Blogpost #20

Welcome, Stan Freberg fans! This week's show is a birthday tribute to one of the most imaginative writer-performers of the late 20th century. He'll be turning 83 years young on August 7.

Together with his creative partner Daws Butler (shown on left) he created some of the most brilliant comedy singles of the 1950's, including a few that were too controversial to be released until decades later.

As a special treat for the Freberg faithful, this week's show features an hour-long "concert" of Stan, Daws and his repertory cast performing their greatest hits live before an audience. The performances were compiled from Stan's short-lived 1957 CBS radio comedy-variety series.

"The Yellow Rose Of Texas" comes from a broadcast of August 4, 1957. Stan's parody was released in October 1955 shortly after Mitch Miller's original version topped the singles charts. Alvin Stoller provided the relentless snare drumming.

"The Lone Analyst" is a parody of the Lone Ranger, and was released on a 1955 single as "The Lone Psychiatrist". Co-writer Daws Butler plays nearly every male voice. Stan and Daws revised and expanded this sketch for this broadcast of August 25, 1957.

"The Banana Boat Song" is also known as "Day-O", and was released in April 1957 shortly after Harry Belafonte's version hit the Top Five. Peter Leeds was credited on the single with "interruptions". It was first broadcast on August 25, 1957.

"Wun'erful, Wun'erful!" was performed on a broadcast of August 11, 1957 and released as a two-part single in October 1957. Songs include "Bubbles In The Wine", "Thank You", "Funny Old Hills", "Louise", "Please", and "Moonlight And Shadows".

"Rock Island Line" is a parody of folk balladeers. It was released in July 1956 shortly after Lonnie Donegan's version became a Top Ten hit. "Interruptions" are once again provided by Peter Leeds. This comes from a broadcast of August 18, 1957.

"Sh-Boom" is a parody of a parody. The Crew-Cuts recorded a take-off of the Chords' 1954 single, and their version outsold the original. Stan's version followed in September 1954, and was faithfully recreated for a broadcast of September 29, 1957.

"St. George And The Dragonet" was released in September 1953 and became Stan's only number one single. It was a faithful parody of Jack Webb's "Dragnet" TV series, done with Webb's full cooperation. This comes from a broadcast of September 1, 1957.

"The Honey-Earthers" was released as the flip side of Stan's 1955 "Lone Psychiatrist" single. This sketch imagines the cast of Jackie Gleason's Honeymooners as alien moon creatures. This comes from a broadcast of September 8, 1957.

"The Banana Boat Song" was brought back by listener demand for an encore performance on Stan's farewell broadcast of October 20, 1957. Bandleader Billy May appears briefly to introduce Stan as Lawrence Welk, who shows up just to get the last laugh.

"Heartbreak Hotel" was released in July 1956, months after Elvis Presley topped the charts with it. This abridged version comes from a broadcast of September 15, 1957 and features cameo appearances from Peter Leeds, June Foray, and Daws Butler.

The 1957 series was issued on CD by Radio Spirits, but it is long out of print. You can download the entire series for free from the Internet Archive. There's also an unedited tape of the show's premiere episode available on an animation archive blog produced by the ASIFA of Hollywood.

Next week's show is another birthday tribute to a favorite comedy star: Steve Martin. Join us for an hour-long documentary that captures him at the height of his popularity in 1978. It'll be a Wild And Crazy Show.