Songs for Swingin' Sellers: Difference between revisions

Songs for Swingin' Sellers
Songs for Swingin' Sellers
Studio album by Peter Sellers
Released	4 December 1959
Recorded	1959
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Comedy, satire
Length	56:05
Label	Parlophone
Producer	George Martin
Peter Sellers chronology

Latest revision as of 21:01, 9 September 2024

Songs for Swingin' Sellers is the second studio album by the English actor, comedian and singer Peter Sellers. Released on EMI's Parlophone label in December 1959, the album was produced by George Martin with musical direction from Ron Goodwin and features a series of comic sketches showcasing Sellers' satirical humour and mimicry. The album was titled as a play on Frank Sinatra's Songs for Swingin' Lovers! and much of its contents pointedly satirises popular culture, with musical parodies of Sinatra and Lonnie Donegan among the tracks. Sellers plays a variety of roles alongside contributions from the comic character actress Irene Handl and the singer Matt Monro (credited as "Fred Flange"). A critical and commercial success, the album reached number three in the UK Albums Chart and Martin's elaborate production has been cited as an artistic forerunner to his work with the Beatles.

Background

George Martin moved into comedy records as an "act of desperation"^[2]

After being promoted to head of Parlophone Records in 1955, George Martin began to shift the label, a subsidiary of EMI, away from the classical music and original cast recordings it had focused on before.^[3] Martin felt unable to compete against the American catalogues that his larger rivals HMV and Columbia released^[2] and later explained "I knew I had to make a mark in some way... ...and the way I chose was to go into comedy, because no one was doing it. People were doing it in the States – Stan Freberg, Bob Newhart — but there was nothing in England to speak of. And it seemed to work".^[4] Martin was aided by the contemporary success of radio comedy and believed "comedy records succeeded because sound dominated in the days before television got its grip on people".^[5] He was dispirited when the BBC radio comedy stars the Goons left Parlophone for Decca after their cover of "Unchained Melody" was blocked from release by the song's publishers,^[5] but he achieved a breakthrough in 1957 when he worked with Peter Sellers again; Sellers' comic recording of "Any Old Iron", a music hall song given a satirical skiffle arrangement and sung in the voice of The Goon Show character Willium "Mate" Cobblers, reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.^[4]^[6] Recognising that Sellers was capable of "a daydreaming form of humour which could be amusing and seductive without requiring the trigger of a live audience", Martin pitched a full album to EMI.^[7] The management were reluctant, doubting the commercial viability of a full-length studio comedy record. They agreed only to a compromise: that The Best of Sellers be made at a reduced production budget for release as a 10-inch LP rather than a standard 12-inch.^[5] The album's tongue-in-cheek title proved apt when it became a number three hit and its success led to EMI commissioning a 12-inch reissue despite their earlier misgivings.^[5] Subsequently, Martin was asked to make a second album with Sellers by the same people who had denigrated the idea of the first, something he considered "a kind of accolade, which recognised Parlophone as the label for humorous people".^[5]

Style and themes

Songs for Swingin' Sellers was titled as a play on Frank Sinatra's chart-topping Songs for Swingin' Lovers!.^[8] Its sketches employ satire, with Sellers playing "a typically wide range of characters"^[9] and parodying broadcasters, entertainers and the upper class. Biographer Andrew Norman identified hypocrisy as a recurring theme, writing that the album afforded Sellers "the opportunity to mock those whom he considered to be insincere".^[10] As with The Best of Sellers, radio comedy writers Frank Muir and Denis Norden contributed several sketches; their work on the album has been cited as indicative of a wave of young comedy writers who, despite having some background in variety, "had largely cultivated their talents via radio and television, and recognised that subtler approaches were necessary for such media".^[11]

The album was among George Martin’s first stereophonic records, allowing the producer "to paint his sound pictures with added texture and depth" according to Mark Lewisohn.^[4] David Hepworth has written that Martin and arranger Ron Goodwin "placed Sellers' inventions in a soundscape which meant that you kept playing the record long after any belly laughs had exhausted themselves".^[7]

