Customer Reviews

Very Best Of Stan Freberg

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Stanley Victor Freberg's brilliance was summerized by Stephen Holden, music critic of the NY Times, who noted that Freberg's parodies were more than just of passing fads, but were superb self-contained radio comedies. The twenty-one tracks on this compilation serve up some of the best of his work during the 1950s.

Born in 1926 as the son of Baptist minister Victor Freberg, Stan first entered show business with his uncle, Raymond Freberg, whose stage act was as Conray the Magician. "Radio was my first library," Freberg has said, as he grew up during the audio medium's golden age and thus became enamored of the effect sound created. After graduation from Alhambra High School, Stan hopped a bus to Hollywood and set up a voice audition with Warner Brothers in 1944. Termite Terrace's legendary directors, Chuck Jones, Robert McKimson, and Isadore "Friz" Freleng hired Freberg on the spot and he started work alongside the equally legendary Mel Blanc.

Soon Stan was branching out more and more, doing cartoon voice work for the majority of the studios as well as a steady diet of work on radio. The Army then beckoned, and after his discharge in 1947 he was contacted by ex-Warners director Bob Clampett, for a puppet TV series he was developing. This became "Beany and Cecil" and became an all-time TV classic.

Then in 1951 he released "John and Marsha," a two-word satire of soap operas that became an instant classic. His career in musical satire thus launched, he compiled more such satires.

Among his best are his "Dragnet" parodies. In "St. George an the Dragonet" Freberg uses June Foray as a near-devoured maiden and Daws Butler (with whom he'd worked during "Beany & Cecil") as the dragon (voiced as a typical Dragnet heavy) and also the skipper of the woods' homicide division.

On "Little Blue Riding Hood" Freberg takes on the famed fairy tale as Sgt. Wednesday, with Little Blue and her grandma running a "goodies" ring - his use of the term "goodies" makes the listener genuinely take the term as police jargon for illicit substances.

Capitol made Freberg do one more Dragnet parody, the brilliant two-parter "Yulenet." Sgt. Wednesday and his partner, Frank Jones, interrogate Grudge, a non-believer in Santa Claus (as well as a non-believer in the Easter Bunny or Columbus - or Cleveland or Cincinatti, though he can't make up his mind about Toledo) who leaves Frank quite shaken and Joe determined to prove Santa's bona-fides.

The greatest strength of Freberg's Dragnet parodies is their attention to the show's detail - Daws Butler, who co-wrote "Yulenet," voices Frank, and perfectly captures the mannerisms Ben Alexander imbued in the character in his time on the real "Dragnet," while Freberg not only parodies the monaural delivery of Jack Webb, he also rattles off believable spoofs of the arcane numerical jargon used by police in reporting crimes - most brilliantly at the track's beginning. "Yulenet's" other enduring quality is its good-natured approach - the ending is believably happy, so much so that comes across as a legitimate "Dragnet" episode rather than just a parody. The real Sgt. Friday couldn't have done it better himself.

Music parodies continued for Freberg, and his funniest was "Banana Boat," his savaging of the embarassing Harry Belafonte hit "Day-O." Freberg exaggerates the song's absurd title and ludicrous lyrics, and the foolishness of the whole enterprise is displayed by the interruptions of Peter Leeds, a friend of Stan's from his radio days, who plays a too-hip bongo player who forces Stan to leave the studio repeatedly to sing.

"Banana Boat" was Leeds' third track with Stan - the first was Stan's take-off on "Great Pretender," followed by Freberg's "skiffle band" parody, a send-up of Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line" and the common folk song trait of backgrounding the song's story more than necessary before going into the actual number.

The calypso form of "Day O" is then used in one of Freberg's tracks that is among his funniest and at the same time one of his most serious. "Tele-Vee-Shun" rips into circa-1957 television and with its terrific jokes and puns makes a serious point about the downside of the medium. There is a caustic nature to this parody that is used to greater effect on his controversial 1958 skewering of Christmas commercialization, "Green Chri$tma$," qualities reflecting his birth as a Baptist minister's son.

While by no means a complete compilation of Freberg's work, this CD is the right place to start in appreciating his work.

this CD contains 21 hilarious singles from Stan Freberg, the original music satirist decades before "Weird Al" came along. technically a satirist, Freberg didn't parody pop songs like Weird Al...Freberg tore them apart!! Called a hater of rock music by the '50s generation, Freberg nonetheless poked fun at what he seen as mediocre music being passed off as brilliant pieces of music. however, it all started for him musically with "John and Marsha", a satire on soap operas, in 1951. prior to this, Freberg was half of the puppet show "Time for Beany" with voice legend Daws Butler, who also played a huge part in Freberg's recording career too. Freberg was "Cecil" and "Dishonest John" while Butler was "Beany" and "Captain Huffenpuff". This show ran from 1949-1954. but...prior to that puppet show, Freberg was a teenage voice actor on Warner Brothers cartoons along side Mel Blanc. Freberg is the one who uttered the immortal phrase: "which way did he go, George? which way did he go?" in several cartoons spoofing "Of Mice and Men" characters Lenny and George.but, getting back to this CD. Freberg's recording career started with "john and marsha" in which Stan simply says the two people's names over and over in different emotions. somehow it's funny! don't ask me to over-analyze it! Freberg's stock in trade was satire of course. His wicked take on Johnny Ray on the song "Try" (a parody on Johnny's song, "Cry") is unreal! The Stan Freberg/Daws Butler/June Foray classics are here, too: "St. George and the Dragonet", "Little Blue Riding Hood", and "Christmas Dragnet". On "Heartbreak Hotel" we hear Freberg tackle Elvis and fight with the echo-chamber. On "Yellow Rose of Texas" Freberg delivers a southern dialogue...and is constantly bickering with the snare drummer. "C'est Ci Bon" is hilarious too. His mis-understood single, "Green Christmas", features Daws Butler and Marvin Miller as Bob Cratchit and Crass. Freberg is Scrooge of the advertising world. some critics said that Freberg was nuts for writing and recording a single that roasted his "other job" (Freberg wrote and produced comedy commercials for TV and radio in addition to his recording career and cartoon work). Country singers Ferlin Huskey and Jean Sheppard had a pop hit, "A Dear John Letter", but in Freberg's hands it became "A Dear John and Marsha Letter". His hatred for R&B is showcased on "Sh-Boom". Lawrence Welk doesn't escape Freberg neither and here we have the classic "Wun'nerful, Wun'nerful" which on the original '45 RPM single it was broken into Side Uh-One and Side Uh-Two. Stan Freberg remained a prominent figure in advertising well into the late '80s. In 1990 he started a 5 minute radio commentary called "Stan Freberg Here" that ran until 1998. Old-Time radio also used Freberg's famed voice as host of "When Radio Was" from 1991-1999, still being heard in countless re-runs everynight on AM radio. Freberg's recent project was supplying the voice to that screetching oddball Pete Puma in a cameo role in the recent Looney Tunes movie.

If you don't want to pop for the boxed set TIP OF THE FREBERG, then at least treat yourself to this bargain collection of Stan's hilarious (and often painfully true) satire. He was creative genius LONG before the term was worn out on much lesser talents. Example: If you took out all of the funny stuff in his BANANA BOAT song, you'd still be left with a rendition that would rival Belefonte. Want to see how far we haven't come? Take a listen to his 40 year old TELE-VEE-SHUN. As on target today as it was when first released. What else can you say but "WUNNERFUL...WUNNERFUL..."

Stan Freberg is the best satirist of all time-His thought provoking sketches & song parodies have made him a hit throughout the English speaking world-This CD is nothing short of spectacular-My favorite cuts are "St.George & The Dragonet","John & Marsha",& "Green Christmas"-For those who are unfamiliar with Freberg's work,this CD is a great place to start.

