The First Family (album)

Infobox Album
Name = The First Family
Type = studio
Artist = Vaughn Meader


Released = 1962
Recorded =
Genre = Comedy
Length =
Label = Cadence Records
Producer =
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wbfyxq9hldse link]
Last album =
This album =
Next album =

"The First Family" is a comedy album recorded on October 22, 1962, as a good-natured parody of President John F. Kennedy, both as Commander-in-Chief and as a member of a large, well-known political family. Issued by Cadence Records, it quickly became the fastest-selling record in the United States at that time. By Christmas 1962, one million copies of the album had been sold; by the following year, it had sold 7.5 million copies—unprecedented for any album at the time, let alone a comedy album.

Cast

"The First Family" starred stand-up comedian and impersonator Vaughn Meader as Kennedy and Naomi Brossart as the First Lady. Meader's skill at impersonating Kennedy was honed on the stand-up circuit—with his New England accent naturally close to Kennedy's familiar (and often parodied) Harvard accent, he needed to adjust his voice only slightly to sound almost exactly like the President. Brossart was a theatre actress and model making her recording début.Cite journal | author=Bob Booker and Earle Doud | title=Album notes for" The First Family | journal=Collectibles Records | month=October | year=1962 ]

The album also featured the writing and voice talent of Earle Doud, Bob Booker, Jim Lehner, Bradley Bolke, Chuck McCann, Bob McFadden, and Norma MacMillan. It was recorded in front of a live studio audience.

Meader later revealed, "A lot of people don't know this, but we recorded "The First Family" on the night of October 22, 1962, the same night as John F. Kennedy's Cuban Missle Crisis Speech. The audience was in the studio and had no idea of the drama that was taking place. But the cast had heard the speech and our throats almost dropped to our toes, because if the audience had heard the Cuban Missile Speech, we would not have received the reaction we did."

Effect on popular culture

Within weeks, many Americans could recite favorite lines from the record (including "the rubber schwan [swan] is mine," and "move ahead ... with great vigah [vigor] ," the latter lampooning the President's own words). The album poked fun at Kennedy's PT-109 history; the rocking chairs he used for his painful back; the Kennedy clan's well-known athleticism, football games and family togetherness; children in the White House; and Jackie Kennedy's soft-spoken nature and her redecoration of the White House; and many other bits of knowledge that the public was eager to consume. Kennedy himself was said to have given copies of the albums as Christmas gifts, and once greeted a Democratic National Committee group by saying, "Vaughn Meader was busy tonight, so I came myself."cite web | publisher=washingtonpost.com | title=Vaughn Meader, Satirist of Kennedy Family, Dies | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14717-2004Oct31.html | accessdate=3 April | accessyear=2006] At one press conference, Kennedy was asked if the album had produced "annoyment (sic) or enjoyment." He jokingly responded, "I listened to Mr. Meader's record and, frankly, I thought it sounded more like Teddy than it did me. So, now "he's" annoyed." ["JFK: As It Happened". A&E, November 22, 1988]

"The First Family" album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1963. That March, Meader recorded a follow-up album, "The First Family Volume 2", a combination of spoken comedy and songs performed by actors and comedians portraying members of the President's family and White House staff.

"The First Family" was quickly pulled out of circulation following Kennedy's assassination and remained out-of-print for many years. It was finally issued on CD in 1999 combined with the Volume 2 album. The CD version is currently available from S'more Entertainment. [http://www.smoreent.com/product_musiccd.html#]

Track listing

Act I

*"The Experiment"
*"After Dinner Conversations"
*"The Malayan Ambassador"
*"Relatively Speaking"
*"Astronauts"
*"Motorcade"
*"The Party"
*"The Tour"

Act II

*"But Vote!!"
*"Economy Lunch"
*"The Decision"
*"White House Visitor"
*"Press Conference"
*"The Dress"
*"Saturday Night, Sunday Morning"
*"Auld Lang Syne"
*"Bedtime Story"

Chart positions

References

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00001ZT1M/#product-details Amazon.com album listing with audio excerpts]

succession box
before = "My Son, the Folk Singer" by Allan Sherman
title = "Billboard" 200 number-one album (mono)
years = December 15 1962 - March 8 1963
after = "Jazz Samba" by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd