Jay Rose Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 I had a chance to listen to "John and Marsha" recently, and got to wondering who the voices were. Wikipedia claims Freberg did both the man and the woman, but believe they're conflating the Capitol record with the solo standup act where Freberg developed the concept. There's no citation for the voice credit 'fact' on Wikipedia. Besides, while Freberg was a fairly talented vocal comedian, his trick voices tended to be recognizable. Even the Warner Brothers ones. The record label itself doesn't credit the performers. Just SF and the two musicians who scored the piece. There's also nothing about credits on the Demento database. My best guess is that John was Daws Butler. I have a hard time, though, assigning the usual suspect June Foray for the woman... I hear more of an alto cast. (Though not so alto that it could be a guy. I've known pro actresses who worked in exactly the same range, and with the same resonances, as Marsha.) So anybody have any info or opinions? The depth of production experience on this board goes way back. But I'd be amazed if there's anyone here who was a Capitol in 1951... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrd456 Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 Don't know the voices but love Stan Freberg and Tom Lehrer. J.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Stan did both voices for that particular record. Later productions did use his old pal Daws Butler, along with numerous sidekicks and associates like June Foray, Byron Kane, and many others. The tribute to Freberg in LA last November showed a kinescope of him doing "John & Marsha" live on some small 1950s variety show, and it was hilarious just to see his facial expressions change as he did the voices. I recorded Stan's voice at least a half-dozen times in 1977-1978, and he definitely had the range to do "John & Marsha"-type material. Just in idle conversation, he knocked off a quick "Pete Puma" voice (identical to "Crazy Guggenheim" from the Jackie Gleason Show), as well as the teeth-whistling Beaver from Lady & The Tramp ("Thixty-thix perthent!"), and the jive jazz performer from "Day-O." An amazingly talented man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Rose Posted April 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Marc, thanks. I listened again, trying this time to hear SF doing both voices. Okay: I believe they were him. Yes, it's a trip to work with multi-voiced performers. I did a lot with Bob Colonna (Jerry Colonna's son), who could become the entire Disney cast list at the drop of a hat.... Other actors as well. The only one who couldn't seem to be 'on' that way was Rich Little! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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