehrer fan, find a single CD that has most of the songs you like, and stick with that.

The first time I heard a Tom Lehrer song was in one of my classes in junior high school circa 1972-73-Later on,I started listening to Dr.Demento's nationally syndicated radio show & found out that Lehrer is a regular fixture of that program-This box set is fantastic!!!-Lehrer is truly possessed with a rapier like wit & he's one hell of a songwriter-Certainly if a DJ were to play some of the more salacious songs like "Smut","I Wish I Were in Dixie","My Home Town",& "Masochism Tango",he would probably be out of a job (Excepting Dr.Demento,of course)-Disc 3,which is comprised of songs that Lehrer wrote for the short-lived TV series "That Was The Week That Was",are obviously dated by today's standards,but they're still quite hilarious-I also enjoyed the book that came with this set-The Dr.Demento bio on Lehrer's career makes for great reading-It's too bad that Lehrer has packed it in for good-Just think,he could've come up with more topical material such as Watergate,the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair,Reaganomics-the possibilities are endless-Anyway,lovers of satire,take heed & purchase this boxed set-You won't regret it.

I'm one of those who discovered Tom Lehrer in the 1960's when I was in high school and listening to his sometimes racy, always irreverent humor had some of the quality of "forbidden delights." Well, here it all is, greatly cleaned up sonically in the case of the early live performance albums (which were almost unlistenable on LP due to the peculiar acoustics of the halls where he was recorded). I listened on headphones the first time around and found it to be an unalloyed pleasure. I've already given two copies of this set as gifts, and I'm about to order two more. What is so wonderful about Lehrer's work? The wit is sparkling, the tunes and rhythms are lively, and the performances are exuberant, if hardly high vocal art. Once you listen to some of these songs, you can't get them out of your head. So, before the genius of Tom Lehrer, genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Tom Lehrer is brilliant, and some of the other reviews will eloquently tell you why. Chances are if you are looking at this item, you already know his brilliance. Even if you have the original CDs, you may want to get this, for it is the most beautiful box set I have ever seen. The hardcover, full color book has fun comments, Mad Magazine excerpts, and all the lyrics. The only improvement I could think of is I wish the "Critical disdain for Tom Lehrer" sticker that is on the shrink wrap had been put in a place where it could stay in good condition.