Absolute Nonsense - Oscar Brand

 

Talking Blues

Absolute Nonsense

Oscar Brand

Assisted by Dave Sear

Produced by Kenneth S. Goldstein

Cover Photography by Paul Weller 

Cover Design by Paul Bacon

Recorded by Ritter and Lerner; New York City; October, 1957

Riverside Records RLP 12-825

Riverside Records are released by Bill Grauer Productions, Inc.

1958

From the back cover: About The Performers

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Oscar Brand travelled with his family to New York where he grew to six feet. From 1942 to 1945 he spent most of his life in the American Army and won the war. In 1945, he became Director of Folkmusic for New York City's municipal station, WNYC, broadcasting every Sunday at 6 p.m., whether he needs it or not. Many of the songs in this album are in his book, "Singing Holidays," published by Alfred Kopf, and on sale at all successful bookstores. He has made more than forty documentary motion pictures for wealthy and tolerant corporations, and he has written many successful popular songs stolen from old ballads and from other less aggressive composers.

Dave Sear is a young New Yorker who has worked with Oscar Brand since the age of fifteen, so he has no one to blame but himself. A fine singer and banjoist, he has performed on concert stage throughout the country, to the delight of his audience, and to Mr. Brand's dismay. His fine arrangements for this album reveal his great artistry and his ability to maintain a high degree of musicianship against almost overwhelming odds.

From Billboard - June 30, 1958: The "Shoeless Troubadour" is off again with a delightful collection of non-sense songs, assisted by banjoist and singer Dave Sear. Some like "Fooba Wooba John," "Buffalo Gals" and "Anne Boleyn" are tried and true, but many others are unfamiliar. Jacket photo is every bit as funny as the songs, and Brand's liner notes are uproarious.

A Horse Named Bill

Fooba-Wooba John

Midnight On The Ocean

The Derby Ram

Good Peanuts

Anne Boleyn 

Buffalo Gals

The Old Woman And The Pedlar

Shoot The Buffalo

Alaska

The Frozen Logger

Talking Blues

The Bold Fisherman

In The Winter

Kafoozalum

Bunch Of Roses

The Lady Who Loved A Pig

Ain't Gonna Rain No More