Allan Sherman was born Allan Copelon in Chicago on November 30, 1924. He died at a relatively young age in Hollywood November 21, 1973. His dad raced cars and his mom was a flapper. You think these two lived to a ripe old age and were mentioned by Paul Harvey? Allan was 6 when they divorced. His mom's maiden name was Sherman, so he picked that up when he was trying to get into the Biz.
Allan wanted to be a songwriter. He moved to New York in 1945 with around 100 tunes, but he fell on his face trying to get them published. He started writing material for Jackie Gleason, Joe E. Lewis (whose autograph I have on a $2 bill), and other comedians. He had a pretty good gig working for Steve Allen, but when that show folded in 1961, he was out of work.
CBS sent him to the West Coast and he rented a house next-door to Harpo Marx. Harpo got him hooked up with Jack Benny and George Burns. That's when his song parodies started getting some notice. My Son the Folksinger was issued in 1962 and sold a million and a half copies. He turned songs like The Streets of Laredo into The Streets of Miami, and took Harry Belafonte's Matilda and made it into My Zelda. It was a Jewish thing.
Allan milked it with My Son, The Celebrity later the same year. It sold over half a million. Then he tried My Son, the Nut in 1963. This is where Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah was introduced to the country. It was subtitled A Letter From Camp, but most folks I know call it "Camp Granada."
Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end for Sherman. JFK got shot and the Beatles helped put kitschy parody music on the back burner. Sherman died from a respiratory illness brought on by obesity at the young age of 48. He left a wife and two children.
When you read the second verse of that song, ask yourself if some horrible rock dinosaur band got their name from the tune.