SUPER RARE ALBUM Gary Owens of Laugh-In & Sesame Street SONG FESTOONS 1962

$

149

 
This is the legendary album that many people mention as extremely rare, yet there are no sale records or descriptions online. It is possible this is the only surviving copy.

It's Gary Owen, SONG FESTOONS, Fono-Graf Records F-727. 1962.

CONDITION

The A side is VG to VG+ --some visible marks but tracks well and minimal background noise.

The B side is ugly, with several visible scratches that look like they would make significant noise--but they don't. Tracks well. So, hard to grade. Probably VG or VG-.

Mention on the liner notes of Allan Sherman, Bill "Jose Jimenez" Dana, Bob Golden, Dick Friesen, Fred Bock, Earl Festoon, Mrs. John Miller (Mrs. Festoon), Scott, Dar, and Dee Dee Hawthorne, the Kalikak Family Singers, Norman and Al Tetef, Joe Smith, Gil Friesen, Henry Gibson, Red Baldwin, Tommy Lipuma, Huey McFarland, Jerry Mather, Richard Cornell, and others.

Some ring wear.
Word on front cover.

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Here's what some people have written about this album.

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Gary Owens’ Connection to a Cult Music Icon

by Legendary Lew

Tributes went out after legendary announcer/voice actor Gary Owens died on Thursday at age 80.  Many have remembered his most famous gig as the announcer for the monumental TV comedy “Laugh-In.” Some younger viewers will also note his voice work as Space Ghost and Powdered Toast Man on “Ren and Stimpy.”

What may go unnoticed, however, is that if it weren’t for him, a cult music legend may have gone forever in obscurity.

As a disc jockey in the early 1960s, Owens recorded a very rare disc based on his radio show with goofy characters possessing funny names. The album was called “Song Festoons” and featured a track by a character named “Phoebe Phestoon.”

Religious music director Fred Bock introduced the woman singing “Slumber Boat” on that album and Gary Owens went to work.  As Kliph Nesteroff of the great blog Classic Television Showbiz learned in an interview with the announcing great, Gary Owens created the persona of Mrs. Miller:

    …a man named Fred Bock who was a musician; wonderful song writer; dealt mainly in religious music. He and Dick Friesen were friends of mine. The very first album I did was one calledSong-Festoons. I had a character named Earl C. Festoon who was kind of a dottering guy. “Earl C. Festoon here. Hello, Gary. Which way am I facing?” “You’re facing the microphone today, Earl.” “Oh. Hello.” Those kinds of things. Anyway, I did my first album and it was produced by Dick Friesen and Fred Bock. That’s how this all came about.

The album “Mrs. Miller’s Greatest Hits” on Capitol Records was born and Mrs.
Mrs. Miller doing her thing thanks to Gary Owens

Mrs. Miller doing her thing thanks to Gary Owens

Miller became a sensation of sorts in the mid-1960’s, appearing on American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, Hollywood Palace and repeatedly on The Merv Griffin Show as well as having a prominent role in the hip 60’s musical The Cool Ones.  Her name became synonymous with the “worst” in music (even though she eventually went in on the joke, making lots of money in the process) and her albums became the go-to starting point for anyone interested in creating a cult record collection.
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Here's a sample
https://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/04/365-Days-Project-04-07-phestoon-phoebe-mrs-miller-slumber-boat-1962.mp3




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2003   APRIL 7   #097

Phoebe Phestoon (Mrs. Miller) - Slumber Boat

Here is a super-rarity for all fans of Mrs. Miller - her first known recording from 1962. "Slumber Boat Song" is taken from a rare Gary Owens LP, called "Song Festoons," which collected various skits from his KMPC radio show.

Mrs. Miller was brought to Owens' attention by Fred Bock, the musical director for Hollywood Presbyterian Church, where he served for 18 years. Miller had used Bock's help in recording some lullabies that she had pressed on to vinyl, and gave to various children's orphanages. "Slumber Boat Song" captures Mrs. Miller about 3 years prior to her success as a Capitol Records artist, and she sounds a bit more formal here.

Bock was also instrumental in bringing Miller to Capitol Records, and in 1965 Gary Owens wrote the liner notes to her first album "Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits." The rest, as they say, is history.

So, enjoy the dulcet tones of Mrs. Elva Miller, as she sings a tender ballad which will soothe away the cares of the day.

    Memo to all Miller fans and record company execs:

    Otis Fodder and I have compiled an 80-minute CD of unreleased Mrs. Miller material and are looking for a label to release it! At this time, it is NOT for sale or trade to collectors, but we hope to make it legitimately available in the near future.
Dana Countryman

TT-2:53 / 4MB / 192kbps 44.1khz
from the LP, "Song Festoons" (1962)