Parodies of the hits and radio programs were a staple during the Forties and Fifties, beginning with Spike Jones & His City Slickers sticking it to everything and everyone from Cocktails For Two to Adolf Hitler (Der Fuhrer's Face), and from The William Tell Overture to the Tennessee Waltz. Joining him part way through his mad slashing of seriousness was Red Ingle & The Natural Seven featuring Cinderella G. Stump (Jo Stafford) lampooning Temptation (Tim-Tay-Shun) and Nature Boy (Serutan Yob - A Song For Backwards Boys And Girls), among others.

Then, in 1950, the master entered the picture. Only Stan Freberg wasn't content with just poking fun through sound effects. He went straight for the heart. Born in Pasadena, California on August 7, 1926, he got started at age 17 doing impersonations on the Cliffie Stone radio program in 1943. Soon his voice was in demand for movie cartoons, and in 1950 became one of the pioneers in TV, along with Daws Butler (later Huckleberry Hound among other voices) and Bob Hope side-kick Jerry Colona, on the Time For Beany puppet show.

A year later he released his first record, John And Marsha, on the Capitol label, taking a dig at the many radio soap operas. It contained just two words - John ... and Marsha ... and with Cliffie Stone's orchestra playing suitable shmaltzy music in the background, two star-crossed lovers would say "John .. Marsha .. John John ... Marsha Marsha ... John John John ... Marsha, Marsha, Marsha" with enough emphasis to suggest that there was a lot more going on than just mundane conversation. It was hilarious and an instant hit, going to # 21 pop in the spring of 1951.

A few months later he was back with a double-sided hit backed by Les Baxter's orchestra and using old buddy Daws Butler (who would appear on most of his hits). The A-side went after The Weavers' "On Top Of Old Smokey" by cleverly using its call and response arrangement in the old standard I've Got You Under My Skin. A number 11 hit, it was joined on the charts by the B-side, That's My Boy (not in this set) which reached # 30.

In 1952 Johnny Ray felt the Wrath of Stan when his monster hit Cry was crucified in Try, a # 15 hit in May with the Billy May band, and a little over a year later, with Walter Schumann & His Orchestra and June Foray, he stuck it to everyone's favorite TV show, Dragnet. St. George And The Dragonet was brilliant and, complete with Jerry Lewis and Jack Webb imitations, it went to the top of the charts late in the year. The flip-side - Little Blue Riding Hood - didn't do too badly either, going to # 9.

That disc went so well, in fact, that he had another shot at the show over the holiday season with Christmas Dragnet (Parts I and II), backed by the Nathan Scott orchestra. In this "Scrooge" became "Grudge" and it topped out at # 13 (it would be re-released in 1954 as Yulenet).

By the time he decided to take a shot at Eartha Kitt (C'est Si Bon - # 13 in February 1954) the fans - and artists - were divided into three camps. Those who loved him and those who hated him - both because of what he was doing to the establishment - and those who appreciated his satirical genius. Which camp the Senate was in was never recorded, but Point Of Order, billed as by Stan Freberg and Daws Butler and using "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", ripped the Senate's Army-McCarthy hearings.

Then it was Rock & Roll's turn. Here was a whole new field for Stan who would take great delight over the next three years in exposing the sleazier side of the industry, and taking pot-shots at some of the genre's more obvious gimmicks. First up was Sh-Boom which, with Billy May's orchestra, and chorus by "The Toads", went to # 14 late in 1954. Then, in 1955, he split his attack with a savage and side-splitting spoof of Mitch Miller's Yellow Rose Of Texas (# 16) and The Platter's Great Pretender.

However the latter, complete with the constant tink tink tink tink tink piano in the background, did not chart, nor did his next Rock parody, Rock Island Line, and when the excruciatingly funny Heartbreak Hotel (schriiiiiip - I riiiiped muh jeans) could only manage a # 79 in 1956, it was clear that this genre that everyone said wouldn't last had some pretty loyal fans who were all coalescing into the "hate Stan" camp.

Apparently calypso wasn't so sacrosanct, however, because Banana Boat (Day-O) hit # 25 in the early summer of 1957, and later that year he found another delightful target. Lawrence Welk. In what I consider to be his best, and with Daws Butler and Peggy Taylor in tow, Wun'erful, Wun'erful (Side a-one and side a-two) offers the tale of a dance band, performing at a seaside bandstand, breaking away from the main structure and floating out to sea due to a malfunctioning bubble machine (a-turn offf the a-bubble machine.) It topped out at # 32 in November.

In 1958 he laid bare the commercialisation of Christmas with the magnificent Green Chri$tma$, a # 44 charter that was both funny and poignant. No easy task.

For the reviwer looking for The Old Payola Roll Blues, if you haven't found it yet go to Lost Hits Of The 50s. There you'll find it with a whole slew of other gems. As for its performance on the charts, the tale of Rock star Clyde Ankle only went to # 99 in March 1960, perhaps because this time he was stepping on some pretty prominent toes as he delved into the late Fifties bribery scandals. Clyde, by the way, was a thinly-disguied Fabian.

An absolute gem of a CD, and if you can afford the box set also listed, go for it. You will love it.

During the years of his regular weekly radio broadcasts, Stan Freberg was both obliged and enabled to turn out some of the most technically sophisticated audio satires and parodies of pop culture of the 20th Century. Like Mark Twain's stories, most of Freberg's audio productions stand on their own even today. One doesn't require a previous familiarity, for instance, with the original rock-n-roll hit "Shaboom" to appreciate his version, a sendup of all doo-wop rock. Freberg's hilarious production of "Won'erful Won'erful (Side 2) medley" is still worth a chuckle after reruns of the "Lawrence Welk Show" on PBS. Production values are key in Freberg's work. Each cut on this and all his other albums embodies the finest capabilities of audio performance and production. Freberg understood what worked in radio and what didn't, and used the medium as an accomplished sculptor uses clay, to make points, jaggy, sharp, very pointed, but always G-rated points (acrobats on radio???? Nope! That's on another Freberg album along with the French horns). This album contains twenty-one of his shorter radio parodies, many of which reached the top of the pop charts as 45 rpm singles. And they're still hilarious. Sample these and you'll want more. And there is much more of Freberg. Right here on amazon.com. Oh, and it's all OK for the kids. Remember, Stan wrote for radio in the days when censors decided what could go out over the airwaves (oops, the censor's on another album too).

I purchased the Very Best of Stan Freberg because it was a humourous piece of my time in the 1950s.
When I got on to the Amazon site I was able to follow the steps to select the CD and see the tracks on it. This enabled me to make a clear decision to proceed with the purchase.
I found it quite easy to follow the steps to input Visa or other cards applicable and submit all my details.
The CD arrived in less than 3 weeks and on receipt I played it and I am very happy with it.
Thank you Amazon. I now know where to do my shopping in future.

Bruce

Stan Freberg doing what he does. Missing a few oldies but goldies, but all around a great investment.

This is a reissue of the excellent Capitol Collectors Series CD from a decade ago. Kudos to Collectables for bringing this back. Stan Freberg can be described as the Weird Al Yankovic of the 50's and 60's. Of course, the man is much more than just a recording artist, but these comedy sketches and parodies are classics and these recordings form a large part of Freberg's legacy. The most dated and least funny tracks on this CD are still funny. The most funny are hysterical. The Dragnet skits never get old, and send ups of Mitch Miller, Les Paul/Mary Ford and the Lawrence Welk TV show are dead on and fall down funny. Green Christmas is in a category all by itself and should be a Yuletide tradition for everyone. This is a great compilation and contains most of his best known work. Those of you who are looking for The Old Payola Roll Blues (perhaps the funniest thing he ever did), Point of Order and The Lone Psychiatrist should veer toward the Tip Of The Freberg box set. But if you're just wanting an introduction to this comic genius, this is the best starting place.

80% very good but without'Payola Blues' is not a true reflection of the mans craft. In fact Payola Blues does not feature in any of these collections! Why, O why, O why, O why, is this missing???????? I will pay good money for the track!!!