According to Spencer Leigh, "You Keep Me Swingin'" mocks "the image of Frank Sinatra as the perpetual swinger".^[12] The song, arranged by Ron Goodwin in a big band approximation of Nelson Riddle’s work with Sinatra, was written by George Martin (under the pseudonym Graham Fisher) and Ken Hare.^[13] Intending to sing on the track, Sellers asked Martin to find Sinatra soundalike to record a demo vocal to help guide him. Martin considering using Dennis Lotis before recruiting Matt Monro, whose performance was ultimately used on the album after Sellers felt he couldn't improve upon it.^[13]^[14]^{[nb 1]} Billed on the album as "Fred Flange" (a name conceived by Martin), Monro found the experience demoralising but his impersonation was close enough to prompt speculation that it was Sinatra himself.^[15]^[16] The BBC gave "You Keep Me Swingin'" heavy airplay and Monro was subsequently offered a Parlophone contract by Martin, initiating a successful partnership between the two men.^[4] Written by comedy partners Denis Norden and Frank Muir, "So Little Time" lampoons the English impresario Larry Parnes and his stable of young rock & roll stars including Marty Wilde and Billy Fury.^[17] Parnes is caricatured as Major Rafe Ralph, a horse dealer turned pop manager who lives with his protégés Lenny Bronze, Clint Thigh, Matt Lust and Twit Conway in a luxury Mayfair flat.^[4]^[18] Ralph and Conway are interviewed by Nancy Lisbon, a parody of prominent broadcaster Nancy Spain.^[19]^[20] According to Gillian A.M. Mitchell, the sketch reflects how "rock and skiffle frequently seemed, for certain avant-garde performers, to connote dim, talentless singers and manipulative managers".^[11]

"The Contemporary Scene – 1: Radio Today" consists of two sketches. The first, "Lord Badminton's Memoirs", has Sellers as an aristocrat recounting his life and betraying his disregard for the welfare of his employees.^[10] In his liner notes for the album, Peter Munro-Smith advised that the sketch may bring on "an acute attack of nostalgia" to those over seventy.^[21] The second, "The Critics", has Sellers and the comic actress Irene Handl poking art critics in broadcasting, with a panel of speakers discussing an art exhibition at the Tate using excessive, indecipherable jargon.^[10]^[22] Handl's character, Faith Bradshaw, is a parody of Dilys Powell.^[23] Sellers' rendition of "My Old Dutch", a music hall song published in 1892 and written by Albert Chevalier and Charles Ingle, is delivered with mock-sentimentality and deliberately over-the-top emotion.^[24]^[25] The song had been taught to Sellers as a child by his mother, Peg, and biographer Ed Sikov has postulated that Sellers' apparent distaste of it explains the rendering's "distinctly nasty edge".^[26] "The Contemporary Scene – 2: T.V. Today" consists of two sketches. The first, "Face to Face", has Sellers play a loquacious interviewer who never allows his interviewee to answer the questions.^[10] The second, "In a Free State", presents an interview with Mr Bedham, an Irish playwright who is "slurred, angry, panting and ready to commit murder to get at a drink".^[27] Bedham is a parody of the Irish playwright Brendan Behan, who generated significant publicity for his play The Quare Fellow in June 1956 when he made a drunken appearance on BBC Television programme Panorama.^[28]^[29] According to the journalist William J. Weatherby, Behan's wife admired Sellers' impersonation of her husband and considered Bedham's references to "the thirst" the most accurate part of the sketch.^[28]

Side two

In "Puttin' On the Smile", Lenny Goonigan frequently mentions "workin' on the railroad", an allusion to Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line"^[30]

"Puttin' On the Smile", a parody of Lonnie Donegan's recording of "Puttin' On the Style", caricatures the skiffle craze.^[1] It features Sellers in the guise of a self-serving folk singer named Lenny Goonigan. As well as a musical spoof, the track presents an interview with Goonigan and satirises Donegan's practice of covering American folk songs; when asked if he's been to the Deep South, Goonigan tells the interviewer "I've been all over, man - Brighton, Portsmouth, Truro, Penzance". Goonigan also explains that his last record was "an obscure folk song hidden at the top of the American hit parade".^[1] Donegan was unamused by the sketch.^[30]^[31]

