Many Voices have been silenced RIP Stan Freberg
Posted By Kathleen David on April 8, 2015
STAN FREBERG : Thank you. And now we’d like to…
MARY ANN FEENSTER : Mr. Freberg?
STAN FREBERG: Yes? Who are you?
MARY ANN FEENSTER : I’m Mary Ann Feenster, I’m ten years old, and I’ve been sitting in the audience.
STAN FREBERG : Yes?
MARY ANN FEENSTER : I’ve been thinking about what you said about how you’re doing this because there aren’t any more radio programs?
STAN FREBERG : Yes?
MARY ANN FEENSTER: Mr. Freberg. What’s a radio program?
STAN FREBERG : Well. When you listen to the radio in the morning,
what do you hear?
MARY ANN FEENSTER : Disc jockeys and news, or sometimes news and disc jockeys. Is it possible to hear something else?
STAN FREBERG It was back in the 1940’s. Yes.
MARY ANN FEENSTER Back in the olden days?
STAN FREBERG Yes. There were what we call radio programs, like what
we’re doing here, with actors, and live musicians, and sound effects men, and guest stars.
MARY ANN FEENSTER Oh, you mean like a television program, when the picture tube blows out.
STAN FREBERG Something like that. Yes.
MARY ANN FEENSTER What did you look at?
STAN FREBERG You didn’t look at anything. You just listened.
MARY ANN FEENSTER Boy, talk about your radical ideas.
STAN FREBERG Look. Dear. You’re just too young to remember, I guess. I’ll have someone from the audience explain it. Anybody here remember radio? Anybody, anybody at all?
OLD WOMAN I do.
STAN FREBERG Oh, good. Here’s a lady. Here’s a lady. Come right
up here, madam. Watch your step, dear. You do remember radio programs, do you?
OLD WOMAN Oh, yes, yes, I remember them.
STAN FREBERG You used to listen to them, did you?
OLD WOMAN I did as a girl, yes. My goodness, yes.
STAN FREBERG For the benefit of this young lady, could you tell us
what it was like?
OLD WOMAN Well, it was…oh dear. I’m trying to remember…
STAN FREBERG Just take your time.
OLD WOMAN Well, if my memory serves me correctly, we’d hurry to
get the dishes done, and we’d all sit around the living room, listening to the…uh…
STAN FREBERG …Radio.
OLD WOMAN Radio. That’s it.
MARY ANN FEENSTER Pardon me, what did you look at while the radio was on?
OLD WOMAN Oh, we looked at each other. Kind of stared off into
space while Inner Sanctum was on, The Whistler, The Shadow. The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Do you know who said that?
MARY ANN FEENSTER Who?
OLD WOMAN Lamont Cranston. That’s who. Compared to him, my
dear, James Bond is a fink.
MARY ANN FEENSTER But I still don’t know what you used for pictures.
STAN FREBERG You used your imagination.
MARY ANN FEENSTER Your what?
STAN FREBERG Look. You could do things on radio that you couldn’t
possibly do on television. My sound effects man and I will give you a demonstration right now.
STAN FREBERG (SHOUTING, AS IF TO A GROUP)
Okay, people. Now when I give you the cue, I want the 500 foot mountain of whipped cream to be shoved into Lake Michigan, which has been drained and filled with hot chocolate. Then, the Royal Canadian Air Force will appear overhead, towing a ten ton maraschino cherry, which will be dropped into the whipped cream, to the cheering of 25000 extras. Alright, cue the mountain.
SOUND EFX: MOUNTAIN SOUND
STAN FREBERG (Cont.) Cue the Air Force.
SOUND EFX: MANY LARGE AIRPLANES
STAN FREBERG (Cont.) Cue the maraschino cherry.
SOUND EFX: BOMB DROPPING
STAN FREBERG (Cont.) Okay, 25000 cheering extras.
SOUND EFX: LARGE CROWD CHEERING
STAN FREBERG (Cont.) Now. You wanna try that on television?
(Thanks to Tom Galloway for the transcript)
I have been going over in my mind, like I normally do, how I was going to write this entry and I have to admit this is about the sixth draft in my head of what I was going to write.
Stan Freberg was a brilliant word smith who created some of the funniest material I have ever heard. He was also a puppeteer and an ad man among many other things.
I grew up listening to records of his 1950s radio show and his take on the History of the United States among others. There are phrases that just come up around the house that are from various sketches he did.
Take some Food. Put it in your mouth. Chew then Swallow. And you too will be saying that Fud is Good.
He created these wacky commercials for his radio show because he wouldn’t be sponsored by tobacco or alcohol.
He worked with Daws Butler on Beanie and Cecil. They both worked with the amazing June Forey on his Radio Show.
I met him once by accident. I was in artist alley at the San Diego Comic Con looking for my friend Teresa who had a table as well. I made a wrong turn down one of the alleys and found sitting behind a table with his wife Betty with various CDs they had done.
I introduced myself and was able to tell him how much his work had meant to me and to my family. He said he was very touched to hear that. We ended up talking for about an hour about his work, puppets, and how his album about American History has actually helped people on tests. I found out that he was good friends with Jim Henson.
The pursuit of Happineff?
Well that’s the way all the kids are writing it now a days
I feel like I have lost a member of my family because his work was so part of our family.
So Rest in Peace Mr. Freberg. Your words and work will not be forgotten.
I am very grateful I was able to tell Stan Freberg what he meant to me.
