He is just so brilliant. We love him in England. Funniest man ever - possibly. Thank you, America (and particularly American jews). We love Allan - and all of you. Shalom! (from a Catholic!).
Eddie Lawson He was definitely a trend-setter. While not the first of the parody songwriters, he was the first to make it mainstream. And while admittedly, not every song hit bulls-eyes, he did help contribute to launching Weird Al's career as an inspiration. And if you launched one of my all-time favorite songwriters, albeit indirectly, you get a thumbs-up from moi! :D
BTW, I first heard this song at an ice skating rink during a school field trip. They were playing bizarrely child-friendly music on the radio like songs from Little Mermaid and other stuff you'd never hear in public.
I was raised on Allan Sherman along with heavy doses of The Smothers Brothers and Bill Cosby. When Rhino Records released the large box collection called My Son The Box, I jumped on getting it. EVERY Sherman LP plus the singles and the Scott Cups dispenser jingles as well as the Encron campaign were on it and I knew I hit the jackpot of comedy. The box only had 5,000 copies made, and I scored the 312th one. It brings lots of joy when I listen to it and it is a point of pride in my CD collection. It’s too bad Sherman didn’t take better care of himself because I think he could be a real influence on today’s audience without even trying.
A while back I got this song stuck in my head, to the point that I started cobbling together new verses. I just finished the 11th. There's a lot of famous people whose achievements can be reduced to a silly rhyme.
@@doc9600 Wrote them all down. There's an even dozen now, including two women ( who certainly ought to be represented ). And I truly don't know what to do with them. Like his version, they call for a full orchestral treatment - which is beyond my power. And I'm afraid I don't have the confidence to just go online and blurt them out a capella. So for now they'll just remain in the notebook. Funny, though, how many famous names immediately fit the tempo. And all you need is the hook - the singular achievement they're know for - and the lyrics seem to follow pretty naturally.
@@cliffchristie5865 I've got no orchestra sadly, but 've been meaning to learn this song on piano for awhile now. I perform regularly at a downtown float shop. It's mostly old folks that come in so I'm sure some would recognize Allan :) If you want I could use your lyrics for the song to shake things up lol
@@doc9600 I'll keep it in mind. Until then, here's one verse ( and the chorus ) - not necessarily the best one, but representative. Bear in mind, this is not so much a poem as song lyrics. But if you know the melody, trust me, they fit. Charles Lindbergh hoped to fly the ocean alone but wasn't sure just what to call his plane. He had a superstition about things with city names but wanted one that wasn't inane. Like Denver omelet, Hong Kong flu, or Boston baked beans, I said rely on me and take a chance. Just name it for St. Louis and in no time at all you'll wind up in Paris, France. And that was good advice, good advice, good advice costs nothing and it's worth the price. Every now and then you should listen to your friends for good advice. (as silly as all the original verses, but consistent )
I've been a fan of Allan Sherman since I was a kid in the 70s but only heard this song in the past year or so. If I'd known this in high school I would have ruled the talent show !
"My Son the Nut" was in our record collection when I was a kid. Loved that LP. I first heard this song, though, covered by The Chorallaries of MIT a capella group, from a tape they put out in the late '80s or early '90s. Didn't realise it was an Allan Sherman song until today! All around brilliant. (I hope that Chorallaries album gets digitized and becomes available online at some point; it had some great tracks.)
I was brought up on Allan. Not enough nowadays know about this guy. Sherman could do some pretty mediocre stuff, but frequently had stokes of genius. This was a huge one!
teddibearsworld And to his credit, he helped found the careers of countless parody artists, including Weird Al Yankovich. So, it's hard to fault him for paving the way for stronger material.
Actually, before Allan there was a man named Mickey Katz, who also happened to have been Joel Grey's father (and therefore he is also Jennifer Grey's grandfather). Because Mickey Katz was even more clearly "ethnic" than Allan Sherman -- he sometimes used full Yiddish lyrics interspersed with English -- he didn't become as famous among the general public as those two did. But Sherman, Weird Al, and others owe him a big debt for popularizing this form. That said, Mickey Katz worked with Spike Jones and his City Slickers, a group that performed all kinds of musical parody and comedy, although I don't know that it was of the exact same type. Katz and Jones were both born in the early 1900s. You can find videos of both men on UA-cam.
Allan Sherman's albums came out while I was a teenager, and I bought them all! Then, when I was a high school senior, Allan Sherman wrote a Broadway musical: "The Fig Leaves Are Falling." The songs were all originals, with music by Albert Hague and lyrics by Sherman. The cast included Dorothy Loudon, Barry Nelson, and the Broadway debut of David Cassidy. There were 17 previews and it opened on Thursday, January 2, 1969. It was poorly received, and sadly, it closed after four performances, on Monday, January 6, 1969. I was lucky enough to see the first and the last performances. There are some videos on UA-cam. There was no cast recording, though Sherman did release a 45 of him singing the title song.
THIS is why I turned out so weird: Tom Lehrer, the Smothers Brothers and Allan Sherman. Subversive and sidesplitting funny. My heartfelt thanks to my parents for bending my brain into a pretzel.
The thing is, he really struggled in his later years; his health and marriage deteriorated, he was dropped by Warner Bros. after his last few LP's lagged in sales, and he spent his remaining days living mostly on welfare before dying of lung disease. A sad ending to a brilliant man who was one of the biggest selling musical humorists of his time.
I know. It's truly one of the saddest endings to anyone in history. A few others I'd add to the list of brilliant people who made it big but died with sad endings are Edgar A. Poe, Socrates and Robin Williams.
Still the best song I have ever heard... Well now to listen to this song until I am sick of it. I got sucked into Karaoke at my pa's birthday party, and I have to sing several Weird Al songs and Good Advice...
Just heard this as one of the backing tracks on BBC 1's Homes Under The Hammer. I used to play this on a Sunday morning radio show a few years ago...never heard it elsewhere before!
Alan is amazing, but I want to take a little time to complement this amazing video. I think it matches the music perfectly. It just goes to show you don't need $800 software to make something good.
Allan Sherman usually put original lyrics to other people’s songs, of course - which made him the first Weird Al Yankovic. Makes me wonder if Weird Al is familiar with Sherman’s work. Probably.
Supposedly, there’s a missing verse that wasn’t included on the “Allan In Wonderland” release that I think went somewhere around the 5:53 mark (it was said to be a “one more time” verse) about someone named Enrico Ferni trying to kill a fly and being inspired by Allan to invent the mushroom. Supposedly it was left out because it didn’t rhyme but more likely it had to do with the song running too long. Either way I’m curious about how it went.
The lyrics were terrific and quite funny.....but a few months ago....someone posted the claymation film version which seems to have been taken down....even funnier! Sorry to know he died sick and impoverished....text book case of how unfair life can be
Not inappropriate, just not funny and not appreciated. It's a shame too, because I think it's fantastic and a lot more clever and funnier than a lot of the comedy today. But no doubt, times change, and the comedy that IS funny today is a lot different than what top comedians (including Allan Sherman) were putting out 50 years ago..... Music is seldom timeless, and comedy even less so........
"Mr. Bobby Thomson was a Scottish engineer Who put some air in a rubber hose. He said, 'I don't know just what good this is,' 'Till Mr. Dunlop showed him how it goes. This Irish J.B. Dunlop was from old Belfast And told him, 'Tie the two ends together. Then get three more, put them on two axles, And you can drive out in any weather."
It was known for many centuries before Columbus' time that the earth was a sphere--look at the shadow the earth casts on the moon during a partial lunar eclipse. And Eratosthenes calculated the probable circumference of the earth--about 21,500 miles--assuming the earth to be a sphere, before the birth of Christ. (Also cf. Job 26:10.) Columbus didn't know of the existence of North and South America. Had they not been in his path, his voyage could have ended with him and his crew starving to death on a seemingly endless sea (the Pacific Ocean).
The song is great, but I love the photos you added.
