Allan Sherman

Born as Allan Copelon in Chicago on November 30, 1924, Allan Sherman earned recognition as perhaps the most commercially dominant musical humorist in pop history through his song parodies. He first worked in show business as a writer for performers including Jackie Gleason and Joe E. Lewis before attempting his own performing career, which met early setbacks. A 1951 duet with comedienne Sylvia Froos titled "A Satchel and a Seck," which satirized Frank Loesser's "A Bushel and a Peck," failed to register, and legal objections from the estate of composers Lerner & Loewe blocked an ambitious full-length Jewish parody of the musical My Fair Lady.

Sherman moved into television, where he created and produced the long-running quiz show I've Got a Secret. He later served as writer-producer on The Steve Allen Show, yet the program's 1961 conclusion left him without work. Warner Bros. offered a contract, resulting in the 1962 release of the parody collection My Son, the Folk Singer. Radio embraced the album despite Sherman's lack of performing profile, and accounts describe even President John F. Kennedy singing the track "Sarah Jackman," a parody of "Frere Jacques," in a hotel lobby, which increased its visibility. The record reached number one and prompted numerous imitations, though Sherman retained his position as the leading figure in parody hits.

Late 1962 brought My Son, the Celebrity, which also attained the top chart position. My Son, the Nut followed in 1963 and held number one for eight consecutive weeks, driven by the Top Five novelty single "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh," a summer camp-themed version of Ponchielli's 1876 composition "Dance of the Hours." Kennedy's assassination in November 1963 altered the national mood toward solemnity, diminishing appetite for light song parodies and contributing to Sherman's declining popularity. Early 1964's Allan in Wonderland reached only number 25 on the pop charts. Later that year, amid Beatlemania, both For Swingin' Livers Only! and Peter & the Commissar, recorded with Arthur Fiedler & Boston Pops, performed worse, the latter failing to enter the Top 40.

My Name Is Allan in 1965 became his final charting effort at number 88. Sherman continued with Live, recorded before a Las Vegas audience, and released Togetherness in 1966 before Warner Bros. dropped him, closing his performing career. He published the autobiography A Gift of Laughter before dying in California on November 20, 1973, at age 48.