Rating:
Genre:
World
Release Date: 01/25/2005
It's practically impossible to underestimate the presence of Jewish culture in American
comedy, considering how many noted funnymen were Jewish (from
Groucho Marx and
Milton Berle to
Jerry Seinfeld and
Lewis Black), and how frequently the idiosyncrasies of Jewish life became the subject of their humor. So it's hardly surprising that the folks at the
Shout Factory label (who used to make a career out of such things at
Rhino) have put together
Now That Sounds Kosher!, a collection of
novelty songs which milk the Jewish-American experience for melodic laughter, with the artists ranging from such icons of Jewish comedy as
Mickey Katz and
Allan Sherman to several inspired unknowns (and actual
goy Weird Al Yankovic, whose
"Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" shows he's done his homework). For the most part, the big names with the longest track records deliver the best material, most notably
Mickey Katz's superb song parody
"Duvid Crockett," Kinky Friedman's scabrous
"They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore," and
Mel Brooks' epic
"The Inquisition" (from his movie
The History of the World, Part I), though
Rabbi Joe Black's twangy take on
"The Dreidel Song" and
Steve Kurland's
"Famous Jews" also rank high on the chuckle meter. Unfortunately, some of the newer material feels more like padding than anything else, and it's a shame that
"Be True to Your Shul" and
"Take a Walk on the Kosher Side" appear here in re-recorded versions (dig up the long out of print compilation
Rhino Royale for the originals), but most of this disc offers a healthy portion of good laughs and hey, it's a lot more fun than anything
Barbra Streisand or
Barry Manilow have done for us lately.
~Mark Deming, All Music Guide
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