Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer

Tom Lehrer

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 6, 1997)
• Original Release Date: May 6, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000340N
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,535 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #7 in	Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > Classic Comedy
  #9 in	Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > Comedic Music > Novelty Music

Track Listings

1. Fight Fiercely, Harvard

2. Old Dope Peddler

3. Be Prepared

4. Wild West Is Where I Want to Be

5. I Wanna Go Back to Dixie

6. Lobachevsky

7. Irish Ballad

8. Hunting Song

9. My Home Town

10. When You Are Old and Gray [Medley]

11. I Hold Your Hand in Mine [Medley]

12. Wiener Schnitzel Waltz [Medley]

13. Poisoning Pigeons in the Park [Medley]

14. Bright College Days

15. Christmas Carol

16. Elements

17. Oedipus Rex

18. In Old Mexico

19. Clementine

20. It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In the wake of the '80s comedy boom that made casual obscenity and bodily functions safe for TV, a listen to these '50s classics from a piano-playing Harvard grad student with a thin singing voice sounds tame if not quaint. Yet Lehrer's first two self-produced albums, among the first generation of comedy LPs, remain beloved gems of musical parody, and noteworthy for their original success in an era when their topics were strictly taboo for broadcast media. He kids cold war paranoia ("We Will All Go Together When We Go"), sends up then-hip folk revivalists with a cheerful murder ballad ("The Irish Ballad"), and gets laughs out of incest ("Oedipus Rex"), drugs ("The Old Dope Peddler"), and racism ("I Wanna Go Back to Dixie"). Closer to Gilbert & Sullivan (whom he in fact raids for one melody) than Def Comedy Jams, Lehrer can still raise a modern frisson when he plays necrophilia as romance ("I hold your hand in mine dear, I press it to my lips/ I take a healthy bite from your dainty fingertips..."). --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The smartest, funniest records I've ever heard, June 5, 2003

By	E. L. Oneill "Lee O'Neill" (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I grew up on Tom Lehrer. My parents had both of his 10" LPs and we listened to them often. His 60s albums were dragged out EVERY time we had a party and often just when we had the stereo turned on. I had every single song Tom Lehrer ever did memorized and I have NEVER heard a comedy artist as perceptive or as intelligent as Lehrer.

Then things changed, as they will. I moved away from home, never bought the CDs and pretty much forgot about him. Recently, though, the issue of academic integrity reared it's ugly head in a discussion and I found myself quoting Lehrer's 1955 masterpiece, "Lobachevsky." It was perfect for the moment. I was asked what they hell I was talking about and to illustrate Lehrer's genius, I wound up singing "The Elements" (the entire periodic table sung to a Gilbert & Sullivan tune) and "The Hunting Song" (a brilliant parody/analysis of hunters and gun advocates).

After 35 years, there's not a single song on this collection (first two albums of piano & singing, 4 orchestrated versions and one bonus track) that isn't funny AND perceptive and only a couple have become (only slighty, mind you) dulled by time.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing, February 23, 2000

By	Alan Bell (Chicago Area) - See all my reviews

BOB DYLAN, CHUCK BERRY, AND TOM LEHRER, THE THREE GREAT LYRICISTS OF POPULAR AMERICAN MUSIC. These songs are from his original studio releases on two 10" vinyl disks back in the 50's. My parents actually saw him live in NY on his "Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer" tour, and never recovered. As a pre-teen, I was permanently hooked. My original 50's vinyl versions are decimated by endless play on a Webcor portable phonograph. All four releases are a scream, and in fact, if you don't need the original release versions on this CD, the live performances are even funnier.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still politically incorrect after almost 50 years!, May 20, 2000

By	Timothy C. Berneche (Chesterton, Indiana) - See all my reviews

Hooked on Tom Lehrer ever since hearing him on Dr. Demento, I instantly fell in love with his ingenious satyrical lyrics. I have loaned this album to several coworkers and have received nothing but favorable reviews. Praise to the release of this CD where the original recordings - not only the concert versions - are available to those of us who did not live hear Harvard in the late 1950's. My favorite song has to be Clementine - ala Cole Porter, Mozart, Scat Jazz, and Gilbert & Sullivan - PURE GENIUS! Buy this CD - it will be one of the best in your collection, great for any party or get together when you want all to have a good cderebral laugh. I wish Tom would write and record again.