"Common Entrance" has Sellers portraying both roles in an interview between a British boarding school headmaster and the parent of a sensitive prospective student.^[32]^[33] "I Haven't Told Her, She Hasn't Told Me (But We Know It Just the Same)" is sung "in pleasant voice"^[1] by Sellers accompanying himself on ukelele.^[27] Sellers later performed the song in the 1973 film The Optimists of Nine Elms and on the BBC1 series Parkinson in 1974.^[27] "Shadows on the Grass" features Sellers as a Frenchman who meets a whimsical older woman (Irene Handl) in the park. Martin and engineer Stuart Eltham edited the recording, originally nearly twelve minutes long, for the album.^[5] Sellers performs "Wouldn't It Be Loverly", a popular showtune from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady, as Mr Banerjee, a stereotypical Indian man.^[26] The musical accompaniment to the track employs sitar and tabla, the first time George Martin had used Hindustani classical music instrumentation in one of his productions.^[34] "We'll Let You Know" features a budding actor, Warrington Minge, auditioning for a role with the "winter of our discontent" soliloquy from Richard III, to the disinterest and boredom of the producer.^[35] In his liner notes for the EP release Songs for Swingin' Sellers (No. 2), Derek Johnson describes the piece as an example of Sellers' "genuine sense of pathos".^[36] The album's last track, "Peter Sellers sings George Gershwin", lasts 17 seconds and, after an introduction, simply consists of Sellers' vocalising "George Ge-ersh-win".^[26]

Release

Peter Sellers' likeness appears on a wanted poster on the album cover^[21]

Songs for Swingin' Sellers was released on 4 December 1959 in an eye-catching sleeve depicting "the booted and spurred feet of a man, presumably the artist, hanging from a tree above one of those record players that the adventurous might take on a picnic".^[7] The artwork appears in Barry Miles, Grant Scott and Johnny Morgan's book The Greatest Album Covers of All Time, in which it is speculated that the shot of a hanged man may have been inspired by "Mort Sahl's brand of "sick humour"".^[37] In addition, the packaging carries several humorous notes, including instructions to "only use needles of Burmese plywood" to play the record and to "send Grandma out of the room".^[7]^[21]

The album reached number three on the Melody Maker albums chart (now the UK Albums Chart), remaining in the chart for 34 non-consecutive weeks, and its strong sales gave George Martin a sense of vindication about his production work.^[5]^[38] The album's release followed the issue of a single, "My Old Dutch" b/w "Puttin' On the Smile", that failed to chart.^[39] Following the stereo and mono LP release, the album was released on 7-inch over three volumes of mono EPs in 1961.^[40]

As part of the promotion for the album, Parlophone played upon the identity of Fred Flange (Matt Monro), whose Frank Sinatra impersonation on "You Keep Me Swingin'" received significant attention in the music press.^[13] The album's liner notes read "for mainly political reasons, the real identity of this performer must be kept secret", fueling rumours it was Sinatra himself.^[21] Parlophone were indundated with letters and phone calls about the mystery singer and published cryptic publicity photos of Monro shot from behind and wearing a hat. When Flange's identity was eventually revealed, Reuters called Monro's vocal "the cleverest and most irreverent impersonation of a singing idol ever recorded".^[13] Monro then achieved a string of hit singles with Martin as producer, beginning with "Portrait of My Love" in 1960.^[41]

In 1978, the album was reissued in Australia on the World Record Club label.^[42] It made its CD debut in 1993 as part of the Celebration of Sellers box set.^[43] In 2010, Hallmark Music & Entertainment issued a standalone CD release with the cover art edited to remove the dangling legs of the hanged man.^[43]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[43]

Upon release, Songs for Swingin' Sellers received critical acclaim.^[44] New Musical Express praised Sellers' "devastating wit" and described the album as "just the thing for the interval at your Christmas party".^[1] Reg Exton of London's Norwood News praised the album as "real comedy, sometimes satirical, but never dull" and considered "So Little Time" the highlight, while David Langdon of the Sunday Pictorial described it as "one of the funniest records ever".^[45]^[46]

Reviewing Songs for Swingin' Sellers in 1961, Mervyn Douglas of Record Mail declared "what a performer this man is – sheer genius, ranging from biting comedy to moments of intense pathos. Nobody can quite portray characters and life like Peter Sellers".^[40] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger considered the album to contain "some of (Sellers') best sketches" and singled out "Puttin' On the Smile" as the highlight.^[43]

