We eagerly await Mark Cohen's biography of Allan Sherman, Overweight Sensation. You can advance order a copy of it here.
As readers of this blog know, I was a huge fan of Sherman's during the short time that much of America was a huge fan of him…and I remained one after his career self-destructed. A lot of his work was "of the time" and does not endure today but an awful lot of it holds up well. Some of the lyrics are so clever that the songs are fun to listen to even if you don't get all the references…and there's something very endearing about his delivery. I've heard a lot of different people perform Allan Sherman songs and never liked any of them that much. Later today, by the way, I'll be posting a parody of an Allan Sherman song. That's right: A parody of a parody.
In the meantime, Josh Lampert has a review of the book which will tell you much about the too-brief roller-coaster ride that Allan Sherman called his life. I have a higher opinion of the art of the song parody than Lampert does but his view of Sherman's story is an interesting one. Thanks to Bruce Reznick for the pointer.