I do not remember this album, but I do remember our family always talking about the Kennedys. Their love of athleticism- their love of fashion- the beauty of that family. Our family loved the Kennedy's - we lived in a little town in Ohio that voted for the republicans- so we were the only family whose parents voted democrat in our school. Black people were not allowed in our schools- and black children were not allowed in the only public swimming pool- and the kids would look through the bars while we were dancing the twist in our bathing suits, drinking pop and popcorn, and eating cotton candy. It was a surreal time.Then JFK was killed- everyone at school went out to the playground- we were crying. We were told that the Russians would be flying to the US to bomb us. We were watching the sky- waiting for the planes. Shortly after that we moved to Germany- and we missed the entire civil rights movement with the ensuing deaths of the black leadership and RFK and others. I remember that the G.I. s at the Army base in Weisbaden and the older boys at school would get out brass knuckles and their belts and beat up the German boys downtown. The US currency was 4-1 so for the american's life was cheap and most ate better than they ever had at home. Many of the homes in our town had never been rebuilt- a number of the families were so poor - and lived without running water or heat. We had 12' snowdrifts at times in the Taunus mountains. The people were brutalized. The americans called them krauts. That's because many of them couldn't afford much more than cabbage. imagine. It was a brutal occupation. People have no idea what it was like back then. And what we are heading for again.
Dec 20, 2022·edited Dec 20, 2022Liked by Celia Farber
I'm 65, born and raised in California and I only vaguely remember hearing about this album. I think what is more significant than how the assassination destroyed Vaughn Meader's short career as a comedian, is how a scene in the movie "Dr. Strangelove" was changed after JFK was killed. Slim Pickens was originally supposed to say "a fellow could have a pretty good weekend in Dallas with this stuff" but the city was changed to Vegas. Other parts of the movie were also changed:
I remember the moment I heard that JFK had been shot in Dallas TX. I’d just finished my freshman Psych course at Newark State College in Union NJ. Classes were cancelled of course. I commuted to college in Union NJ from my home in Roselle, NJ (home of Rosie Grier). I rode two buses home and the silence was deafening! I got home to find my parents holding each other with tears in their eyes. Our tears would become rivers when Walter Cronkite uttered the words that President Kennedy was dead! Numbness!
Nothing could quell the pain we felt as a nation!
The other image I have is of little John John saluting the casket of his dad standing with Jackie his mom and Caroline his sister. I’m crying now writing this. Those of us who lived through it will always know the pain we felt. It’s always there inside! Then there would be the assassination of RFK and MLK. Then it was bye bye Miss American Pie. We were never the same again.
I cannot begin to recall how many times I've seen the Vaughn Meader comedy LP in thrift stores and Goodwills everywhere. As an avid LP collector--I even own two copies...but never listen to them due to the dark clouds over the two brothers assassinations. I do agree that we should go back to that era and explore what was truly great--to include family traditions and incredible News stands!
The murder of JFK is the most traumatic US event in my lifetime. A domino series of events follow that change the course of this country. Vietnam, the murders of MLK, Malcolm X and RFK. The horror.
This is from a similar time frame...beatnik dopers must have had a ton o' fun with it, much like my cohort did a few years later with the Firesign Theater canon.
I was one month old in November of 1963. I still have my mother’s Kennedy campaign pins in storage. My mother was holding me in her arms when she found out Kennedy was assassinated.
Wonder if Trump was emulating this recording when he ordered fast food for the athletic team that visited the White House. Foley artists are the unsung heroes of audio entertainment. Thank you for sharing this uplifting gift! Many Blessings to all.
What happened to us you ask. We allowed the CIA to cultivate Vietnam War, LSD, hippies and Woodstock then labeled Johnnie and put him on Ritalin, Mom on that little blue pill.
Parenthetically, it's funny how over the past couple of months I'm seeing and hearing more and more references to Vaugn Meader. It started about six weeks ago when I returned from a trip, to the West Coast, got into a cab at the airport and told the driver who had forgotten, "be sure to put on your meter". Whereupon the driver launched into a reminiscence on Vaugn Meader. I didn't remember Meader's name, but knew the famous First Family album as my parents had it in the house. I discovered it years later in my teens (along with a Bob Newhart comedy album I didn't know existed). Parts of it I remember were really very funny, as Celia quoted. After that cab ride I started searching Meader and from the old clips I found, he was genuinely funny and really quite clever. Even found an old To Tell the Truth that featured Naomi Brossart (his "Jackie Kennedy") where Meader himself made a delightful celebrity cameo. Here's a charming 3-minute clip of Meader delighting a college crowd, answering questions as President Kennedy: https://youtu.be/35aO9GdOAZ0 (There are entertaining compilations of Kennedy's humor too.)
I do not remember this album, but I do remember our family always talking about the Kennedys. Their love of athleticism- their love of fashion- the beauty of that family. Our family loved the Kennedy's - we lived in a little town in Ohio that voted for the republicans- so we were the only family whose parents voted democrat in our school. Black people were not allowed in our schools- and black children were not allowed in the only public swimming pool- and the kids would look through the bars while we were dancing the twist in our bathing suits, drinking pop and popcorn, and eating cotton candy. It was a surreal time.Then JFK was killed- everyone at school went out to the playground- we were crying. We were told that the Russians would be flying to the US to bomb us. We were watching the sky- waiting for the planes. Shortly after that we moved to Germany- and we missed the entire civil rights movement with the ensuing deaths of the black leadership and RFK and others. I remember that the G.I. s at the Army base in Weisbaden and the older boys at school would get out brass knuckles and their belts and beat up the German boys downtown. The US currency was 4-1 so for the american's life was cheap and most ate better than they ever had at home. Many of the homes in our town had never been rebuilt- a number of the families were so poor - and lived without running water or heat. We had 12' snowdrifts at times in the Taunus mountains. The people were brutalized. The americans called them krauts. That's because many of them couldn't afford much more than cabbage. imagine. It was a brutal occupation. People have no idea what it was like back then. And what we are heading for again.
I'm 65, born and raised in California and I only vaguely remember hearing about this album. I think what is more significant than how the assassination destroyed Vaughn Meader's short career as a comedian, is how a scene in the movie "Dr. Strangelove" was changed after JFK was killed. Slim Pickens was originally supposed to say "a fellow could have a pretty good weekend in Dallas with this stuff" but the city was changed to Vegas. Other parts of the movie were also changed:
https://www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com/articles/how-jfks-assassination-changed-the-fate-of/2014/07
I remember the moment I heard that JFK had been shot in Dallas TX. I’d just finished my freshman Psych course at Newark State College in Union NJ. Classes were cancelled of course. I commuted to college in Union NJ from my home in Roselle, NJ (home of Rosie Grier). I rode two buses home and the silence was deafening! I got home to find my parents holding each other with tears in their eyes. Our tears would become rivers when Walter Cronkite uttered the words that President Kennedy was dead! Numbness!
Nothing could quell the pain we felt as a nation!
The other image I have is of little John John saluting the casket of his dad standing with Jackie his mom and Caroline his sister. I’m crying now writing this. Those of us who lived through it will always know the pain we felt. It’s always there inside! Then there would be the assassination of RFK and MLK. Then it was bye bye Miss American Pie. We were never the same again.
I cannot begin to recall how many times I've seen the Vaughn Meader comedy LP in thrift stores and Goodwills everywhere. As an avid LP collector--I even own two copies...but never listen to them due to the dark clouds over the two brothers assassinations. I do agree that we should go back to that era and explore what was truly great--to include family traditions and incredible News stands!
The murder of JFK is the most traumatic US event in my lifetime. A domino series of events follow that change the course of this country. Vietnam, the murders of MLK, Malcolm X and RFK. The horror.
Reflection of another time, different sensitivities, and rotary phones 🙂
This is from a similar time frame...beatnik dopers must have had a ton o' fun with it, much like my cohort did a few years later with the Firesign Theater canon.
NYC track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTXpg093V_E
complete album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjgxmlw43pw
I was one month old in November of 1963. I still have my mother’s Kennedy campaign pins in storage. My mother was holding me in her arms when she found out Kennedy was assassinated.
Wonder if Trump was emulating this recording when he ordered fast food for the athletic team that visited the White House. Foley artists are the unsung heroes of audio entertainment. Thank you for sharing this uplifting gift! Many Blessings to all.
When my mom died in 2004 I found the Vaughn Meader album in her record collection. I told my bother to keep it. He still has it.
What happened to us you ask. We allowed the CIA to cultivate Vietnam War, LSD, hippies and Woodstock then labeled Johnnie and put him on Ritalin, Mom on that little blue pill.
We lost our innocence and closed our eyes.
I was 16 and in High School junior English class at Loyola High School in Los Angeles when JFK was killed by Allen Dulles
of the CIA. Many of us have known this for a long time. I have the Vaughn Meader album and I have played it since JFK
was assassinated by the CIA on orders from Allen Dulles- who placed himself on the Warren Commission to prevent any
fact based inquiry. Mark Lane and Mort Sahl led the early inquiry and exposed the CIA control. So Did DA Jim Garrison from
New Orleans. Oliver Stone knows all this as well as I do. The Tucker Carlson breathless recent revelations are not new to
Boomers who paid attention to this in the 60s.
Comedians on record managed to hit vulnerable targets much harder than any "comedian" does now. Stan Freberg made fun of woke censorship in 1957.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi2n4xX9Jbc&ab_channel=StanFreberg-Topic
Tom Lehrer mocked academia, which hasn't changed in 1000 years.
Why did the audience laugh hysterically at the questions from a woman about equal pay and the monument to the educator???
Parenthetically, it's funny how over the past couple of months I'm seeing and hearing more and more references to Vaugn Meader. It started about six weeks ago when I returned from a trip, to the West Coast, got into a cab at the airport and told the driver who had forgotten, "be sure to put on your meter". Whereupon the driver launched into a reminiscence on Vaugn Meader. I didn't remember Meader's name, but knew the famous First Family album as my parents had it in the house. I discovered it years later in my teens (along with a Bob Newhart comedy album I didn't know existed). Parts of it I remember were really very funny, as Celia quoted. After that cab ride I started searching Meader and from the old clips I found, he was genuinely funny and really quite clever. Even found an old To Tell the Truth that featured Naomi Brossart (his "Jackie Kennedy") where Meader himself made a delightful celebrity cameo. Here's a charming 3-minute clip of Meader delighting a college crowd, answering questions as President Kennedy: https://youtu.be/35aO9GdOAZ0 (There are entertaining compilations of Kennedy's humor too.)
A sense of grace, or courteous goodwill, is what comes to mind when watching these clips.