Ok, students, I'm going to play this track first, then tell you about it.
Paul Frees, who worked for just about everybody in Hollywood back in the day, found some time to cut a record for MGM in 1970. "Paul Frees & the Poster People" found Frees, impersonating WC Fields, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and others, covering hits by the likes of Three Dog Night, Dusty Springfield, and the Beatles, among others. The final track, a cover of Ray Stevens' "Everything is Beautiful", released that same year, is a Frees "jam" piece. To be honest with you, I didn't know about this album until just a few minutes ago, and decided to give it a shot. If this doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.
What I didn't know was that Eric Burdon & the Animals had recorded "Mama" first, in 1966. I had always thought it had been written for TDN (by Randy Newman).
We know the man can sing in his own voice, having done so in a couple of Rankin-Bass Christmas specials, so I doubt that this can be classified as "Golden Throat" material. What do you think?
Very Belatedly:
ReplyDeleteI bought this LP when it first came out in 1970; it was a prized possession for many years.
In the years since, I've been waiting for a CD release; nothing so far, but I do live in hope ...
By the way, the "jam" number that ends the album is Ray Stevens's "Everything Is Beautiful", with Paul Frees bringing in most of the voices he'd done on the other songs ("Raindrops ..." is a 'Bogart' solo from earlier in the record).
Thank you. I corrected the original post.
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