Articles

Disc Star Allan Sherman Heads For Carnegie Hall

How would you like to be giving a concert in Carnegie Hall, never having faced a paying audience before? Sounds like a nightmare, yes? But just such a prospect faces Allan Sherman on December 28th. "I thought my manager was out of his mind when he suggested it," says Sherman. "But as long as we were going through with it, I figured we might as well go all the way and make it a black-tie concert."

IF YOU have been near a radio lately, you will know who Allan Sherman is. if not, I'll explain. He is the star of the new record album called "My Son, The Folk-Singer." In it he singers parodies of traditional folk tunes -- sort of like a one-man Jewish Kingston Trio. Warner Brothers Records reports that it is the fastest album in history, having sold 575,000 copies in four weeks. With the Christmas season coming up, it might push over a million.

ALL THIS amazes Sherman, admittedly the least likely candidate for stardom. He is fat, fortyish, and plain looking. His voice? "Pretty bad," he confessed. "When we cut the album, I was so terrified that I had to have a few belts of scotch. By the end of the session I was stoned and singing three notes above my normal range." But for the working of fate, Allan Sherman's preforming might still be confined to the inside of a television control booth.

SHERMAN is a Chicagoan who attended 21 schools, because his father traveled as racing driver and automotive engineer. He studied journalism and wrote varsity shows at the University of Illinois, served the army in World War II on the Texas front. His knack with lyrics and gags led to jobs of writing night club material for Jackie Gleason, Joe E. Lewis andother comics. Then he latched onto television.

IN 1951 he helped dream up a show called "I've Got A Secret," and he's still collecting royalties from it. He has also written and produced series and specials for Steve Allen, Herb Shriner, Victor Borge, Phil Silvers and Charlie Weaver. During all this time, Sherman amused himself and his friends by delivering parodies of popular songs at parties at his house. Last year he moved to Hollywood with a daytime quiz show and found himself living next door to Harpo Marx.

ONE NIGHT Harpo heard the Sherman songs at a party. He flipped, had his own party, and Sherman sang before the assembled Marx Brothers, the Jack Bennys, the George Burnses, etc. The word spread, and the album eventuated. Sherman is still not sure what hit him. He went on a disc jockey tour to Chicago recently and had to quit in the middle of it. "My doctor said I had the worst case of battle fatigue he had seen since World War II," said Sherman. "He gave me some pills to make me groggy for a week or so."

NOW HE'S felling better and working on a new album, "My Son, The Celebrity." Among the numbers is an anti-digit dialing lament that should be a hit. His other prospects include: concerts, television guest shots, writing a book for Random House, penning lyrics for a Theater Guil musical. He may do all of them -- "Who knows how long this will last?"