While listening to Iron Butterfly (who?) one day, (in the merry, merry month of... January??)
I was driving to a client site Monday, when "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (what??) came up on my iPod. Whenever I hear this 17-minute jewel from the 1960s, I think back, not to my teenagehood, exactly, but to Allan Sherman, one of the greatest Jewish songwriting comedians/satirists of last century.
The connection is not crazy, exactly. It actually makes sense, but not to you. Yet.
I can't tell you how many people (of a certain age) I have asked over the years if they ever noticed that "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (GRYMG) is included by the organist in the song. Almost no one responds affirmatively, but IT IS!! Right after the drum solo. Listen carefully, it sort of evolves from a few long chords of the Mellotron (or whatever they used) to the main refrain of GRYMG. It's pretty cool!
So, you ask, how does THAT take you to Allan Sherman? Isn't he the guy who wrote and sang "Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda"?
Well, I listened to his first four albums quite a lot back then (I do still remember the 60s), and he wrote some of the smartest songs with social commentary, but mostly about Jewish life in parody. He had a song called "Shticks and Stones" that was made up of a bunch of fifteen-second-or-so songs that were like Henny Youngman routines, and one went to the tune of GRYMG:
God bless you, Jerry Mendelbaum
Let nothing you dismay
This May you had a rotten month
So what is there to say
Let's hope next May is better
And good things will come your way
And you won't have a feeling of dismay
Next May
Now, I don't know if you find that funny or not. If not, listen to the song sometime and maybe you'll get it. However, it is one of the most well-written comedic pieces I've ever heard. Wickedly smart, at least, to me.
Before I really knew of my hero Groucho Marx's complete mastery of the American English language, I knew Allan Sherman's. He assisted me on the road to understanding the complexities therein (as well as some of those of the Jewish human condition), and the ways it can be twisted to make a totally different point than intended, or change the subject altogether.
I'm proud of what I learned, and I use it almost every day. Sometimes it ends up here in my posts (usually in the titles), too. I taught it to my daughter as she grew up, partially as a defense against people who are too serious. It helps, sometimes, just to get things back to a lighter tone. It is also useful in understanding that American English is not only complex, but can give the listener an unintended meaning if not spoken or written properly, which is why the use of grammar and punctuation are so important.
It taught me to appreciate those people who are truly creative and can turn words around without having to really think about it, and there are so many.
Anyway, so now you know how an Iron Butterfly song from 50-or-so years ago brings me back to Allan Sherman, a man who gave me so much, and whose life ended 'way too soon.
Thank you, Allan!
___________________________
I have wanted to write a piece on Allan and his influence on me for a long time, but I didn't really know how to go about it. Then last Monday came along and I had it!
By the way, Allan created and co-produced "I've Got A Secret", one of the most-watched game shows ever. It ran for about 15 years starting in 1952.
Holey Moley! I just finished reading the Wikipedia article on Allan, and discovered he lived next door to Harpo Marx and was discovered by George Burns! Wow! Lofty company to be around!
Also, by the way, this post does have a relationship to technology and its use. If you can't figure out how, just ask. There's a comment section just below the post.
___________________________
Like my company on Facebook, please!
Visit my company site on the web, PlaitSolutions.com.
The connection is not crazy, exactly. It actually makes sense, but not to you. Yet.
I can't tell you how many people (of a certain age) I have asked over the years if they ever noticed that "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (GRYMG) is included by the organist in the song. Almost no one responds affirmatively, but IT IS!! Right after the drum solo. Listen carefully, it sort of evolves from a few long chords of the Mellotron (or whatever they used) to the main refrain of GRYMG. It's pretty cool!
So, you ask, how does THAT take you to Allan Sherman? Isn't he the guy who wrote and sang "Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda"?
