Allan Sherman was the original Weird Al Yankovic. The difference is that Sherman's parodies of popular and folk songs in most cases got their humor by shifting them to Jewish themes.
The early 1960s was a time that ethnic humor was beginning to find its way into mass media.The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War made it normal to deal with difficulty subjects on television -- the era of Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best passed quickly -- and ethnicity quickly became fair game for drama and humor. All in the Family is the best known mining of the cultural awareness (or, in Archie Bunker's case, lack of awareness) that became common. Sherman -- who also was a television producer -- in a small and gentle way, helped get the ball rolling.
Shake Hands with Your Uncle Max was a spoof of the Irish folks song Dear Old Donegal. The montage in the video above is pretty funny, especially the pictures of the relatives. The author gets the album wrong (the song was on the classic My Son the Folk Singer) and the photo he uses for Ocean Parkway isn't close. But it's a nice job.
Indeed, it's ironically, Sherman's biggest hit, Hello Muddah, didn't have an overtly Jewish theme. My Son the Folk Singer probably is Sherman at his best. Each track is a riot. Here are two examples:
The Ballad of Harry Lewis (sung to The Battle Hymn of the Republic):
Oh Harry Lewis perished
In the service of his Lord
He was trampling through the warehouse
Where the drapes of Roth are stored
He had the finest funeral
The union could afford
And his cloth goes shining on
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on
Another is
Sarah Jackman, here performed by Dave Brinnel and Hailey Brinnel (sung to
Frère Jacques):
Sarah Jackman, Sarah Jackman,
How's by you? How's by you?
How's your brother Bernie?
(He's a big attorney.)
How's your sister Doris?
(Still with William Morris.)
How's your cousin Shirley?
(She got married early.)
How's her daughter Esther?
(Skipped a whole semester.)
How's your brother Bentley?
(Feeling better ment'ly.)
How's your cousin Ida?
(She's a freedom rider.)
What's with Uncle Sidney?
(They took out a kidney.)
How's your sister Norma?
(She's a non-conforma.)
How's yours cousin Lena?
(Moved to Pasadena.)
How's your Uncle Nathan?
(Him I got no faith in.)
I ain't heard from Sonja.
(I'll get her to phone ya.)
How's her daughter Rita?
(A regular Lolita.)
How's your cousin Manny?
(Signed up with Vic Tanny.)
How's your nephew Seymour?
(Seymour joined the Peace Corps.)
He's nice too. He's nice too.
The Wikipedia suggests that Sherman's life fell apart quite quickly. He died in 1973 at the age of only 48.
Cross-Posted at THE DAILY MUSIC BREAK, the site that features good music regardless of era or genre. Visit for a free daily or weekly email of links.