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...and they're both dollar signs.Sad but true. I felt obligated to offer this light musical entertainment on Christmas Eve in order to soothe the nerves of Oil Can and Mrs. Harry. Last night's presentation evidently triggered a bout of post-traumatic stress in the little guy---something about somebody putting Coco on the rug or some such.
The milquetoast, Bob "Peace On Earth" Cratchit, is portrayed in this Stan Freberg production by cartoon voiceover actor Daws Butler---a brilliantly talented man who was, in my opinion, cursed by having to portray an endless procession of lame cartoon characters, mostly for the hack Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. Until digging up the previous link, though, I did not know that Butler voiced the part of Aesop's son on Rocky and His Friends.
Freberg's sentiments here as as bitter as any he ever expressed on record---but bitterly hilarious, of course. Various "Mad Men" of the day felt touchy about Green Chri$tma$, however, and worked hard to suppress promotion of the record and airplay of same for a few decades. To this day it's rarely heard out here in radioland. To this day, reality is an affront to the senses and sensibilities of some delicate souls.
Green Chri$tma$, Stan Freberg (1958, Capitol Records F 4097), via YouTube, embedded for noncommercial critical discussion and educational purposes.
Editor's note: if you pop outta bed one more time I'm gonna jak się masz you!
Outstanding! I'd forgotten all about this, the capitalistic gods that rule us have been so successful at purging it.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing now-- the very same people who promote the crass materialism in this record are the same ones who have invented the "war on christmas". Perfect example of a dog chasing its tail. And catching it. And eating it. And continuing until its head goes right up its ass.
After more than 50 years Freberg must be rolling over in his grave-- or bed-- I didn't check wiki to see which.
What made this so good was listening to it while the Yule Log was burning brightly on the TV. Bravo!!
ReplyDeleteBoys: glad you enjoyed this. My apologies for a tardy response to your holiday cheers. And, btw, Freberg is still alive and has been working all along the way. He's outlived pretty much all of his principal conspirators, regrettably, but we all end up as history sometime.
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