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The following list is a work-in-progress which we are perpetually updating and correcting. Should you spot an error or have
additional info, by all means drop us a line. And we reserve the right to modify opinions any time we listen to one of these records again in
the future.
JAKE'S SONG
A SATCHEL AND A SECK
1951 [78 RPM] In 1951, Allan Sherman was a comedy writer who had just sold a game show he'd co-created (with Howard Merrill) called I've Got a
Secret. He would go on to become its producer but he still harbored dreams of performing the song parodies he was then singing mostly at
parties. He recorded two sides of an overtly-Jewish comedy record which sold poorly and was quickly forgotten. Sherman, in fact,
preferred to pretend it had never existed. Eleven years later when his next record became a million seller, he pointedly referred to it as his
first record, and there is no mention of his early effort in his 1966 autobiography, A Gift of Laughter.
MY FAIR LADY Parody
1957 [Unreleased] In or around 1957, Sherman recorded a demo for a proposed parody of the Broadway smash, My Fair Lady. Sherman's version took
the storyline about a British professor of linguistics who wants to pass a flower girl off as well-bred to London society and transposed it to a
Jewish gent trying to train a shiksa (non-Jewish girl) so he can pass her off at a Hadassah meeting. Unable to obtain the necessary permissions
from the authors of My Fair Lady, Sherman was reduced to circulating the material in a small pressing just for friends. The track has
since made the rounds in an array of formats, including tapes, another limited press album and bootleg CDs, but has never had a commercial
release. There are several different versions and among the songs on them are Wouldn't It Be Lovely?, With a Little Bit of Lox, On the
Streets Where We Live, I've Got the Customers to Face and Get Me to the Temple on Time.
MY SON, THE FOLK SINGER
1962 [LP] On August 6, 1962, Allan Sherman recorded his first album in front of an invited audience of Hollywood celebrities. All
present laughed themselves silly and a few weeks later when the record was released, much of America joined in. Sherman was instantly
catapulted from being an out-of-work game show producer to being the hottest recording artist in the country. Warner Brothers records had
expected that the Jewish-themed humor would go over big in areas with large Jewish populations, and had originally aimed their marketing in that
direction. But Sherman hit a crossover note, and as he later put it, "I knew I was a hit when they were selling out of them in gentile
neighborhoods." Reports vary as to how many copies were sold but "close to a million" seems to be the prevailing estimate. Sarah
Jackman was the big hit as a single but all the songs on the record are terrific and together, they make for one of the great comedy albums of
all time.
The Ballad of Harry Lewis • Shake Hands With Your Uncle Max • Sir Greenbaum's Madrigal • My Zelda • The Streets
of Miami • Sarah Jackman • Jump Down, Spin Around (Pick a Dress o' Cotton)
• Seltzer Boy • Oh Boy • Shticks and Stones
SARAH JACKMAN
MY ZELDA
1962 [45 RPM] Sherman's parody of Frere Jacques (a duet with Christine Nelson) took the world by storm. Even President Kennedy was
once heard singing its catchy lyrics in public. The flip side was Sherman's spoof of Harry Belafonte's recording of Matilda, complete with audience
participation.
MY SON, THE FOLK SINGER (EP)
1962 [EP] A promotional release containing four tracks from the album.
Sarah Jackman • Oh Boy • Jump Down, Spin Around (Pick a Dress o' Cotton) • Shake Hands With Your Uncle Max
 
MY SON, THE FOLK SINGER (Limited Edition)
1962 [LP] The success of My Son, the Folk Singer caught WB so totally unprepared that they could not keep records in stores. They
hurried to press more but when it turned out that it would take longer to print the four-color album jackets than to make the records, they decided
not to wait. In many areas, the only available copies were sold in a quickly-printed one-color sleeve. Included was a coupon that
entitled the purchaser to come back to the store in two weeks and get a "real" cover. The record inside the temp version is exactly the same
but the monochrome sleeve has become highly collectible.
MORE FOLKS SONGS BY ALLAN SHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS
1962 [LP] When My Son, the Folk Singer hit, the folks at Jubilee Records dug out his '51 single, repackaging its two songs (Jake's
Song and A Satchel and a Seck) with other Jewish-themed comedy tunes by folks who were probably not "friends" of Sherman's — though
one of them, Sylvia Froos, did duet with Sherman on one of his numbers. The album received scant distribution at the time and was generally
ignored, though not by Sherman and his lawyers who managed to limit its distribution.
