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The following list is a work-in-progress which we are perpetually updating and correcting. We especially need to add more of the
records made to distribute Freberg commercials. Should you spot an error or have additional info, by all means drop us a line.
JOHN AND MARSHA
RAGTIME DAN
Released February 10, 1951 [45, 78 RPM] Stan's first record, John and Marsha, baffled the folks in charge at Capitol Records. It was just a man
and a woman (both played by S.F.) saying each other's names in a burlesque of radio soap operas. At first, they thought they had a massive flop
on their hands but audiences took to it and the rest, as they say, is history.
I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN
THAT'S MY BOY
Released August 4, 1951 [45, 78 RPM] Cole Porter's I've Got You Under My Skin was one of the most recorded songs ever written. There
were more than a dozen versions in print at the time Freberg released his spoof of it and of sing-along groups. Even better was the "B" side,
That's My Boy, in which he sings a loving song to a terrible child...and sings it so well that some people don't realize that Stan is the
vocalist.
TELE-VEE-SHUN
MAGGIE
1952 [45, 78 RPM] Tele-Vee-Shun, sung with a Mexican accent, ripped into the growing popularity of television...which in 1952 had not yet
received nearly enough criticism or mockery. Stan later did another version of this same song.
TRY
PASS THE UDDER UDDER
1952 [45, 78 RPM] Try, parodying Johnny Ray's hit record of Cry, was one of Stan's biggest hits...and the first time he took on a
specific recording artist with such a close impression. Stan made several appearances on television performing the song, as well as a memorable
performance in the movie Geraldine, and they must have been painful as they generally involved ripping off his shirt, moaning and writhing on
the floor. Anything to capture the agony of Johnny Ray's original.
ABE SNAKE FOR PRESIDENT
BA-BA-BA-BALL AND CHAIN
1952 [45, 78 RPM] Another Freberg record where the "B" side was probably better than the "A" side: Abe Snake was a lightweight political spoof
in an election year. Much better was the fast-talking, pun-filled Ba-ba-ba-ball and Chain.
THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE
THE BOOGIE-WOOGIE BANJO MAN FROM BIRMINGHAM
1952 [45, 78 RPM] Stan parodied the popular Les Paul-Mary Ford recording of The World is Waiting for the Sunrise, complete with simulations of
too-high voices and a few lapses into Spike Jones territory.
THE UGLY DUCKLING
1953? [78, 45] Freberg provided additional voices (mostly animal sounds) in this adaptation of the famous kids' story narrated by Don
Wilson. This record was released in several editions with different flip sides and at least one giveaway version.
ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGONET
LITTLE BLUE RIDING HOOD
Released October 3, 1953 [78, 45] Co-written with co-star Daws Butler, and also featuring June Foray as "The maiden who had almost been devoured" and
Hy Averback as the announcer. Stan is St. George and Daws is everyone else. These two lampoons of the radio and TV series Dragnet
(starring Jack Webb) and made a catch phrase out of its hero Joe Friday saying, "We just wanna get the facts," a line Webb had rarely, if ever,
uttered on the actual series. But thanks to Stan and Daws, it became such a part of the Dragnet vocabulary that Webb eventually used it
a few times in episodes and often when he was called upon to spoof his own show. When he died, almost every obit cited "just the facts" as a
line he'd uttered constantly. The Freberg-Butler single was one of the best-selling comedy records of all time and even hit the top of the
charts in Australia, more than a year before the Dragnet show was aired there.
CHRISTMAS DRAGNET
1953 [78, 45 RPM] Stan and Daws quickly followed their biggest hit with a Christmas edition. Stan again does the Jack Webb parody and Daws is
everyone else. Some later reissues give its titles as Yulenet.
C'EST SI BON
A DEAR JOHN AND MARSHA LETTER
Released December 19, 1953 [78, 45 RPM] Stan imitating Eartha Kitt? Well, yes. That's at least the style he was aping with C'est Si
Bon, one of his most popular parodies. The flip side is his version of Ferlin Husky's A Dear John Letter.
POINT OF ORDER
PERSON TO PEARSON
1954 [78, 45 RPM] At a time when few were willing to come out in public and criticize Senator Joe McCarthy, Freberg and Butler took them on with
Point of Order, satirizing the hearings that mesmerized and outraged America. Person to Pearson was a spoof of Edward R. Murrow's
popular TV program, Person to Person.
SH-BOOM
WIDE-SCREEN MAMA BLUES
Released October 23, 1954 [78, 45 RPM] Earlier in 1954, a group called The Crewcuts had a big hit with their version of Sh-Boom. Stan
decided to parody it and the then-growing trend of musical groups to mumble through their lyrics. The voice Stan does is not unlike Marlon
Brando...another prominent person who was accused of mumbling and who'd just starred in On the Waterfront. The flip side, Wide-Screen
Mama Blues, went after other things that annoyed Stan about vocal groups of the day.
 
ANY REQUESTS?
1954 [EP] Stan's first collection was an "extended-play" record containing four of his previous hits. The unflattering drawing of him on the
cover was based on a still of him from Geraldine, a concurrent movie starring John Carroll and Mala Powers. In it, Stan played an
especially obnoxious pop singer, further parodying Johnny Ray and singing Try.
John and Marsha • The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise • Try • I've Got You Under My Skin
REAL ST. GEORGE
1954 [EP] Another "extended-play" collection of four of Freberg's previous releases. This EP and Any Requests? were issued in several
different editions in other countries, and remained in print long after the market for EPs in America had narrowed largely to the jukebox
trade. Some Freberg items from this period are impossible to find but this one turns up all the time on eBay.
St. George and the Dragonet • C'est Si Bon • Sh-Boom • That's My Boy
THE HONEY-EARTHERS
THE LONE PSYCHIATRIST
1955 [78, 45] Freberg, Butler and Foray parody The Honeymooners and The Lone Ranger. In the former, Stan does the Gleason role
and Daws does Carney. (At around the the same time this record was recorded, Daws recorded the first Honeymousers cartoon for Warner
Brothers, in which he imitated both Gleason and Carney.)
  
DINKY PINKY
1955 [78, 45] A odd kids' record with Freberg in the title role playing an elephant with a real annoying voice, plus Billy Bletcher (best known
as The Big Bad Wolf and other Disney villains) playing supporting parts. The track was also used for a cheaply-animated TV cartoon made in the
late fifties. Odd that even after he had Number One hit records under his own name, Capitol still had Stan doing childrens' recordings on which
he received minor billing.
MICKEY MOUSE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
1955 [78, 45] Freberg as Mickey Mouse? Yes. And he mimics many voices from classic Disney cartoons, as does June Foray. They're
joined by several actors who originated Disney roles, including Clarence (Donald Duck) Nash, Nick (Br'er Rabbit) Stewart and Pinto (Goofy)
Colvig. This material, sometimes edited, has been released in a number of different editions, including an LP and a cardboard "giveaway"
premium. Stan's impressions of Ed Wynn and Jerry Colonna are especially good. No one has ever quite figured out why Stan did The Mouse
even though Jimmy MacDonald, who by then was doing Mickey's voice in everything else, was also heard on the record.
NUTTIN' FOR CHRISTMAS
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Released October 12, 1955 [78, 45 RPM] Nuttin' for Christmas is sometimes referred to as (I'm Gettin') Nuttin' for Christmas and it was
written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. It was recorded that year by at least five artists, the biggest hit being achieved by Barry Gordon,
who made it to #6 on the national charts. A version by Joe Ward hit #20, a record of it by Rickey Zahnd made it to #21 and the single by The
Fontane Sisters hit #36. Stan's version, which may have been the best, only got as high as #53 but it probably had the greatest afterlife in
reissues. The voice of the burglar at the end sounds a lot like Daws Butler but it's actually Stan.
YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS
ROCK AROUND STEPHEN FOSTER
Released October 22, 1955 [78, 45] Stan's version of Yellow Rose of Texas was basically a lampoon of a version of the song produced by Mitch
Miller earlier that year, with a prominent snare drum dominating the proceedings. More of Stan's distaste for vocal groups of the day comes out
in Rock Around Stephen Foster.
JOHN AND MARSHA
TRY
1955 [45 RPM] A reissue, done in large part for the jukebox market.
HEARTBREAK HOTEL
ROCK ISLAND LINE
1956 [78, 45 RPM]
Freberg becomes the world's first Elvis impersonator with his riff on Mr. Presley's hit (his first gold record), which was released earlier that
year. On Rock Island Line, Freberg is the folk singer trying to sell his new song to a record company executive played by Peter
Leeds. It's a parody of Lonnie Donegan's recording from the year before, complete with its slow start before getting to the tune.
THE GREAT PRETENDER
THE QUEST FOR BRIDEY HAMMERSCHLAUGEN
1956 [78, 45 RPM] The Platters had a big hit with The Great Pretender so Stan (playing both the vocalist and the jazz pianist who interrupts
him) came out with his version. The Quest for Bridey Hammerschlaugen was a parody of the publicity that surrounded a housewife named
Virginia Tighe who claimed that hypnotic regression had enabled her to recall past lives, including one as a 19th century Irishwoman named Bridey
Murphy. The odd last name in Freberg's parody was became the Capitol Records legal staff insisted on a name that in no way resembled "Murphy"
and Stan chose one out of a phone book.
COMEDY CARAVAN
1957 [LP] A comedy album featuring cuts from other comedy albums by Capitol recording artists, Andy Griffith, Johnny Standley, Yogi Yorgesson and
Harry Kari. Mr. Standley's entry, It's in the Book, was a well-played classic that Soupy Sales often used on his TV show. For reasons
unknown, it is often erroneously attributed to Freberg but Stan had nothing to do with it. Freberg is represented on this album by John and
Marsha, St. George & the Dragonet and Little Blue Riding Hood.
BANANA BOAT
TELE-VEE-SHUN
Released April 13, 1957 [45 RPM] On Banana Boat — aka, "Day-O" — Peter Leeds is the laid-back bongo-playing beatnik and Stan is
the lead singer as Freberg parodies Harry Belafonte's then-recent hit record. The flip side is a new recording with some changed lyrics of
Stan's earlier calypso creation.
WUN'ERFUL, WUN'ERFUL
Released November 11, 1957 [78, 45] Freberg's spoof of TV bandleader Lawrence Welk was originally done for Stan's radio show but it was so popular
that he redid it for Capitol. As with Jack Webb, the parody subject later embraced the catch phrase Freberg assigned to him: Welk titled his
autobiography Wun'erful, Wun'erful, which is how Stan heard the way Welk often said the phrase, "Wonderful, wonderful..." Daws Butler
and Stan play the two sailors heard near the end and the two sides of the record are listed as "Side Uh-One" and "Side Uh-Two." One of Stan's
best efforts. "Turn off the bubble machine" became a well-remembered catch-phrase. This was another one that the puppets on The Soupy
Sales Show used to pantomime every few weeks.
A CHILD'S GARDEN OF FREBERG
1957 [LP] Stan's first long-playing album collected several of his biggest hits along with a couple of "B" sides of which he was very fond.
St. George and the Dragonet • C'est Si Bon • Try • Wide-Screen Mama Blues • Heartbreak Hotel • Rock Around
Stephen Foster • Yellow Rose of Texas • John and Marsha • The Great Pretender • That's My Boy • Rock Island Line •
Sh-Boom
(YA GOT) TROUBLE
GARY, INDIANA
1958 [45 RPM] A Freberg oddity: Stan, without changing any words or parodying the source material, records two songs from Meredith Willson's The
Music Man. And does a darn nice job with them.
 
GREEN CHRISTMAS
THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS
Released December 2, 1958 [45 RPM] This scathing attack on holiday-connected advertising — a modern version of Dickens' A Christmas
Carol with Freberg as Scrooge and Daws Butler as Bob Cratchit — offended a lot of radio stations and ad agencies. Still, it remains
among Stan's best-remembered work. This was apparently the last time Butler recorded with him. Daws was getting busy as the voice of
Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and almost everyone else then starring in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
OMAHA!
1958 [45 RPM, EP] This parody of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma!, is "A 6 Minute, 38 Second Musical starring Stan Freberg with
the Original Cast." That original cast included Byron Kane, Frances Osborne, Billy May and his Orchestra and Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires.
It's also a brilliant commercial for Butter-Nut Coffee. There are several different versions of this record, most of which include copies of
other radio spots that Freberg produced for the sponsor.
THE BEST OF THE STAN FREBERG RADIO SHOWS
1958 [LP] - Two disc set of material from 1957 radio program, The Stan Freberg Show which also featured Daws Butler, June Foray, Peter Leeds,
vocalist Peggy Taylor, Billy May and his Orchestra and the Jud Conlon Rhythmaires. Some of the tracks are from the dress rehearsal (which was
recorded before a live audience) which explains why they differ slightly from actual recordings of the show as it was broadcast and later released on
CD.
DISC 1: Opening • Elderly Man River • Face the Funnies • The Zazaloph Family • Bang Gunleigh, U.S.
Marshall Field • Tuned Sheep • Incident at Los Voraces • Conclusion
DISC 2: Opening • Abominable Snowman Interview • Herman Horne on Hi-Fi • Literary Giants of Our Times •
Cocktails for Two • Son of Herman Horne on Hi-Fi • Grey Flannel Hatful of Teen-Age Werewolves • Conclusion
SOME OF THE BEST FROM "THE BEST OF THE STAN FREBERG RADIO SHOWS"
1958 [45] - A special release for disc jockeys of three cuts from the album. The Puffed Grass Commercial is an excerpt from
Bang Gunleigh, U.S. Marshall Field.
Elderly Man River • The Zazaloph Family • Puffed Grass Commercial
 
FREBERG AGAIN
1958? [EP] A British import "extended-play" record. This was reportedly one of Stan's best-selling packages overseas despite the fact that its
first two cuts dealt with the American political scene and the last parodied a TV series which had not yet been distributed to most of the countries
in which this EP was sold. Another example of how Stan's satires worked even for folks who didn't know what he was satirizing.
Point of Order • Person to Pearson • The Lone Psychiatrist • The Honey-Earthers
THE GREAT PRETENDER
1958? [EP] Another British import "extended-play" record. I don't understand the cover photo at all unless it's supposed to be Stan
impersonating a senator not unlike Joe McCarthy, in which case it's on the wrong record since there's no mention of McCarthy or even politics on any
of these cuts...
The Great Pretender • The Yellow Rose of Texas • Banana Boat • Rock Island Line
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