as i grew up i became something of a history buff, which i suspect will come as a severe jolt to my elementary school teachers. you remember the history books, which took pains to present potentially engrossing subject matter as blandly and colorlessly as humanly possible. ("better than Valium," as the man himself puts it.) remember being stunned to see, say, Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln played in a movie as if they were human people rather than human sleeping pills? it was almost (not quite, but almost) enough to make a pupil look forward to math class.what finally sparked my interest in history was my taste for comedy. i learned history by a sort of default because i pretty much had to to get the jokes in, for instance, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, or Mel Brooks' 2000-Year-Old Man. and that's where this exemplary masterpiece comes in.what Allan Sherman would be to the '60s, what "Weird Al" Yankovic has been to the '80s through the present day, Stan Freberg was to the '50s. it was a golden age of sorts for the novelty single ("Witch Doctor," "Beep Beep," "The Purple People Eater"), but then as now the artists behind them tended to be one-hit wonders. not so Stan Freberg, who's released singles tended to be a unique class of auditory cartoon. (not surprising, considering that he also did a great deal of voice-over work for Looney Tunes.) take his version of "Yellow Rose Of Texas," as sung by the most rabidly patriotic Texan you'll ever encounter. or his version of Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song:" the singer's chant of "daaaaaaaayyyy-O!" hurts the sound engineer's ears, leading to a lengthy attempt to determine just how far away he should sing that part.his biggest single hit, "St. George & The Dragonet," even inadvertently contributed to it's target's continuity. basically a "fractured fairytale" of the sort later featured on Rocky & Bullwinkle, it merges the legend of St. George with that archetypal "cop show," Dragnet. creator/star Jack Webb stated that not only did it inspire a period of ratings conquest for his show, but it was Freberg's St. George, not Webb's Sgt. Friday, who said "just the facts, ma'am." like "play it again, Sam" before and "beat me up, Scotty" after, it became a sort of honorary catchphrase despite it's conspicuous absence.as the '60s dawned full-length albums were coming into their own, and it was only a matter of time before Freberg's label requested one. it took time to figure how to approach it, only for Freberg to remember flunking his own high-school history course. still frustrated that actual people were being presented with about as much personality as their "marble statues in the park," he realized someone had to attempt to turn the tide. and he did such an admirable job that teachers across the land stunned him by using the album in class.being a satirist, Freberg wasn't about to resist the temptation to satirize. for instance, the Pilgrims respond to criticisms about their relations with the Indians by proposing Take An Indian To Lunch Week, without even trying to hide or deny the fact that this obvious stopgap is little more than a publicity stunt. Benjamin Franklin is reluctant to sign the Declaration Of Independence because "a man can't be too careful what he signs these days," a then painfully obvious shot at the tyranny of Senator Joseph McCarthy. George Washington clashes with Betsy Ross over the design of the American flag.one interesting bit is "The Thanksgiving Story," in which we learn that the turkey was intended to be the national bird, but due to a mixup, it was the turkey rather than the eagle to be cooked for the original Thanksgiving dinner. i've since learned that there was a movement at one time, counting among it's supporters Benjamin Franklin, to indeed bestow this exalted position upon the turkey. one wonders if Freberg happened to stumble upon this story in research...no mere recitation of skits, it's in fact a complete musical revue. Freberg even tried to mount a stage version at some point. it's songs are basically showtunes rather than what i might've done - my favorite bands are The Beatles and Queen - but they fit the context and the spirit of the thing. and Freberg's gift for witty wordplay certainly doesn't hurt.nor does a sterling cast. Freberg's stock company herein includes the like of Peter Leeds, June Foray, Barney Phillips, Walter Tetley, Colleen Collins, Helen Kleeb, and Paul Frees. his most frequent foil is Jesse White, one of those character actors whom you'll know when you see him (or at least when you hear his voice) even if you don't know the name offhand. he's best remembered as a sanitarium orderly in the Jimmy Stewart film Harvey, and commercials for Maytag washers and dryers.it's landmark status shows on sign of fading. celebrity-to-be fans of the album include Steven Spielberg, Paul McCartney, and Richard Dryfuss. it was repeated voted No. 1 Comedy Album Of All Time by Dr. Demento's listeners, and it's even found it's way into the National Record Registry of the Library Of Congress.it's significance goes a little deeper, in fact into the art of the album itself. for all intents and purposes, Stan Freberg effectively invented what would come to be known as the "concept album." and he did so several years before Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band established the album (as opposed to random selection of cuts) as an art form in it's own right. not to mention nearly a decade before the like of The Who and David Bowie started telling