Stan Freberg, 1926-2015

Stan Freberg, who died yesterday in Santa Monica, is one of those artists whose influence is pervasive to the point of being nearly invisible, having been so fully absorbed into the culture it helped create that the genius and daring of the original material is obscured by everything built upon its brilliance. Still, Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume One: The Early Years remains, more than half a century after its release, one of the funniest works of all time. If you have not listened to it I envy you the cackles of pleasure you will experience when you do, which is something you should make plans to do immediately. (The sequel, which came later, is not so good and best to be avoided, and I only mention that here because I do not want you to listen to anything that might detract from the sheer delight of the original.) Freberg was 88.