Aftermath and legacy

In a feature for Disc published soon after release, Russ Conway named the album as among his choices for a Christmas party.^[47] In October 1961, Hattie Jacques chose "Lord Badminton's Memoirs" as one of her Desert Island Discs on the BBC radio programme.^[48] Writing in 2002, Simon Louvich of the Guardian considered Songs for Swingin' Sellers to contain "some of the master’s most primal acts",^[25] while Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Pitchfork has described the album as "perhaps the best showcase for George Martin's nascent skills".^[49] In his 2013 book A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives, David Hepworth describes the album as "one of the artistic forerunners" to Martin's later production Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).^[7]^{[nb 2]} The poet Roger McGough has praised the album as a "comedy classic",^[51] and his Scaffold bandmate Mike McCartney has said he was attracted to working with Martin due to his work with Sellers, saying of Songs For Swingin' Sellers "Paul and I had fallen about laughing to those nice little sketches".^[52] "So Little Time" has been cited by Michael McKean and Christopher Guest as an antecedent to Spinal Tap.^[32]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"You Keep Me Swingin'"	Ken Hare, Graham Fisher	2:51
2.	"So Little Time"	Frank Muir, Denis Norden	6:31
3.	"The Contemporary Scene – 1: Radio Today" "Lord Badminton's Memoirs" "The Critics"	Max Shreiner, Ron Goodwin	10:42
4.	"My Old Dutch"	Albert Chevalier, Charles Ingle	2:48
5.	"The Contemporary Scene – 2: T.V. Today" "Face to Face" "In a Free State"	Shreiner, Goodwin	4:12

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Puttin' On the Smile"	Reuben, Ransom	5:24
2.	"Common Entrance"	Muir, Norden	5:00
3.	"I Haven't Told Her, She Hasn't Told Me (But We Know It Just the Same)"	Al Dubin, Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal	1:11
4.	"Shadows on the Grass"	Irene Handl	6:24
5.	"Wouldn't It Be Loverly"	Al Lerner, Frederick Loewe	5:56
6.	"We'll Let You Know"	Sellers	3:24
7.	"Peter Sellers Sings George Gershwin"		0:17

Notes

^ Monro had been dropped by both Decca and Fontana after failing to find success.^[13]
^ Martin made a similar comparison in the 2012 documentary Produced by George Martin, stating "building up Sgt. Pepper became a bit like working on a Peter Sellers record".^[50]

References

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^ ^a ^b "George Martin: "I arrogantly called it The Best of Sellers"". BBC. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
^ Owsinski, Bobby (25 May 2022). "How George Martin Changed The Finances Of The Record Business". Forbes. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lewisohn, Mark (2013). The Beatles – All These Years, Volume One: Tune In. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-1-4000-8305-3. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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^ "Peter Sellers". www.officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Hepworth, David (2019). A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives. Bantam. ISBN 978-1-7841-6208-5. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
^ "Frank Sinatra". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
^ The Gramophone Volume 59, Issues 697–703. C. Mackenzie. 1981. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Norman, Andrew (2021). The Real Peter Sellers. Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781526786869. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b Mitchell, Gillian (2019). Adult Responses to Popular Music and Intergenerational Relations in Britain, C. 19551975. Anthem Press. ISBN 9781783089017. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
^ Leigh, Spencer (25 September 2015). Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life. McNidder and Grace Limited. ISBN 9780857160881. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Monro, Michele (2011). Matt Monro: The Singer's Singer. Titan. ISBN 9781848569508. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 315/6. ISBN 0-7535-0149-X.
^ Inverne, James (2003). Wrestling with Elephants. SMT. ISBN 9780857123718. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
^ Hemmingsen, Piers (2016). The Beatles in Canada: The Origins of Beatlemania!. Wise Publications. ISBN 9781787590731. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
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^ Maconie, Stuart (2013). The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records. Ebury Publishing. p. 370. ISBN 9781409033189. Archived from the original on 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
^ Cooke, Rachel (2013). Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties. Little Brown Book Group. ISBN 9780748128716. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
^ Collis, Rose (1997). A Trouser-wearing Character; The Life and Times of Nancy Spain. Cassell. ISBN 9780304328796. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Songs for Swingin' Sellers (liner). Peter Sellers. Parlophone. 1959.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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^ Songs for Swingin' Sellers (No. 2) (liner). Peter Sellers. Parlophone. 1961.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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[15] Monro had been dropped by both Decca and Fontana after failing to find success.^[13]

[52] Martin made a similar comparison in the 2012 documentary Produced by George Martin, stating "building up Sgt. Pepper became a bit like working on a Peter Sellers record".^[50]

[NMEreview-1] Evans, Allen (11 December 1959). "LPs" (PDF). NME: 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.

