365 Days #279 - The Credibility Gap - Something for Mary (mp3s)

MP3:
The Credibility Gap - Something for Mary [Wha Happen, Girl? / Freedom Is a Four-Letter Word / Good Mornin', Joseph / Intermezzo / Outermezzo: Wise Up, People / Nazareth Nocturne] (4:37)

The Credibility Gap were the unsung heroes among 70s comedy troupes. Starting as a group of newsmen doing humorous commentary for the Los Angeles AM rock radio station KRLA in the late 1960s, as the more news-oriented members departed they were replaced by comedians. By 1971 the classic lineup of Richard Beebe, David L. Lander, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer had coalesced. Between broadcasts that year they recorded the album "Woodschtick and More" for Capitol Records. Drawing on the coincidence of Woodstock's having taken place in the Catskills, the album reimagines the rock festival as a Borsch Belt tummlers' convention. It was all a little too "inside" showbiz for the folks at 'Rolling Stone' whose negative review served as the album's kiss of death. Though the album is admittedly somewhat uneven, it includes some very funny bits.

The Gap's days at Capitol were numbered, but they had already attracted the attention of an A&R man at Warner Bros. He included a Grammy Awards parody the Gap had done for their radio show on a flexi disc included in the Warner Bros. house organ, 'Circular,' along with an admonition for readers to buy the 'Woodschtick' album.

The Gap returned the favor in 1973 when they recorded today's featured MP3. Said Harry Shearer in the liner notes of the 1979 reissue of their only Warner Bros. album, 'A Great Gift Idea':

"They had hired us to do an odd little recording for one of their conventions. The idea was, they were going to release four new albums and the fifth was going to be a ringer, and this was to be excerpts from it. So we wrote a take-off on rock operas, 'Something for Mary.' It dealt with the birth of Jesus from the point of view of Joseph, the odd man out. We recorded it in an hour. It was a joke."

And a funny joke it was. McKean sings the lead role in a gruff, David Clayton-St. Hubbins voice, and musical quotes abound—from "Sleigh Ride" to "Go to the Mirror Boy" to "Let It Be" to the Three Stooges.

Warner Bros. finally released the Gap's album in January 1974, just in time to be a month late for the Christmas shopping season. Shearer continues the sad tale:

"The biggest problem, though, was that the record came out after our contract had expired, due to a legal malfunction. That record had a doom of its own."

Which is a shame because 'Gift' is surely one of the best comedy albums of the 70s, deserving a place of honor among contemporary releases like National Lampoon's 'Radio Dinner,' the Firesign Theatre's numerous LPs for Columbia, and Richard Pryor's breakthrough stand-up albums.

In 1975 Beebe returned to radio where he worked on 'Earth News' and other projects until his death from lung cancer in 1998. The remaining trio held on for another year before calling it quits. McKean and Lander achieved instant fame when they were asked to bring their "dumb guy" characters Lenny and Squiggy to Garry Marshall's 'Happy Days' spinoff 'Laverne and Shirley.' Shearer worked on record albums and films with Albert Brooks before becoming a regular on 'Saturday Night Live' for the 1979-1980 season—the last with the original cast. In 1982 McKean and Shearer teamed up with 'National Lampoon Radio Hour' alumnus Christopher Guest to film the rock pseudodocumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." And the rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

Though Warner Bros. licensed 'A Great Gift Idea' to independent label Sierra Briar for a 1979 vinyl reissue, they never got around to releasing it on CD. Fortunately in 2005 Rhino released it as a download-only album, still available from iTunes and the like.

- Contributed by: Perry Amberson

Images: Front, Back, Label, Photo

Media: Promo-Only 45
Label: Warner Bros.
Catalog: PRO 517
Date: 1973

Comments

[Andrew]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Vic Perry]

Those under 40 will be absolutely amazed to learn that we used to be able to hear Firesign Theater, Credibility Gap, National Lampoon, and loads upon loads of standup material on regular AM radio once upon a time....in San Francisco they used to run two hours a night of this kind of stuff!

[dean]

This is what WFMU does best - mucho gracias in giving this classic much deserved availability.

[Andrew]

The Gap did another 45 spoofing the then-current CB craze, titled, "Hello World, This Here's Wrong Number." Anybody out there have a copy?

[Mark Lansing]

I just checked both iTunes and Rhino's site and found no listing for the Credibility Gap. What gives? And could someone be so kind as to make it possible for us to hear that WOODSCHTICK album? Thanks much for posting SOMETHING FOR MARY!

[jonp72]

The Credibility Gap had a track on this Rhino Records compilation, World's Worst Records Volume 2, called Foreign Novelty Smash. Originally intended as a spoof of the Osmonds, the song eerily sounds like mmmBop-era Hanson in German.

[Perry]

Oops! My mistake. 'A Great Gift Idea' is not available from iTunes, but it can be found at the following online retailers:

From Rhino:
http://rhino.com/store/digital/detail.lasso?upc=081227469764

and Yahoo! Music:
http://music.yahoo.com/release/21106795

and Rhapsody:
http://www.rhapsody.com/credibilitygap/agreatgiftidea

Also, I've posted links to the entire 'Woodschtick and More' LP as well as both sides of the "Hello World—This Here's Wrong Number" 45 and "Foreign Novelty Smash" on my blog: http://withallthedignityicouldmuster.blogspot.com/

[SillyWilly]

When the "Intermezzo" started, i was watching the scene in the park from "Hello Dolly." When people on screen started dancing, the music and video synched up amazingly well. Try it yourself! You'll be amazed!

[Anne D Bernstein]

I have "A Great Gift Idea" (Reprise) and the Sierra Briar version as well. The Sierra Briar version is actually a double LP with "A Great Gift Idea" and "Floats". "Floats" was recorded live at the Rose Parade in Pasadena. I also have Woodschtick. And "The Bronze Age of Radio" on Waterloo which consists of some selections from their radio shows. Also in my possession is the Lenny and Squiggy album "Lenny and the Squigtones". All on vinyl. Is it obvious that I used to listen to a lot of Doctor Demento when I was a kid?

[gumbyrun]

Lines from "Lance Learns to Box" are common cliches around our house even though my four daughters have never heard the bit live, only as I can conjure them from the crispy edges of my 50 year old brain. I found a copy of "A Great Gift Idea" on ebay and its on its way. I can't wait to play the real thing for the kids...well maybe not the WHOLE album for the younger two.
Thanks WFMU!