Spike Jones Albums (7)
'Let's Sing a Song of Christmas'
Release Date 1/1/1970
Tracks 20
Label MGM
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What The Critics Say
Verve's Let's Sing a Song of Christmas is an excellent collection of Spike Jones' Christmas recordings, featuring no less than 20 tracks, including "All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)," "Jingle Bells Medley," "Nuttin' for Christmas," "The Angel in the Christmas Play," "Frosty the Snowman," "Christmas Alphabet Medley" and "What Are You Doing New Years." There have been other collections of Jones' holiday tunes, but this one is arguably the best, given its generous selection, great fidelity and liner notes by Richard Carpenter. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Spike Jones' New Band'
Release Date 1/1/1963
Tracks 12
Label Liberty
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'Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo)'
Release Date 1/1/1960
Tracks 10
Label Warner Bros.
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What The Critics Say
Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo) (1959) is among the musical satirist's most effuse efforts during his post-City Slickers era. Unlike contemporaries such as Stan Freeberg, Jones' seeming dismissal of rock & roll -- or perhaps inability to embrace change -- would ultimately result in the decline of his career. However, the artist's ear for the unusual as well as his quick wit and practically flamboyant sense of the macabre are central to the unmitigated success of this long-player. It certainly didn't hurt that Jones surrounded himself with the all-star support of the legendary and instantly recognizable vocalists Paul Frees, Loulie Jean Norman, Thurl Ravenscroft, Ken Stevens, and George Rock -- each of whom is prominently featured throughout. Thematically, the platter works well as a sort of kiddie Halloween-type offering. The real payoff is for those old enough to get the inferences and parodies of pop standards "I Only Have Eyes for You," "My Old Flame," and "Everything Happens to Me," which are uniformly brilliant. The primarily dialogue-driven "Poison to Poison" is a spoof of the Person to Person interview program hosted by news journalist Edward R. Murrow. Frees adopts the roles of both interviewer "Ed Burrow" and the interviewee, who is simply referred to as "Alfred" -- aka Alfred Hitchcock. The entire premise sets up a series of rapid-fire jokes, executed with the adept timing and pacing of Abbott & Costello, Allen & Rossi, or Rowan & Martin. "Teenage Brain Surgeon" is a doo wop-style ballad sung by Ravenscroft, whose throaty bass is best remembered as the original voice of Tony the Tiger in the Kellogg's Frosted Flakes adverts or as the singer of "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" on the animated adaptation of the seasonal Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The most in-depth sendup is "This Is Your Death," a takeoff of the TV show This Is Your Life, which segues into another unmitigated highlight, "Two Heads Are Better Than One." The track features a multi-noggin beatnik and fully utilizes stereophonics for maximum effect. In 2003 the boys and ghouls at Collectors' Choice Music sent Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo) kicking and screaming into the digital domain, releasing this luminous bit of nostalgic novelty onto CD for the first time. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
'Spooktacular in Screaming Sound'
Release Date 1/1/1959
Tracks 11
Label Warner Bros.
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What The Critics Say
This album was also identified as Spike Jones in Hi-Fi, although just saying "Spike Jones, the monster one" has always worked fastest for identification purposes. Practically every record released in the late '50s said "in hi-fi" or "in stereo" on it anyway; in fact, this album makes both claims -- the former on the front in jagged, dripping monster letters and the latter on the back cover in a slightly more normal typeface. Voiceover artist Paul Frees, known for his Dracula and Peter Lorre imitations in cartoons, joins forces with the Jones band here for one of those completely perfect collaborations. Monsters are a rich source of comedy material as well as spine tingles, and Frees adds just the right dramatic continuity to the proceedings. The tracks include much manically tossed-off silliness cooked up by Jones and his arranging buddy Carl Brandt, such as "Teenage Brain Surgeon," definitely one of the Jones band's most rocking numbers. Then there are the classic standards that can be interpreted as having monstrous overtones. For example, having the hapless Frankenstein monster sing "Everything Happens to Me" might even make a listener forget the Billie Holiday version. The jokes even extend to the liner credits, where the vocal on "My Old Flame" is credited to one "I.M. Arson." The Jones band is in rip-roaring, startling form as usual, so hang on to your seats. Because of the content and how well it is pulled off, this is definitely recomended for children, who will probably want to keep it in their rooms once they see the cover. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
'Dinner Music for People Who Aren't Very Hungry'
Release Date 1/1/1957
Tracks 12
Label Verve
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What The Critics Say
Because this was Spike Jones' first long playing album, he became fascinated with the possibilities of high fidelity reproduction, overemphasizing special effects at the expense of the music, making for a rather dull dated recording. Remakes of "Cocktails For Two" and "Pal-Yat-Chee" are inferior to the originals and new material like "Wyatt Earp Make Me Burp" and "Brahm's Alibi" are instantly forgettable. The cover of the LP is also rather misleading, as the photo includes Dick Morgan, who died three years before the recording session, and comedian Sir Frederick Gas, who'd been fired two years earlier. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