[bestofsellers-2] "George Martin: "I arrogantly called it The Best of Sellers"". BBC. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

[3] Owsinski, Bobby (25 May 2022). "How George Martin Changed The Finances Of The Record Business". Forbes. Retrieved 2 August 2018.

[tunein-4] Lewisohn, Mark (2013). The Beatles – All These Years, Volume One: Tune In. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-1-4000-8305-3. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.

[womack-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Womack, Kenneth (2017). Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years, 1926–1966. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613731925. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

[6] "Peter Sellers". www.officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

[hepworth-7] Hepworth, David (2019). A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives. Bantam. ISBN 978-1-7841-6208-5. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

[sinatrachart-8] "Frank Sinatra". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

[gramophone-9] The Gramophone Volume 59, Issues 697–703. C. Mackenzie. 1981. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

[norman-10] Norman, Andrew (2021). The Real Peter Sellers. Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781526786869. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.

[Mitchell-11] Mitchell, Gillian (2019). Adult Responses to Popular Music and Intergenerational Relations in Britain, C. 19551975. Anthem Press. ISBN 9781783089017. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.

[sinatra-12] Leigh, Spencer (25 September 2015). Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life. McNidder and Grace Limited. ISBN 9780857160881. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.

[monro-13] Monro, Michele (2011). Matt Monro: The Singer's Singer. Titan. ISBN 9781848569508. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

[Larkin60-14] Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 315/6. ISBN 0-7535-0149-X.

[elephants-16] Inverne, James (2003). Wrestling with Elephants. SMT. ISBN 9780857123718. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.

[canada-17] Hemmingsen, Piers (2016). The Beatles in Canada: The Origins of Beatlemania!. Wise Publications. ISBN 9781787590731. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

[parody_bands-18] "9 parody bands that got it spot on". BBC. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.

[maconie-19] Maconie, Stuart (2013). The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records. Ebury Publishing. p. 370. ISBN 9781409033189. Archived from the original on 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2022-06-03.

[cooke-20] Cooke, Rachel (2013). Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties. Little Brown Book Group. ISBN 9780748128716. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.

[collis-21] Collis, Rose (1997). A Trouser-wearing Character; The Life and Times of Nancy Spain. Cassell. ISBN 9780304328796. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.

[liner-22] Songs for Swingin' Sellers (liner). Peter Sellers. Parlophone. 1959.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[grin-23] Carpenter, Humphrey (2002). A Great, Silly Grin - The British Satire Boom Of The 1960s. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781586480813. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.

[french-24] French, Philip (1990). Ariel at Bay - Reflections on Broadcasting and the Arts : a Festschrift for Philip French. ISBN 9780856359453. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.

[comedystars-25] Smith, Ronald L. (1998). Comedy Stars at 78 RPM. McFarland. ISBN 9780786404629. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.

[louvich-26] Simon, Louvich. "Here, there and everywhere". AV Club. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.

[sikov-27] Sikov, Ed (2002). Mr Strangelove A Biography of Peter Sellers. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781447207146. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

[lewis-28] Lewis, Roger (1995). The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. Arrow. ISBN 9780099747000. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

[behan-29] Mikhail, E.H. (3 January 2016). Brendan Behan Volume I: Interviews and Recollections. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 9781349060139. Retrieved 4 November 2022.

[30] "On this day in 1956..." BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 4 November 2022.

[telegraph-31] Chilton, Martin (16 November 2012). "Lonnie Donegan and the Birth of British Rock & Roll, by Patrick Humphries: review". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.

[wynn-32] Wynn, Neil A. (2007). Cross the Water Blues: African American Music in Europe. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604735475. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.

[av-33] Joe, Blevins. "Back in the day, George Martin made some wild records with Peter Sellers". AV Club. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

[mass-34] Studies in the Mass Media: Volumes 1–4. National Council of Teachers of English. 1960. p. 11. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.

[kruth-35] Kruth, John (2015). This Bird Has Flown The Enduring Beauty of Rubber Soul, Fifty Years On. Backbeat Books. ISBN 9781617136429. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.

[shakespeare-36] OuterSpeares: Shakespeare, Intermedia, and the Limits of Adaptation. University of Toronto Press. 2014. ISBN 9781442615939. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.

[EPliner-37] Songs for Swingin' Sellers (No. 2) (liner). Peter Sellers. Parlophone. 1961.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[greatest-38] Miles, Barry; Scott, Grant; Morgan, Johnny (2016). The Greatest Album Covers of All Time. Collins & Brown. ISBN 9781911163367. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

[charts-39] "Peter Sellers". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.

[Dutch-40] "Peter Sellers". 45cat. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

[roundabout-41] Douglas, Mervyn (April 1961). "EP Roundabout" (PDF). Record Mail: 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.

[OCC-42] Matt Monro - Full Official Chart History Archived 2022-05-08 at the Wayback Machine, Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.

[43] "Songs for Swingin' Sellers". Discogs. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

[allmusic-44] Unterberger, Richie. "Songs for Swingin' Sellers". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.

[geddes-45] Geddes, Doug (May 1960). "In demand - a high standard of comedy" (PDF). Record Mail: 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

[norwood-46] Exton, Reg (11 December 1959). "Bernard Bresslaw records a little Christmas ditty". Norwood News: 4. Retrieved 4 November 2022.

[ticket-47] Langdon, David (29 November 1959). "Just the ticket". Sunday Pictorial. Retrieved 4 November 2022.

[party-48] "A party?" (PDF). Disc: 5. 19 December 1959. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.

[hattie-49] "Hattie Jacques". BBC. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

[afterword-50] Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Afterword: George Martin". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

[uncut-51] "Produced By George Martin". Uncut. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

[mcgough-53] McGough, Roger (2006). Said and Done. Arrow. ISBN 9780099478751. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.

[love_me_do-54] Leigh, Spencer (2016). Love Me Do to Love Me Don't: Beatles on Record. McNidder and Grace Limited. ISBN 9780857161352. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

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@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | type       = studio
 | artist     = [[Peter Sellers]]
-| cover      = file: Songs_for_Swingin'_Sellers.jpg
+| cover      = Songs_for_Swingin'_Sellers.jpg
 | alt        =
 | released   = 4 December 1959<ref name="NMEreview">{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Allen |title=LPs |journal=NME |date=11 December 1959 |page=9 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1959/NME-1959-12-11-S-OCR.pdf |access-date=23 May 2022 |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523221430/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1959/NME-1959-12-11-S-OCR.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ==Background==
-[[File:GeorgeMartin1966.jpg|thumb|left|[[George Martin]] moved into comedy records as an "act of desperation"<ref name="bestofsellers">{{cite web |title=George Martin: "I arrogantly called it The Best of Sellers" |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03m1syl |website=BBC |access-date=25 May 2022}}</ref>]]
+[[File:George Martin obit.webp|thumb|right|[[George Martin]] moved into comedy records as an "act of desperation"<ref name="bestofsellers">{{cite web |title=George Martin: "I arrogantly called it The Best of Sellers" |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03m1syl |website=BBC |access-date=25 May 2022}}</ref>]]
 After being promoted to head of [[Parlophone|Parlophone Records]] in 1955, [[George Martin]] began to shift the label, a subsidiary of [[EMI]], away from the classical music and original cast recordings it had focused on before.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbyowsinski/2016/03/14/how-george-martin-changed-the-finances-of-the-record-business/ |title=How George Martin Changed The Finances Of The Record Business |last=Owsinski |first=Bobby |work=Forbes |access-date=2 August 2018 |date=25 May 2022}}</ref> Martin felt unable to compete against the American catalogues that his larger rivals [[His Master's Voice|HMV]] and [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] released<ref name="bestofsellers"/> and later explained "I knew I had to make a mark in some way... ...and the way I chose was to go into comedy, because no one was doing it. People were doing it in the States – [[Stan Freberg]], [[Bob Newhart]] —  but there was nothing in England to speak of. And it seemed to work".<ref name="tunein">{{cite book |last1=Lewisohn |first1=Mark |title=The Beatles – All These Years, Volume One: Tune In |date=2013 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |isbn=978-1-4000-8305-3 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Beatles_All_These_Years_Extended_Spe/Ibk1AAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=24 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212113/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Beatles_All_These_Years_Extended_Spe/Ibk1AAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Martin was aided by the contemporary success of radio comedy and believed "comedy records succeeded because sound dominated in the days before television got its grip on people".<ref name="womack"/> He was dispirited when the [[BBC]] [[radio comedy]] stars [[The Goon Show|the Goons]] left Parlophone for [[Decca Records|Decca]] after their cover of "[[Unchained Melody]]" was blocked from release by the song's [[music publishing|publishers]],<ref name="womack">{{cite book |last1=Womack |first1=Kenneth |title=Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years, 1926–1966 |date=2017 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=9781613731925 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Maximum_Volume/Z6nGDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=25 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212125/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Maximum_Volume/Z6nGDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> but he achieved a breakthrough in 1957 when he worked with [[Peter Sellers]] again; Sellers' comic recording of "[[Any Old Iron (song)|Any Old Iron]]", a [[music hall]] song given a satirical [[skiffle]] arrangement and sung in the voice of ''The Goon Show'' character [[List of The Goon Show cast members and characters#Willium "Mate" Cobblers|Willium "Mate" Cobblers]], reached number 17 on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="tunein"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Sellers |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4961/peter-sellers/ |website=www.officialcharts.com |accessdate=25 May 2022 |language=en |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523214955/https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4961/peter-sellers/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Recognising that Sellers was capable of "a daydreaming form of humour which could be amusing and seductive without requiring the trigger of a live audience", Martin pitched a full album to EMI.<ref name="hepworth">{{cite book |last1=Hepworth |first1=David |title=A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives |date=2019 |publisher=Bantam |isbn=978-1-7841-6208-5 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Fabulous_Creation/WH1lDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=songs+for+swingin+sellers&pg=PT86&printsec=frontcover |access-date=25 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212109/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Fabulous_Creation/WH1lDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=songs+for+swingin+sellers&pg=PT86&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> The management were reluctant, doubting the commercial viability of a full-length studio comedy record. They agreed only to a compromise: that ''The Best of Sellers'' be made at a reduced production budget for release as a 10-inch LP rather than a standard 12-inch.<ref name="womack"/> The album's [[tongue-in-cheek]] title proved apt when it became a number three hit and its success led to EMI commissioning a 12-inch reissue despite their earlier misgivings.<ref name="womack"/> Subsequently, Martin was asked to make a second album with Sellers by the same people who had denigrated the idea of the first, something he considered "a kind of accolade, which recognised Parlophone as the label for humorous people".<ref name="womack"/>
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 ===Side one===