Well, I listened to his first four albums quite a lot back then (I do still remember the 60s), and he wrote some of the smartest songs with social commentary, but mostly about Jewish life in parody. He had a song called "Shticks and Stones" that was made up of a bunch of fifteen-second-or-so songs that were like Henny Youngman routines, and one went to the tune of GRYMG:
God bless you, Jerry Mendelbaum
Let nothing you dismay
This May you had a rotten month
So what is there to say
Let's hope next May is better
And good things will come your way
And you won't have a feeling of dismay
Next May
Now, I don't know if you find that funny or not. If not, listen to the song sometime and maybe you'll get it. However, it is one of the most well-written comedic pieces I've ever heard. Wickedly smart, at least, to me.
Before I really knew of my hero Groucho Marx's complete mastery of the American English language, I knew Allan Sherman's. He assisted me on the road to understanding the complexities therein (as well as some of those of the Jewish human condition), and the ways it can be twisted to make a totally different point than intended, or change the subject altogether.
I'm proud of what I learned, and I use it almost every day. Sometimes it ends up here in my posts (usually in the titles), too. I taught it to my daughter as she grew up, partially as a defense against people who are too serious. It helps, sometimes, just to get things back to a lighter tone. It is also useful in understanding that American English is not only complex, but can give the listener an unintended meaning if not spoken or written properly, which is why the use of grammar and punctuation are so important.
It taught me to appreciate those people who are truly creative and can turn words around without having to really think about it, and there are so many.
Anyway, so now you know how an Iron Butterfly song from 50-or-so years ago brings me back to Allan Sherman, a man who gave me so much, and whose life ended 'way too soon.
Thank you, Allan!
___________________________
I have wanted to write a piece on Allan and his influence on me for a long time, but I didn't really know how to go about it. Then last Monday came along and I had it!
By the way, Allan created and co-produced "I've Got A Secret", one of the most-watched game shows ever. It ran for about 15 years starting in 1952.
Holey Moley! I just finished reading the Wikipedia article on Allan, and discovered he lived next door to Harpo Marx and was discovered by George Burns! Wow! Lofty company to be around!
Also, by the way, this post does have a relationship to technology and its use. If you can't figure out how, just ask. There's a comment section just below the post.
___________________________
Like my company on Facebook, please!
Visit my company site on the web, PlaitSolutions.com.
Posted by Sid Plait at 1/25/2012 6:00 PM 
Categories: Technology, Who I Am, Influences, All, In My Opinion, Whatever, Music, iPods, Miscellaneous
Tags: Henny Youngman Allan Sherman I've Got A Secret Iron Butterfly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Mellotron Hello Mudda Hello Fadda Groucho Marx Harpo Marx George Burns
Categories: Technology, Who I Am, Influences, All, In My Opinion, Whatever, Music, iPods, Miscellaneous
Tags: Henny Youngman Allan Sherman I've Got A Secret Iron Butterfly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Mellotron Hello Mudda Hello Fadda Groucho Marx Harpo Marx George Burns
I get these things:
> LOVED IGDV when I was a teen. hearing it def takes me back
> NOT an Allan Sherman fan, altho I get that he was a creative talnet (probably b/c my younger brother LOVED him)
> Yes, knew about GRYMG in IGDV
> Always thought the jerry mendelbaum version was funny; get the first line and the play on "dismay"
> reminds me of choir in high school where the basses always sang the Hallelujah Chorus as "and Quiche Lorraine forever and ever..."
> get the tech tie-in with the propensity of language to be interpreted variously in an online environment, where there is no inflection, facial expression, etc and where typos abound
> I read this post at least 3 times, so maybe that in itself is mission accomplished
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Even if you aren't a fan, you can "get" that he was a talented man. Any idea why you didn't like his stuff? (just curious.)
I knew that I would find others who heard the organ piece as it was intended, I just never found that in anyone I asked. It's too bad IB wasn't able to compose more stuff that was clever. To me, most of the rest of their stuff was just noise. The Moody Blues were able to build on the success of their breakout song, and I still love every theme album in its entirety.
Thanks for reading, Polly, and thanks for commenting. It's rare these days!
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It was just the songs I disliked-- too silly. And, as I said, my younger brother liked them, so that was a strike already. You are right about IGDV being the only IB worth listening to. What a waste of talent.
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