Satirist Stan Freberg Makes ‘History’ Again

A chat with one the greatest,
and little known, comedic talents
of the 20th Century.

THE MORNING CALL | Sept. 7, 1996

Stan Freberg was upset.

“Turner sent a TV crew and a woman who had no idea of who I was. She said, ‘Oh, you record history albums. Serious history?’ From now on I demand that the reporters who interview me have some idea of who I am.”

Seems like a reasonable request. But then again, you can understand why some people — even TV journalists — may not know who comedian and satirist Stan Freberg is. After all, it’s been 3-1/2 decades since the release of “Stan Freberg Presents: The History of The United States of America, Volume 1.”

Released in 1961, “Vol. 1” has many famous admirers, including Ray Bradbury, Steven Spielberg and The Beatles.

Musicologist and nationally syndicated radio personality Barry Hansen (a.k.a. Dr. Demento) proclaims the record either “the greatest history album in comedy or the greatest comedy album in history.”

The next chapter

To say that the release of “Volume 2” is long-awaited would be an understatement. The freshly recorded disc, which begins after the Revolutionary War and ends after World War I, was issued by Rhino Records last month.

“The History of The United States of America” was initially conceived as a series of albums. What makes the comedy so unique is Freberg applying his somewhat nasal, sort of sarcastic, voice and modern sensibilities to historical figures who have all the personality of the marble from which they’re carved. Imagine Washington haggling over the price of a boat before crossing the Delaware, or Francis Scott Key writing “The Star-Spangled Banner” as an ad jingle for Rumplemeyer’s Horseshoes before it caught on as the national anthem, or Lincoln confessing to his analyst that he’s always wanted to be in show biz.

Freberg, 70, began work on “Volume 2” soon after “Volume 1,” which covered the Colonial era, was released by Capitol Records. “Then David Merrick walked into my life,” recalled Freberg.

The Broadway producer of “Hello Dolly!” and “42nd Street” wanted to take Freberg’s “History” to the Broadway stage. “But 43 minutes wasn’t enough for Broadway,” recalls Freberg.

Freberg began working with Merrick, and as the play reached rehearsal, problems between the pair arose. It reached the boiling point when, like a character straight out of a Freberg sketch, Merrick suggested that Freberg take Lincoln out of the Civil War because “he didn’t work.”

Said Freberg: “It began to turn into a different thing. It was such a depressing thing I threw it in a drawer and didn’t think about it.”

A satiric voice

Freberg started to develop his brand of guerrilla satire when he began voicing Warner Bros. cartoons at age 18. He can still expertly voice Peter Puma (“Gimme a lot of lumps, a whole lotta lumps”), the Gopher Twins, and dog pals Spike and Chester. He currently voices the occasional character Moron on the animated cartoon show “Freakazoids.”

At Warners he came into contact with Robert Clampett, who in 1949 tapped Freberg for the pioneering TV show “Time for Beany.” A year later, Freberg recorded his first hit single, “John and Marsha,” a take-off on soap operas. This was quickly followed throughout the 1950s by such singles as the Red-baiting “Little Blue Riding Hood” (“only color has been changed to prevent an investigation”); the Dragnet parody, “St. George and the Dragonet,” and, most famously, “Green Christmas (“Deck the halls with advertising, falalalalalalalala/’Tis the time for merchandising …”).

Freberg’s success with comedy records paved the way for his own radio show. “I replaced Jack Benny on the CBS radio network,” said Freberg, who is in the Radio Hall of Fame. “After I went off there were no network radio comedy shows.”

A change of venue

So what happened to his comedy career?

Advertising.

For the last 30 years or so, one of the best satirists ever has been toiling away on humorous commercials for products such as Sunsweet Prunes (“Today the pits, tomorrow the wrinkles”), Chun King (“Nine out of 10 doctors recommend Chun King Chow Mein,” all nine doctors being Chinese) and Contadina Tomato Co. (“Who put eight great tomatoes in that little little bitty can?”). The last one was the advertising world’s first humorous commercial, a form that Freberg created. Advertising Age, a trade publication that once printed a “Stop Freberg” column, has since proclaimed him the father of the funny commercial.

“I really felt I was breaking new ground in a such a way that it was moving products off the shelves,” Freberg said. “I wrote a commercial with a beginning, a middle and an end the way Neil Simon wrote a play.

“I just buried myself in advertising. Looking back, it was a big mistake.”

Some mistake. Over the years, Freberg won 21 CLIO awards (the advertising industry’s Oscar).

Another chance

The release of “Stan Freberg Presents: The History of the United States of America Volume 2” should help rectify any “mistakes.”

“I’ve had so many stops and starts over the years,” says Freberg of the project.

Indeed. “Volume 2” was resurrected briefly as a film for Fox during the mid-1980s, but a change in regimes at the studio scuttled the deal. “A couple years later Rhino (Records) began asking me to go back into the studio to record something. I thought it was a great step down from Capitol to Rhino. But then I found out they were distributed by Warner Bros.”

Freberg brought in many old cast members, including June Foray (a fellow Warner Bros. alum), Jesse White, Peter Leeds and a 23-member band conducted by Billy May. Newer cast members include Tyne Daly, John Goodman, David Ogden Stiers, Sherman Helmsley and Harry Shearer. It comes as a stand-alone disc or packed with “Volume 1.”

“I couldn’t get it through my head that there were no time limitations, said Freberg. “I’m thinking about maybe some bonus cuts for ‘Volume 3.’ “

With 21 Clios, 18 International Broadcasting Awards and medals from both the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, Freberg still goes to work. Mostly on “History’s” next installment, which will extend through World War II, with MacArthur unable to leave the Philippines without first finding his sunglasses. Other projects include various advertising projects and a daily 90-second radio commentary syndicated to more than 300 stations.

Freberg’s continuing contribution to comedy ensures his own place in media history.