Fisher & Marks – It’s A (Coo Coo) Beatle World!! (1964)

Artist: Fisher & Marks
Title: It’s A (Coo Coo) Beatle World!!
Year: 1964
Format: LP
Label: Swan

Contributed by Ochsfan

Fisher & Marks worked in musicals and musical comedies here and abroad and were signed by Paramount for five films in the 1950s and 1960s. The first in the series was Mr. Rock ‘n Roll. They also tried their hand at recording. They made their first comedy album, It’s a Beatle World, in 1964.

The two seemed virtually inseparable. When Mr. Fisher married for the second time, taking vocalist Lydia O’Connor as his bride, Marks was the ring bearer in a civil ceremony at Palumbo’s. As he reached the vows, Judge James Crumlish inquired solemnly, “Do you take this woman for your lawful wedded wife?” And Lou Marks answered, loudly: “We does, Your Honor.”

All went well until Dec. 25, 1976, when they were working in a Miami Beach Club and Al Fisher was felled by a massive heart attack. Dr. James Giuffre was flown to Florida to care for him, and when his patient’s health permitted, Mr. Fisher was flown to Giuffre Medical Center in Philadelphia for recovery.

That was Mr. Fisher’s first heart attack in a series. After each recovery, the team went back on the road, playing a circuit that ranged from Los Vegas to Miami to Atlantic City.

They struck a familiar chord in Atlantic City, playing the Claridge Hotel & Casino from mid-1981 to early 1983. Then it was back to the tour, always with stops at Palumbo’s and Wildwood, N.J.

But after the laughs and the clowning were over, Mr. Fisher still faced the problem with his heart. Finally, he suffered a heart attack in 1985 while working at the Downingtown Inn, which forced his retirement. He passed away on July of 1986. Lou Marks passed away in September of 2007 at age 87. (Phillycom)

Track Listing

1. Instant Beatle
2. On The Plane
3. At The Concert (We Love Rock ‘N’ Roll)
4. The Fifth Coo Coo
5. Paul, George, John And Ringo (All The Way To The Bank)
6. Bela And Boris – Does She Love Me
7. Ringo Ringo Little Star
8. Mr. President And Mr. Minister
9. Sunday At 8
10. Are You Putting Me On?
11. Scotland From The Yard
12. The Real Fisher And Marks
13. Smile

Bob Kaufmann – A Trip Thru A Blown Mind (1967)

Artist: Bob Kaufmann
Title: A Trip Thru A Blown Mind
Year: 1967
Format: LP
Label: LHI

An obscure comedy album which was released on Lee Hazlewood’s LHI label in 1967.
Kaufmann was also a writer for several television comedies including the Bob Newhart Show.

Many collectors pass this off as psychedelic, and has gained interest because of the album’s title, but it’s actually skits about such topics as football, the weather, pollution and politics. The album is a precursor to what George Carlin would master in the early seventies., and some of the phrasing will remind some of Lenny Bruce. (Howard Hales Broom)

Dr. Kaufmann was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1921, to Melvin and Vera Kaufmann. In 1970, at the age of 48, he received his M.Div. from Starr King School. He earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from United States International University in 1975.

He was called to the Emerson Unitarian Church in Canoga Park, CA, serving from 1969 to 1973, and was ordained there in 1970. In 1973, he was called to the Throop UU Church in Pasadena, CA, serving until 1985.

Dr. Kaufmann then began a series of interim ministries that spanned many years. He served at the following churches:

Unitarian Church of Auckland, New Zealand; the Unitarian Church of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; Fourth Universalist Society, New York, NY; UU Congregation of Columbia, MD; UU Church of Long Beach, CA; UU Church of Studio City, CA; East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, WA; First Unitarian Church, Berkeley, CA; UU Fellowship of Boca Raton, FL; First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, MN; New York Society for Ethical Culture; First UU Congregation of the Palm Beaches, FL; and UUs of San Mateo, CA.

Many of these interim ministries resulted in substantial increases in attendance, membership, and pledging. The Long Beach congregation named him Minister Emeritus in 1991 in recognition of his accomplishments as their interim.

Dr. Kaufmann served the denomination as President and Good Officer of the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the UU Ministers Association. He also served on the Advisory Council for Accredited Interim Ministers. “Bob Kaufmann’s Mad World,” a satirical news column published in UU World among other papers, was named the nation’s best in the Variety of Topics category by the National Newspaper Association in 1968.

Active at the local and national level in numerous organizations, Dr. Kaufmann chaired the Board of the Southern California Urban Coalition and was president of the Pasadena Chapter of ACLU.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of Pasadena NAACP; the National Committee on Prevention & Control of Delinquency, I. A. C. P; and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. He received the Distinguished Community Service Award from the National Urban Coalition. Most recently, Dr. Kaufmann presided over The Ethical Community Charter School Foundation, an organization which opened two charter schools in Fall 2009.

Prior to studying for the ministry, Dr. Kaufmann worked in a variety of professions – business, finance, journalism, television, public relations, and construction. He wrote for the Alan Young Show and recorded a comedy album for LHI Records, “A Trip Through A Blown Mind.”

His poetry has appeared in several anthologies and recently he self-published “I Love You, I Think, Or I Would If I Knew What It Meant: 27 Chapters of Wit & Wisdom on Life, Laughter, and Love.” (www.whatifpublishing.com)

The Rev. Dr. Robert F. Kaufmann died on December 21, 2010 of bone cancer. Dr. Kaufmann was 89 years old. (www.uuma.org)

Track Listing

1. Football Coach
2. The High & Mighty Airline
3. Weather Forecast
4. How To Defeat China
5. Smog Conference
6. Dear Scabby
7. And Now, The News
8. Spaceman
9. Brothels
10. Glory Be!
    

The Hardly-Worthit Players – Boston Soul (1967)

Artist: The Hardly-Worthit Players
Title: Boston Soul
Year: 1967
Format: LP
Label: Parkway

The Hardly Worthit Players were a group of three comedians and radio personalities: Bill Minkin William Minkin, Dennis Wholey and Steve Baron who released two albums, one of which, Boston Soul (the cover was a goof on the Beatles’ Rubber Soul), also featured mockups of President Lyndon Johnson and a clever impersonation of Bob Dylan performing “White Christmas” by “Bobby the Poet”. (Howard Hales Broom)

Track Listing

1. Wild Thing With Senator Bobby
2. Musical Favorites
3. King Of The Road With Mr. President
4. The Motown Sound
5. Daydream With William Rebuttley, Jr.
6. The Latest Fashion
7. Mellow Yellow With Senators McKinley And Bobby
8. The New Film
9. 96 Tears With Senator Bobby And The Questions
10. The New Dance
11. White Christmas With Bobby The Poet
12. 2 1/2 Minutes To Go…
    

The Hardly-Worthit Players – The Hardly-Worthit Report (1966)

Artist: Hardly-Worthit Players
Title: The Hardly-Worthit Report
Year: 1966
Format: LP
Label: Parkway

The first album by The Hardly-Worthit Players, Quite funny, especially the first track, where the Beatles and the Pope visit New York, and their visits gets mixed. A comment on John Lennon’s “Bigger Than Jesus”-blunder. (bjornj RYM)

Track Listing

1. Beatles Pope Visit To NYC
2. Coffee
3. Columbus
4. U.S. Economic Aid
5. Lone Ranger Press Conference
6. Dove
7. The Moses Convention
8. White House Bar Mitzvah
9. Red China
10. White And Black
11. Backout
12. Information Please
13. U.S. Treasury
14. The Senate Housing Investigation