He is just so brilliant. We love him in England. Funniest man ever - possibly. Thank you, America (and particularly American jews).
We love Allan - and all of you.
Shalom! (from a Catholic!).
Eddie Lawson He was definitely a trend-setter. While not the first of the parody songwriters, he was the first to make it mainstream. And while admittedly, not every song hit bulls-eyes, he did help contribute to launching Weird Al's career as an inspiration. And if you launched one of my all-time favorite songwriters, albeit indirectly, you get a thumbs-up from moi! :D
From us American Jews, you're welcome
Tom Lehrer
I guess he wrote this song from the perspective of the devil
1:19
"Newton- you dumbell".
Freakin' hilarious
BTW, I first heard this song at an ice skating rink during a school field trip. They were playing bizarrely child-friendly music on the radio like songs from Little Mermaid and other stuff you'd never hear in public.
I have not heard this since I was about 14, and I'm now 25. I'm really pleased that I can remember the endings to most of the verses!
I was raised on Allan Sherman along with heavy doses of The Smothers Brothers and Bill Cosby. When Rhino Records released the large box collection called My Son The Box, I jumped on getting it. EVERY Sherman LP plus the singles and the Scott Cups dispenser jingles as well as the Encron campaign were on it and I knew I hit the jackpot of comedy. The box only had 5,000 copies made, and I scored the 312th one. It brings lots of joy when I listen to it and it is a point of pride in my CD collection. It’s too bad Sherman didn’t take better care of himself because I think he could be a real influence on today’s audience without even trying.
4:07
"ONE MORE TIME!"
And the concept of epic rocking was invented.
i love this song and the tune is so catchy. its stuck in my head and i cant stop singing it! Allan Sherman was the best. theres no one like him.
A while back I got this song stuck in my head, to the point that I started cobbling together new verses. I just finished the 11th. There's a lot of famous people whose achievements can be reduced to a silly rhyme.
Happen to remember any of them? I'd love to hear 'em!
@@doc9600 Wrote them all down. There's an even dozen now, including two women ( who certainly ought to be represented ). And I truly don't know what to do with them. Like his version, they call for a full orchestral treatment - which is beyond my power. And I'm afraid I don't have the confidence to just go online and blurt them out a capella. So for now they'll just remain in the notebook. Funny, though, how many famous names immediately fit the tempo. And all you need is the hook - the singular achievement they're know for - and the lyrics seem to follow pretty naturally.
@@cliffchristie5865 I've got no orchestra sadly, but 've been meaning to learn this song on piano for awhile now. I perform regularly at a downtown float shop. It's mostly old folks that come in so I'm sure some would recognize Allan :)
If you want I could use your lyrics for the song to shake things up lol
@@doc9600 I'll keep it in mind. Until then, here's one verse ( and the chorus )
- not necessarily the best one, but representative. Bear in mind, this is not so much a poem as song lyrics. But if you know the melody, trust me, they fit.
Charles Lindbergh hoped to fly the ocean alone
but wasn't sure just what to call his plane.
He had a superstition about things with city names
but wanted one that wasn't inane.
Like Denver omelet, Hong Kong flu, or Boston baked beans,
I said rely on me and take a chance.
Just name it for St. Louis and in no time at all
you'll wind up in Paris, France.
And that was good advice, good advice,
good advice costs nothing and it's worth the price.
Every now and then you should listen to your friends for good advice.
(as silly as all the original verses, but consistent )
I've been a fan of Allan Sherman since I was a kid in the 70s but only heard this song in the past year or so. If I'd known this in high school I would have ruled the talent show !
Allan Sherman was an AWESOME TALENT! The last time I saw him was on "The Mike Douglas Show" in 1973!
"My Son the Nut" was in our record collection when I was a kid. Loved that LP. I first heard this song, though, covered by The Chorallaries of MIT a capella group, from a tape they put out in the late '80s or early '90s. Didn't realise it was an Allan Sherman song until today! All around brilliant. (I hope that Chorallaries album gets digitized and becomes available online at some point; it had some great tracks.)