stories in their albums.fast forward 35 years. things didn't go quite as Freberg had planned. it was intended to be a series - it's liner notes implicitly stated as much - but a number of circumstances, most obviously Freberg's lateral career shift into advertising, had kept any further installments from coming to pass. but a persistent Freberg kept the dream alive, and Vol. 2: The Middle Years finally materialized in 1996. Freberg even took home the comedy album Grammy for his efforts.while not quite as consistently inspired as Vol. 1, it's certainly no slouch initself. consider songwriter Stephen Foster's struggle with writer's block, for instance, or Alexander Graham Bell's tussle with the operator. Abe Lincoln find himself in therapy due to his unrealized dream of being "Showfolk." James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin form the original advertising agency. inventors are taken to task for not adhering to the economically stimulating practice of "Planned Obsolescense."the weakest moments tend to be Freberg's attempts to be contemporary. Abe Lincoln insists on keeping his beard because "it's a guy thing," for instance. Samuel F.B. Morse invents the "Internet," a net behind his desk lest he become weary and fall over. such moments come off as clumsy attempts to shoehorn something in for the current generation rather than a natural element of the show.much of the original ensemble (specifically those still living) made it back, but new contributors include Tyne Daly, John Goodman, Harry Shearer, Sherman Helmsley, and Lorenzo "Garfield" Music. Jesse White managed to make one appearance, but his former role of primary co-star is taken over by David Ogden Stiers of M*A*S*H fame.my only major complaint has to do with the way the CD is presented. unlike the first, in which every sketch is a single track, the second cuts the skits into pieces, seemingly just to make every song a track in it's own right. that may not sound like much, but the thing is, i most often listen to my Sansa on shuffle mode, meaning Vol. 2 tends to come in truncated bits and pieces.another potential regret is that there were plans for a Vol. 3, this time sidetracked by Freberg's failing health and ultimate death. so some might argue that it's still incomplete. maybe it is, but given that the second volume appearing eventually, resulting in just over 2 hours of the finest brand of whimsical farce, i find it hard to think that anyone's been cheated.something else occurs to me: does this make Stan Freberg the American equivalent of Blackadder?The service and product were good. Only problem was the jewel case the cd's came in was cracked. Since it is a double cd case, it is difficult to replace.If you were around in the early 60’s this was a classicVolume One: The Early Years released while I was in college and is among the greatest, if not _the_ greatest, comedy/satire album ever recorded. The cast includes voice acting greats like Paul Frees, Jesse White, Peter Leeds and the inestimable June Foray (later the voice of Rocket J Squirrel).Volume Two: The Middle Years, recorded many years later, pales only in comparison to Volume One.Frebeg's recordings and radio show are unmatched and if you haven't yet heard them take the time to search the Web.This album is outrageously funny. Freberg is the master of satire, a demented genius. He will have you rolling on the floor without any "lowest common denominator" foul language, so rampant in today's "comedy" and just the smallest hint of innuendo. Be forewarned, you need at least a bit of knowledge of American history to get the jokes. Freberg himself wrote the entire script as well as the music for both volumes. Just a heads-up. The second volume is totally eclipsed by the first. In the second volume, a number of attempts to use references to today's phrases and situations really don't work very well. The attempted humor is a bit forced. If you are like me, you will find yourself listening to the first volume over and over again for years to come. The second volume, not so much. However, the second volume is certainly worth your time to give it a good listen.Known as the "greatest Broadway musical that has never been produced," "The United States of America" is beloved by generations of lovers of music and satire. Adman Freberg took our nations history from Columbus's voyage to the end of the Revolution and and showed that our Founders were actual, normal, mistake-prone people. A vain George Washington, crotchety Ben Franklin, exasperated Betsy Ross, and many others land laugh after laugh in between show-stopping musical numbers like "Take An Indian to Lunch," in honor of the first Thanksgiving. This album was so popular that people begged Freberg for a sequel. Forty years later, he complied, and the second album (included in this set) takes our story up to World War I. This album is indispensable for any collector of American music and humor.I like the condition of the CDs. They 2 CD set came in a single case having a dual flip cover (each side open to access each CD. Unfortunately the back side of the case that holds the Volume 2 CD was cracked (in transit?). But I am still happy with the product. Wish I had another case though.Many of the jokes are dated in that you might have had to lived through the 60/70's to get it. For the most part this is funny to all ages.This set of recordings has been a great favourite for many years, and I am delighted to have my own copy. Stan Freberg is one of the greatest of 'comedians' (if that is the right word) of all time in the English language.