JAKE'S SONG
A SATCHEL AND A SECK
1962 [45 RPM] And Jubilee also put out a single of Sherman's two songs from 1951. As with the album, legal action prevented it from receiving
wide distribution.
MY SON, THE CELEBRITY
1963 [LP] Sherman's second album for Warner Brothers Records shows some departure from his Jewish-humor roots. It suffers a bit from that, and
also from the fact that it was written hurriedly to cash in on his popularity, whereas the previous album featured a number of songs he'd written
over the years and sung at parties. The cleverest lyric on this album is probably Mexican Hat Dance, but the most-played was Al 'n'
Yetta, which was written to the tune of Alouette. All in all, a pretty good record.
Al 'n' Yetta • Barry is the Baby's Name / Horowitz / Get on the Garden Freeway • Mexican Hat Dance • The Bronx Bird
Watcher • The Let's All Call Up A.T.& T. and Protest to the President March • Harvey and Sheila • Won't You Come Home, Disraeli?
• No One's Perfect • When I Was a Lad • Me • Shticks of One, Half a Dozen of the Other
WON'T YOU COME HOME, DISRAELI?
MEXICAN HAT DANCE
1963 [45 RPM] A single release from My Son, the Celebrity.
MY SON, THE NUT
1963 [LP] Around this time, Sherman is said to have theorized that in order to take his career to the next level, he had to get people to stop thinking of him just
as a guy who did Jewish-themed material. There's barely a trace of it in his third album, which was turned into a best-seller largely on the
strength of one song. Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!, set to the tune of Dance of the Hours, was his biggest hit ever, and the
number with which his name would forever be connected. The King Louie number is often cited by songwriters as the cleverest lyric on any
of Sherman's records.
You Went the Wrong Way, Old King Louie • Automation • I See Bones • Hungarian Goulash No. 5 • Headaches •
Here's to the Crabgrass • Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp) • One Hippopotami • Rat Fink • You're Getting To Be a
Rabbit with Me • Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue • Hail to Thee, Fat Person
 
HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDUH! (A Letter from Camp)
RAT FINK (RAG MOP)
1963 [45 RPM] That Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! became Sherman's biggest hit ever is all the more remarkable when you realize that it was #1 in
Japan (where they don't even have summer camps) and the flip side was probably the worst song he ever recorded.
MY SON, THE NUT (EP)
1963 [EP] A record containing six songs from the album, intended primarily for jukebox play.
I See Bones • You Went the Wrong Way, Old King Louie • Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp) • Headaches
• You're Getting To Be A Rabbit With Me • Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue
MY SON, THE NUT (EP)
1963 [EP] The British edition of the above record was marketed for more general
audiences and contained a slightly different selection of material. There
are reports of at least one other variation but we've never actually seen a
copy.
You're Getting To Be A Rabbit With Me • Hungarian Goulash
No. 5 • Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp) • Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue
• You Went the Wrong Way, Old King Louie • Hail to Thee, Fat Person
BILL COSBY IS A VERY FUNNY FELLOW...RIGHT
1963 [LP] Allan Sherman was listed as one of the producers on Bill Cosby's first three comedy albums. In an interview, Cosby once stated that
Sherman's involvement was virtually zero and that it was merely a way of associating Sherman's name to hype sales.
THE TWELVE GIFTS OF CHRISTMAS
YOU WENT THE WRONG WAY, OLD KING LOUIE
1963 [45 RPM] Sherman wrote and performed his version of the classic Christmas carol on a 1963 TV special that was taped well in advance of the
holiday. Someone said, "Hey, that would sell as a record," so Warner Brothers rushed out a 45 RPM version in early December. The "A" side
was the song, as recorded for the TV show; the "B" side was a number that had appeared on Sherman's previous album. An edited version of The
Twelve Gifts was included on a later album and in later years, it turned up on an amazing number of compilation albums and CDs, often identified
as The Twelve Days of Christmas.
HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDUH! (A Letter from Camp)
HERE'S TO THE CRABGRASS
1964 [45 RPM] After the initial release, Warner Brothers Records decided to change the "B" side of Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! to what they
considered a stronger tune. This was the version that was available for at least the next twenty years.
I STARTED OUT AS A CHILD
1964 [LP] Sherman is credited as one of the producers on this Bill Cosby album.
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