Product description Tip of the Freberg: The Stan Freberg Collection 1951-1998 is a massive four-CD set, not only including oodles of material from all facets of Stan Freberg's recorded work (largely from the '50s and '60s, although it goes all the way up to the late '90s), but there's also a 20-minute video with his humorous television commercials. The first disc is devoted to his musical parodies from the '50s, and on both an entertainment and significance level, it's the best of the four. Besides his debut hit "John & Marsha," there are fairly funny and expertly produced, if sometimes mean-spirited, spoofs of Mitch Miller, Les Paul, the Platters, "Rock Island Line," Harry Belafonte, Lawrence Welk, and most famously Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," with its out-of-control echo chambers; there are even a couple of previously unissued 1953 takeoffs on popular TV hosts. The satire of rock & roll crosses the line to animosity sometimes, most infamously on "The Old Payola Roll Blues." Disc two gets more into satire of media stars and programs, including some of his radio shows and his controversial (to Capitol Records, anyway) take on Joseph McCarthy, "Point of Order." Disc three is mostly devoted to material from both volumes of his United States of America history, and also has his 1959 EP "Omaha!," a composition that was also an extended-length commercial. Disc four wraps up with no less than 57 of his radio commercials, all previously unreleased. Of course, you'd have to be kind of nuts to listen to all or much of this at once. It's funny, to varying degrees, and kind of a link between Mad magazine and Monty Python, but much closer to Mad. The commercials in particular might have more value as cultural artifacts than as classics of recorded comedy. .com Tip of the Freberg presents four CDs and one VHS-format videotape of classic comedy from the legendary master who paved the way for Saturday Night Live and National Lampoon. This is the definitive collection of the sarcastic but sophisticated Freberg magic, including the best of his famous routines and satirical songs plus unreleased goodies new and old. The set also contains the first-ever CD of his hilarious radio ads and the video has award-winning TV commercials that he wrote and directed. The snappy package comes complete with an actual X-ray of Freberg's skull and it is lovingly annotated with details of who played the music (exotica big kahuna Les Baxter wrote some of the band arrangements), what Freberg's writing and working methods were, and who supplied the characters' voices. (Not surprisingly Freberg did many of the vocal parts himself--he's a capable singer and actor.) The older material remains funny stuff, and the liner notes provide the depth of historical context. This is not a box set that will be played once and then put on the shelf. Everything on Tip of the Freberg is good for repeat plays and hours of laughs in the years ahead. --John Sulak
D**A
"Tip of the Freberg" sinks the ship of fools !
Stan Freberg is one of the great humorists of he 20th century. He does a tap dance on the commercialization of Christmas, for example, that is biting satire at its best. "Omaha", his takeoff on Broadway, skewers the pretensions of the musical theater brilliantly. There is no aspect of life that is safe from his attack. I believe he is without equal and "The Tip of the Freberg" is an outstanding example of his talent. He and it are highly recommended.(A tip of the hat to the guys who sold me this gem.)
J**K
What kind of question is this?
It is difficult to answer the question, "How did this item meet your expectations?" as it could be asking about the physical condition of the CD, or the amount of material included e.g., graphics, track info etc., or is the question asking about the quality of production of the CD itself or if I feel I got good valueor for my money or is it asking about the level of the comedy and humor of each track?Let me know which item you're asking about and I'll gladly give my most honest reaction, first impression and overall feelings.
J**R
If you like Wierd Al Yankovic, Freberg showed him the way.
Stan Freberg, Was one of the funniest performers on records from the 1050's & 60's he satirised records mostly hits. His remake of Harry Belafontes' "Banana boat song" alone Is worth the price of the collection. It covers the best of his parody's Up into the 1960;s some later albums as well. In the 1970's he got into advertising, Once again humorous (He made commercials you would stay up late to watch). They took 3 underperforming company's & made them top dogs even today. Also his political parody "The Flackman & Reagan", Is one of the funniest thing I've ever heard.
W**Q
Here's A Tip!
I am so happy to own this boxed set of Stan Freberg's work. "Who Listens To Radio?" finally has a home. Stan wrote and Della Reese sang. It was my ear worm for 40 years. It is a song you sing to yourself. And why not? Stan Freberg rightfully deserves credit for much of the sound American satire.
M**F
Some of the earliest are a bit dated (unless you're a fossil like me! ) but some of his best works ...
Stan is the Man! Some of the earliest are a bit dated (unless you're a fossil like me!) but some of his best works are here.
G**Y
merely ok
My dad loved Stan and I grew up listening to the occasional record of his hits. I really enjoyed many of the skits on those LPs (especially the first few ones on the history of the US). This collection has pretty much everything I enjoyed as a kid, but the other stuff is not so good. The tracks I enjoyed are the second half of disk 1 and the first half of disk 3. I'm going to give this to my dad and hopefully he enjoys it more than me.
I**.
" but a great deal more was present than was omitted
The set covers Stanley's career very well. I didn't find "Madison Avenue Werewolf" or "Interview with the Abominable Snowman," but a great deal more was present than was omitted, so I'm very happy with the package.
L**E
Freberg Rules!
It is wonderful to hear all the classic Stan Freberg recordings. As a long time fan, I was impressed with the quality of the recordings and roared with laughter on almost every selection. Stan Freberg's brillant, creative mind produced some of the most original work ever heard on radio or seen on tv. Aspiring writers need to listen to these CDs to understand how satire, and fun work together to sell products and entertain. The videotape and the packaging are two more reasons to buy Freberg (if you need more reasons) Freburg rules again!
C**D
Fantastic!
I love Stan's slightly bent but hilarious take on life. This collection is awesome!
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