Freberg, Lehrer Collections Offer Humor With a Bite

Rodney Dangerfield isn’t the only comedian who gets no respect when it comes to compact discs.

Shelley Berman, Bob Newhart, Mort Sahl and Jonathan Winters each had Top 25 albums in the late ‘50s or early ‘60s, but none of those albums is available in CD.

The absence of Newhart and Winters is especially surprising because of Newhart’s continuing popularity on television and Winters’ widely acknowledged influence on such contemporary figures as Robin Williams.

Newhart’s first two Warner Bros. albums--”The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” and “The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!”--spent a combined 178 weeks on the best-seller lists in the early ‘60s, while Winters’ first three Verve collections--”The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters,” “Down to Earth” and “Here’s Jonathan”--were on the charts for a total of 107 weeks.

“The feeling seems to be among record companies that comedy is not a priority in regards to catalogue,” said Pete Howard, who publishes ICE, an excellent CD newsletter. “They just don’t feel there’s nearly as much sales clout with comedy as there is with music.

“One reason is the perception that the excitement of CDs is tied to music, not the spoken word. It’s unfortunate that a lot of the superstars of comedy are having to wait their turn, but that’s what we’re finding. “

The good news for comedy fans is that two other classic figures from the ‘50s and ‘60s are represented in new CD collections: Stan Freberg and Tom Lehrer.

Capitol has just released a 71-minute Freberg album as part of its “Collectors Series.” The package, which comes with a colorful, 16-page booklet, features 21 of the satirist’s assaults on pop culture.

Expanding imaginatively on the zany tradition of Spike Jones, Freberg made fun in these selections, all recorded in the ‘50s, of everything from soap operas (the only thing the two characters in “John and Marsha” say for the entire 2 1/2-minute selection is each other’s names) and TV cop shows (“St. George and the Dragonet”) to rock ‘n’ roll (send-ups of “The Great Pretender” and “Heartbreak Hotel”).

Freberg--who won acclaim in the ‘60s for his offbeat commercials--adds to the fun of the new package by describing in the liner notes some of the reactions he received from the targets of his satire. Jack Webb, Eartha Kitt and Johnnie Ray, he reports, complimented him, but Lawrence Welk, the Platters and Harry Belafonte were not pleased.

Where Freberg dealt mostly in pop culture, Lehrer leaned more toward politics and social issues. Lehrer, who now teaches musical theater and math at UC Santa Cruz, is best known for the topical songs he wrote in the satirical television show “That Was the Week That Was.” The just-released, 37-minute album “That Was the Year That Was” is based on material from the show that Lehrer recorded in concert in 1965.

Lehrer’s biting humor (on such issues ranging from pollution to the role of the Vice President) isn’t limited to the songs on “That Was the Year. . . .” His introductions are sometimes as telling.

Introducing a song titled “National Brotherhood Week,” Lehrer says, “During National Brotherhood Week, various special events are arranged to drive home the point of brotherhood.

“This year, for instance, on the first day of the week, Malcolm X was killed, which gives you an idea of how effective the whole thing is.”

Besides “That Was the Year That Was,” Warner Bros. Records has also released two earlier Lehrer albums in budget packages: “An Evening With Tom Lehrer” (42 minutes) and “Tom Lehrer Revisited” (41 minutes). The latter includes two bonus tracks.