Stan Freberg mercilessly skewers the commercialism of the Christmas holiday with his recording of "Green Chri$tma$" from 1958. It's over 60 years later and it still rings true!
As I've mentioned, I'm a big fan of novelty records and I think Stan Freberg is brilliant. His records are like little radio plays in which he satirizes anything and everything. You get a window into the 1950s as he tackles pop culture trends of the time.
He always used top talent on his records too, including music director Billy May, whose arrangements are always spot-on.
And voice artist extraordinaire Daws Butler (Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and many other Hanna/Barbera characters) is always a valuable asset, although here he seems to be using his "normal" voice and shows he has acting chops to go along with his many voices. His delivery of the last line of the sketch part of the record is terrific.
Freberg is perhaps biting the hand that fed him, as he had an advertising agency himself. It takes talent to think up fake advertising that's as convincing as real advertising.
You know there were ad executives out there who wish
they had thought of marketing Tiny Tim Chestnuts!
This recording is, of course, not an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol"
per se, although it does feature Scrooge and Bob Cratchit/Cratchet and namedrops Tiny Tim, but it's still interesting to compare this to the original story.
Here, Bob is forced to go along with Scrooge's way of thinking to get along in the modern world. Scrooge comes out on top without having to change!
Stan actually had a number of Christmas records and here's one as a bonus.
It's "Christmas Dragnet" from 1953, and it's a follow-up to his number-one smash from earlier in the year, "St. George and the Dragonet," which naturally spoofed the popular TV/radio series "Dragnet." Supposedly Jack Webb liked the records!
So as not to get too far astray, "Christmas Dragnet" does feature a Scroogesque character named "Grudge." Can Sgt. Wednesday get him to enjoy Christmas? Find out:
