Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America



"Announcer: Stan Freberg modestly presents The United States of America!"

Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America is (currently) a two volume themed comedy album which presents the history of the United States of America as a series of comedy sketches, from the first voyage of Christopher Columbus up through World War I.

The first volume (entitled Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America: Volume One - The Early Years) was released in 1961, with a second volume planned for the country's bicentennial in 1976, but did not come out until 1996, twenty years after the planned release.

While Freberg promised in the liner notes of Volume Two that the third volume wouldn't take another thirty-five years to release (for one thing, he didn't think he'd be around that long), due to the death of his wife and his own health issues, the project has been shelved, possibly permanently.

Tropes:
"Lincoln: Yes, terrible book. Awful."
 * Anachronism Stew: Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America doesn't so much run on this as it is made of it.
 * Braids, Beads, and Buckskins: Freberg delights in mocking the perception of Native Americans throughout volume one. (The reprise of "Round, Round World" includes the Indians singing the line "Yo ho ho and a buckskin sleeve," as one of many examples.)
 * Brick Joke: The lines "Rumble, rumble, rumble. Mutiny, mutiny, mutiny" don't occur quite often enough to be a Running Gag, but they try.
 * Tyne Daly actually got cast for Volume Two by leaning over to Stan Freberg during the Grammy awards the preceeding year and muttering "Rumble, rumble, rumble."
 * Colon Cancer: The original album was entitled Stan Freberg Presents: The United States of America: Volume One: The Early Years
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: The song "Planned Obsolescence" features a general with a Punny Name convincing Thomas Edison to change the design of his light bulb when he finds out it's designed to last forever.
 * Crazy Enough to Work: Charlie' companion's Catch Phrase: "It's just wild enough, Charlie, it's just wild enough."
 * Eagle Land: Mixed Flavor
 * Hey, It's That Voice CAST (especially in Volume Two):
 * Volume One:
 * June Foray
 * Peter Leeds
 * Shep Menken
 * Volume Two:
 * John Goodman
 * Tyne Daly
 * Sherman Hemsley
 * David Ogden Stiers
 * Lorenzo Music
 * Harry Shearer
 * Corey Burton
 * Donavan Freberg, Stan's son, had a report due on space...
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: It turns out Barbara Fritchie never defiantly waved a flag at "Stonewall" Jackson after all, making "Shoot if you Must" more historically accurate than the poem it's named for. (Although the historical research on this predates the volume the sketch and song appear on by 34 years, Stan Freberg reportedly Did Not Do the Research - see Self-Deprecation below.)
 * Historical Domain Character: Naturally.
 * In the Past Everyone Will Be Famous: While the main characters all being historical figures should make this trope not applicable, Queen Isabella refers to Christopher Columbus' "friend, Da Vinci," bringing this work right back in line with this trope.
 * Magnificent Bastard: What else would you call the general who lost the American Revolution specifically to apply to the U.S. for foreign aid?
 * Medium Awareness: All of the characters are aware that they're characters in a musical, though only occasionally do they comment on it. Also, see Running Gag.
 * Mighty Whitey: Parodied throughout the first half of Volume One. Lampshaded with the reprise of "Round, Round World:" "Step aside, pal/Meet the new/Big cheeses of this/Round, Round World!"
 * The Musical: The history of the United States of America as a Broadway musical comedy. (Freberg had tried to pitch the project as a Broadway musical before making the album itself. Fans of the album have also tried to make off-broadway versions.)
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Abraham Lincoln convinces Harriet Beecher Stowe to rewrite Uncle Tom's Cabin in a much darker tone than she'd originally intended. The new version is blamed for the American Civil War.

"Fanfare "What was that?' "French Horns""
 * The Other Darrin: Corey Burton took over for the deceased Paul Frees as the narrator for Volume 2.
 * Punny Name: General Electric. Running Water.
 * Refusal of the Call: Barbara Fritchie thinks "Stonewall" Jackson can find something to shoot other than her old, grey head.
 * Rule of Funny: Everything. To wit: Why is Norman Rockwell in the American Revolution? Why are the same two guys responsible for multiple events in world history? Why would there be a General named Electric interested in the first light bulb? Rule of Funny.
 * Running Gag:

"As you listen to this album you'll soon begin to understand why Stan Freberg flunked American history in high school."
 * Self-Deprecation: From the Volume One liner notes:

"Columbus: We going out on that joke? Indian: No, we do reprise of song, that help. Columbus: But not much. Indian: Not much, no."
 * Single-Stanza Song: In two places.
 * The Tin Pan Alley sketch in Volume Two consists of two failed Tin Pan Alley songwriters doing a medley of their greatest hits.
 * The song "There'll Never Be Another War" consists of two different versions of the chorus, depending on which sketch it follows.
 * Tempting Fate: Both the American Civil War and World War I end with the song "There'll Never Be Another War."
 * The Theme Park Version: The events in the album are ostensibly based on American history.
 * Title Drop: An entire sketch about Stephen Foster having writer's block consists almost entirely of nothing but titles of his songs.
 * Those Two Guys: Charlie and his companion are the cause of numerous catastrophes from the minor (making the wrong bird at the first Thanksgiving) to the major (sinking the Lusitania).
 * Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Very loosely. I'm pretty sure Norman Rockwell wasn't alive during the American Revolution.
 * What Could Have Been: Despite a wide fanbase, some of whom are producers (Stephen Spielberg), actors (Richard Dreyfuss and John Goodman), musicians (Paul McCartney), or even Broadway singers (Tyne Daly), Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America has yet to hit Broadway.
 * Who Writes This Crap?:


 * You Have to Have Jews: When Manhattan Island was as-yet undeveloped, populated by nothing but natives, Chief White Cloud's wife is very stereotypically jewish.
 * You Make Me Sic: From the sale of Manhattan: "Gorgeous view, spelled V-U..."