Welcome to Contents: We presume that, as in the case of "Smash Flops," people will either love our work or hate it. Because of this knowledge we have been very careful to list all the titles of our songs in rather large type. If you find comedy in the titles, we know that you'll enjoy the songs. However, if you and your friends laugh too hilariously at this material may we suggest you contact your local analyst and set up a few appointments. So go ahead, throw a party, lose your friends and...Sing a Song of Sickness. You'll hardly believe this, but the Crown City Four hail from the staid city of Pasadena, California. And, they are in staid and proper businesses: Tom Wirick, tenor, is a publisher's representative by profession; Jim Powell, lead, sells for Higgins-Magee Printing Ink; Jim Arnold, baritone, owns and operates a jewelry store in Pasadena; and Joe Borton, bass, is a staff supervisor with the Pacific Telephone Company...So there! They're cr-azy about singing - barbershop singing. So, quite naturally, some years ago they joined the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quarter Singing in America, Incorporated...the SPEBSQSA, yet...not only joined them, but became just about the most popular quartet in the West. To insure a sellout for any Barbershop Show all you have to do is be sure you have the CROWN CITY FOUR. Incidentally, true Barbershoppers will probably hate us for augmenting this fine group with a full orchestra...It's something that "just isn't done"...But then, neither is this album. THE WRITERS: It was only the ridiculous success of their album, "Smash Flops," that forced them to again bring shame upon their reputations. This album is not just another record that you place on your phonograph the moment you get it home. To do this might cause considerable damage to the nervous system. Instead you should spend several hours (even days, if possible) orientating your mind for this type of humor. We have found the following plan to be a good one and pass it along to you in the profound hope that you will see the wisdom of using it: 1. Read a good book before going to bed...Preferably a banned novel denouncing some formerly beloved childhood hero. 2. Be sure that you sleep on the "wrong side" of the bed...This will assure you of waking up grouchy in the morning which is a definite asset to good "sick' listening. 3. Be nasty to everyone you come in contact with until ten o'clock in the morning, and then take your usual coffee break for your first martini of the day. 4. Call your wife from the bar at seven p.m. and tell her you are bringing home a dozen or so friends, whom you have just met, for a small party. 5. Go to your local record store and buy a couple of extra copies of "Sing a Song of Sickness." 6. Arrive home at midnight with your new friends, including a couple of extra girls, serve a few more drinks and then turn on your phonograph. 7. Play your copy of "Smash Flops" just to get everybody in the right frame of mind. (If you don't have one go back to the record store.) 8. Nail the door shut in case you have SQUARE neighbors, and turn up the volume. Good luck. Musicians: Sammy Weiss, Drums; "Red" Callender, Bass; Bill Pitman, Guitar-Banjo; Pete Candoli, Trumpet; Bob Pring, Trombone; Lyle Ritz, Tuba; Ray Henderson, Piano. TO COMPLETE YOUR RECORD SHELF, MAY WE SUGGEST AVAILABLE AT ALL SWINGING RECORD DEALERS OR DIRECT FROM: Recently, Milt Larsen and Richard Sherman revisited the SMASH FLOPS LP and rerecorded it themselves on CD. It's available from The Magic Castle.
THE HALL OF FUNNY RECORDS!!!
SING A SONG OF SICKNESS (A Pocket Full of Wry)
Artists: THE CROWN CITY FOUR
Songs written by DICK SHERMAN and MILT LARSEN
Label: PIP RECORDS #PLP 1001
Side One:
WATCH WORLD WAR THREE (ON PAY TV)
FILL OUT THE POLICIES, MOTHER
THE ANNUAL GET-TOGETHER (OF THE KKK AND NAACP)
GUILLOTINE DAYS
(Guest Vocal: SHARON RANDALL)
FIFTY MILLION COMMIES CAN'T BE WRONG
THAT BIG SPORTING HOUSE IN THE SKY
Side Two:
IT'S FUN TO BE HAZED
OH WHAT WE GROW (IN OLD MEXICO)
SEND THE GIRLS OVER THERE
I SAW ADOLPH TODAY
(Guest Vocal: SHARON RANDALL)
THE RICHER THEY ARE (THE SLOWER I CURE THEM)
LEAVE THE SLUMS ALONE
LINER NOTES:
This is an album of satirical songs based on terribly unfunny subjects. We are releasing the songs with the hope that they will appeal to a sophisticated minority who prefer to seek out humor in a fairly unfunny world. In the lyrics you will find us poking fun at such "better left unsaid" subjects as Racial Prejudice, Communism, Dope, War, Matricide, Hitler, Slum Clearance and Capital Punishment. So, as you can see, we've tried to please everyone and we certainly hope we haven't offended you by omitting your favorite warped topic.
THE CROWN CITY FOUR
Dick Sherman and Milt Larsen don't really have to resort to this sort of thing for a living. Sherman is one of Hollywood's more successful popular song writers and Larsen is a fairly respectable television comedy writer.
DANGER...
CREDITS:
Guest Vocalist, SHARON RANDALL...Recordist, "CHUCK" BRITZ...Producer, OLIVER BERLINER...Musical Director, RAY HENDERSON...Cover Art, DICK SHAW
SMASH FLOPS
A COLLECTION OF HILARIOUS ILL-TIMED SONGS BY SHERMAN AND LARSEN RECORDED IN HI-FIDELITY, 12 SONGS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN HITS EXCEPT FOR IRONIC TWISTS OF FATE.
Congratulations, Tom Dewey - I Wish I Was In Chicago (on St. Valentine's Day) - We're Depending On You, General Custer - When The Hindenburg Lands Today - The Confederate Victory Song - There'll Always Be Forty-Eight States In The U.S.A. -
When Amelia Earhart Flies Home - Little Rock, That All-American Town - Good Job, Well Done, Neville Chamberlain - Sleepy Cape Canaveral Moon -Columbus, You Big Bag of Steam - Bon Voyage, Titanic
PIP RECORDS - 1350 NO. HIGHLANDS AVE., HOLLYWOOD 28, CALIFORNIA