I was brought up on Allan. Not enough nowadays know about this guy. Sherman could do some pretty mediocre stuff, but frequently had stokes of genius. This was a huge one!
teddibearsworld And to his credit, he helped found the careers of countless parody artists, including Weird Al Yankovich. So, it's hard to fault him for paving the way for stronger material.
Actually, before Allan there was a man named Mickey Katz, who also happened to have been Joel Grey's father (and therefore he is also Jennifer Grey's grandfather). Because Mickey Katz was even more clearly "ethnic" than Allan Sherman -- he sometimes used full Yiddish lyrics interspersed with English -- he didn't become as famous among the general public as those two did. But Sherman, Weird Al, and others owe him a big debt for popularizing this form.
That said, Mickey Katz worked with Spike Jones and his City Slickers, a group that performed all kinds of musical parody and comedy, although I don't know that it was of the exact same type. Katz and Jones were both born in the early 1900s.
You can find videos of both men on UA-cam.
Allan was the man..for a nerdy kid in the mid 60s like me. I was hooked!
Allan Sherman's albums came out while I was a teenager, and I bought them all! Then, when I was a high school senior, Allan Sherman wrote a Broadway musical: "The Fig Leaves Are Falling." The songs were all originals, with music by Albert Hague and lyrics by Sherman. The cast included Dorothy Loudon, Barry Nelson, and the Broadway debut of David Cassidy. There were 17 previews and it opened on Thursday, January 2, 1969. It was poorly received, and sadly, it closed after four performances, on Monday, January 6, 1969. I was lucky enough to see the first and the last performances. There are some videos on UA-cam. There was no cast recording, though Sherman did release a 45 of him singing the title song.
My friend danced to this song and it was great
THIS is why I turned out so weird: Tom Lehrer, the Smothers Brothers and Allan Sherman. Subversive and sidesplitting funny. My heartfelt thanks to my parents for bending my brain into a pretzel.
Don't forget Laugh-in.
Lehrer means teacher in German
Don't forget Homer and Jethro!
My parents added bob Newhart to that mix. Beautiful legacy. Timeless humor
I LOVED THEM ALL! BEST TIMES!
Certified hood classic
The thing is, he really struggled in his later years; his health and marriage deteriorated, he was dropped by Warner Bros. after his last few LP's lagged in sales, and he spent his remaining days living mostly on welfare before dying of lung disease. A sad ending to a brilliant man who was one of the biggest selling musical humorists of his time.
I know. It's truly one of the saddest endings to anyone in history. A few others I'd add to the list of brilliant people who made it big but died with sad endings are Edgar A. Poe, Socrates and Robin Williams.
Allan Sherman also created "I've Got A Secret"! A VERY TALENTED MAN!
that is sad he is gone i love this song
What a beautiful video put to fantastic music! I remember listening to Allan Sherman when I was a young teenager. Thanks for this great video.
Still the best song I have ever heard... Well now to listen to this song until I am sick of it. I got sucked into Karaoke at my pa's birthday party, and I have to sing several Weird Al songs and Good Advice...
Just heard this as one of the backing tracks on BBC 1's Homes Under The Hammer. I used to play this on a Sunday morning radio show a few years ago...never heard it elsewhere before!
Hail Allan Sherman and he's educational song!
Alan is amazing, but I want to take a little time to complement this amazing video. I think it matches the music perfectly. It just goes to show you don't need $800 software to make something good.
Clever song!
"Costs nothing--and it's worth the price...."
I would give several body parts to get my hands (obviously not those) on the sheet music for this.
You and me both! I would have loved to do this song in a college voice class I took!
A friend of mine figured out the chords well enough for me to do it in a cabaret.
chordify.net/chords/good-advice-allan-sherman-cputb1
I'm naming my first ten children after you. Thanks!
Allan Sherman usually put original lyrics to other people’s songs, of course - which made him the first Weird Al Yankovic. Makes me wonder if Weird Al is familiar with Sherman’s work. Probably.
Great song, great video accompaniment!
Terrific. Great job!
Alan Sherman has always been a favorite of mine. It's a shame that people have to die. He was so smart.
We all do. Unfortunately Allan isn't an exception. I wish tho he did live older then 47. I'd like to see what he'd be doing today at 96.
A GREAT TALENT!
I just about fell out of my chair laughing at that picture toward the end with the caption, "An axel to grind". Now that's funny. Great pun.
awesome, thanks for posting
He was a genius, and funny as hell.
GREAT TIMES! I MISS COMEDIANS WITH TALENT!
FUNNY!! Thank god there is still something in this world that is funny! 50 years old but funny.
Some kid just started singing this on our last day of school
Wonderful!
Good for you!
Nicely done.
The world could sure use some good advice now
Great video, thanks! Hilarious.
Supposedly, there’s a missing verse that wasn’t included on the “Allan In Wonderland” release that I think went somewhere around the 5:53 mark (it was said to be a “one more time” verse) about someone named Enrico Ferni trying to kill a fly and being inspired by Allan to invent the mushroom. Supposedly it was left out because it didn’t rhyme but more likely it had to do with the song running too long. Either way I’m curious about how it went.
This world has gone nuts! Need some fun !
The lyrics were terrific and quite funny.....but a few months ago....someone posted the claymation film version which seems to have been taken down....even funnier! Sorry to know he died sick and impoverished....text book case of how unfair life can be
Just as funny now, as when I was 6
I must meet this man so he can tell me what I'm doing wrong 😂
He should have told us his advice of how to live long enough to be able to talk to Neanderthals and the Wright brothers.
LOL. would be cool if Family Guy used this tune for one of their musical #s.
Now this guy was really funny.
Only God does not need good advice.
Please add captions?
NO! DON'T!!!!!!
This kind of humor wouldn't go over big today.
TeachESL What about this would be considered inappropriate for modern audiences? It seems pretty innocent, IMo
Not inappropriate, just not funny and not appreciated. It's a shame too, because I think it's fantastic and a lot more clever and funnier than a lot of the comedy today. But no doubt, times change, and the comedy that IS funny today is a lot different than what top comedians (including Allan Sherman) were putting out 50 years ago..... Music is seldom timeless, and comedy even less so........
Jim Kramer😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜😜
I have never really known how to spell the name of the caveman, nor am I sure what Sherman says after :"round off those corners..."
"Round off those corners, and buy a set of tires/And Ookie baby, that's a wheel!"
He need to speak to Hitler about his invasion of Russia in 1941.
Soooo. Who invented the TIRE?
me and dr who
"Mr. Bobby Thomson was a Scottish engineer
Who put some air in a rubber hose.
He said, 'I don't know just what good this is,'
'Till Mr. Dunlop showed him how it goes.
This Irish J.B. Dunlop was from old Belfast
And told him, 'Tie the two ends together.
Then get three more, put them on two axles,
And you can drive out in any weather."
take that Columbus! if only that would have happened for real lots of poor Indians lives would have been saved!
It was known for many centuries before Columbus' time that the earth was a sphere--look at the shadow the earth casts on the moon during a partial lunar eclipse. And Eratosthenes calculated the probable circumference of the earth--about 21,500 miles--assuming the earth to be a sphere, before the birth of Christ. (Also cf. Job 26:10.) Columbus didn't know of the existence of North and South America. Had they not been in his path, his voyage could have ended with him and his crew starving to death on a seemingly endless sea (the Pacific Ocean).
nice flat earth reference
He needed to speak to President Biden about his decision to run again!!!!!!!!!
Allan Sherman obviously didn’t give Leonard Skinner good advice
If he was around now days and was still able to produce songs like this I am sure his career would have lasted far longer: look at Weird Al. Shame.
Just one error in the song:
Henry Ford as the inventor of the Chevrolet? Sorry, folks, but that company was founded by Gaston Chevrolet.
Joel Lafargue that was meant to be a joke
That's
The
Joke.
Rubbish.
Allan did better