 According to [[Spencer Leigh (radio presenter)|Spencer Leigh]], "You Keep Me Swingin'" mocks "the image of [[Frank Sinatra]] as the perpetual [[Swing music|swinger]]".<ref name="sinatra">{{cite book |last1=Leigh |first1=Spencer |title=Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life |date=25 September 2015 |publisher=McNidder and Grace Limited |isbn=9780857160881 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Frank_Sinatra/BBm6CgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=23 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212108/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Frank_Sinatra/BBm6CgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> The song, arranged by [[Ron Goodwin]] in a [[big band]] approximation of [[Nelson Riddle]]’s work with Sinatra, was written by George Martin (under the pseudonym Graham Fisher) and Ken Hare.<ref name="monro">{{cite book |last1=Monro |first1=Michele |title=Matt Monro: The Singer's Singer |date=2011 |publisher=Titan |isbn=9781848569508 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Matt_Monro_The_Singer_s_Singer/sDu_BgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=matt+monro+decca&pg=PT117&printsec=frontcover |access-date=25 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212112/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Matt_Monro_The_Singer_s_Singer/sDu_BgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=matt+monro+decca&pg=PT117&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Intending to sing on the track, Sellers asked Martin to find Sinatra soundalike to record a demo vocal to help guide him. Martin considering using [[Dennis Lotis]] before recruiting [[Matt Monro]], whose performance was ultimately used on the album after Sellers felt he couldn't improve upon it.<ref name="monro"/><ref name="Larkin60">{{cite book |title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music]] |date=1997 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |isbn=0-7535-0149-X |editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]] |edition=First |pages=315/6}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Monro had been dropped by both [[Decca Records|Decca]] and [[Fontana Records|Fontana]] after failing to find success.<ref name="monro"/>}} Billed on the album as "Fred Flange" (a name conceived by Martin), Monro found the experience demoralising but his impersonation was close enough to prompt speculation that it was Sinatra himself.<ref name="elephants">{{cite book |last1=Inverne |first1=James |title=Wrestling with Elephants |date=2003 |publisher=SMT |isbn=9780857123718 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Wrestling_with_Elephants/rd2aAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=24 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212116/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Wrestling_with_Elephants/rd2aAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="canada">{{cite book |last1=Hemmingsen |first1=Piers |title=The Beatles in Canada: The Origins of Beatlemania! |date=2016 |publisher=Wise Publications |isbn=9781787590731 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Beatles_in_Canada_The_Origins_of_Bea/a9JiDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=31 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212111/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Beatles_in_Canada_The_Origins_of_Bea/a9JiDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[BBC]] gave "You Keep Me Swingin'" heavy airplay and Monro was subsequently offered a Parlophone contract by Martin, initiating a successful partnership between the two men.<ref name="tunein"/> Written by comedy partners [[Denis Norden]] and [[Frank Muir]], "So Little Time" lampoons the English [[impresario]] [[Larry Parnes]] and his stable of young [[rock & roll]] stars including [[Marty Wilde]] and [[Billy Fury]].<ref name="parody bands">{{cite web |title=9 parody bands that got it spot on |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/a5440e6a-2d1e-417d-8f00-350a4d669f6b |website=BBC |access-date=24 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212112/https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/a5440e6a-2d1e-417d-8f00-350a4d669f6b |url-status=live }}</ref> Parnes is caricatured as Major Rafe Ralph, a horse dealer turned pop manager who lives with his protégés Lenny Bronze, Clint Thigh, Matt Lust and [[Conway Twitty|Twit Conway]] in a luxury [[Mayfair]] flat.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="maconie">{{cite book |last1=Maconie |first1=Stuart |title=The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records |date=2013 |publisher=Ebury Publishing |isbn=9781409033189 |page=370 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_People_s_Songs/6xmq82qoq70C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+sellers+clint+thigh&pg=PA370&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2022-06-03 |archive-date=2022-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212118/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_People_s_Songs/6xmq82qoq70C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+sellers+clint+thigh&pg=PA370&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Ralph and Conway are interviewed by Nancy Lisbon, a parody of prominent broadcaster [[Nancy Spain]].<ref name="cooke">{{cite book |last1=Cooke |first1=Rachel |title=Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties |date=2013 |publisher=Little Brown Book Group |isbn=9780748128716 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Her_Brilliant_Career/-gpd3uluH50C?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=29 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212113/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Her_Brilliant_Career/-gpd3uluH50C?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="collis">{{cite book |last1=Collis |first1=Rose |title=A Trouser-wearing Character; The Life and Times of Nancy Spain |date=1997 |publisher=Cassell |isbn=9780304328796 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Trouser_wearing_Character/baVZAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=peter%20sellers%20Rafe%20Ralph |access-date=29 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212128/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Trouser_wearing_Character/baVZAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=peter+sellers+Rafe+Ralph |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Gillian A.M. Mitchell, the sketch reflects how "rock and [[skiffle]] frequently seemed, for certain [[avant-garde]] performers, to connote dim, talentless singers and manipulative managers".<ref name="Mitchell"/>
-[[File:LonnieDonegan1956.jpg|thumb|right|In "Puttin' On the Smile", Lenny Goonigan frequently mentions "workin' on the railroad", an allusion to [[Lonnie Donegan]]'s "[[Rock Island Line]]"<ref name="telegraph">{{cite journal |last1=Chilton |first1=Martin |title=Lonnie Donegan and the Birth of British Rock & Roll, by Patrick Humphries: review |journal=The Telegraph |date=16 November 2012 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/biographyandmemoirreviews/9678833/Lonnie-Donegan-and-the-Birth-of-British-Rock-and-Roll-by-Patrick-Humphries-review.html |access-date=24 May 2022 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524122822/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/biographyandmemoirreviews/9678833/Lonnie-Donegan-and-the-Birth-of-British-Rock-and-Roll-by-Patrick-Humphries-review.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
 "The Contemporary Scene – 1: Radio Today" consists of two sketches. The first, "Lord Badminton's Memoirs", has Sellers as an [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocrat]] recounting his life and betraying his disregard for the welfare of his employees.<ref name="norman"/> In his liner notes for the album, Peter Munro-Smith advised that the sketch may bring on "an acute attack of nostalgia" to those over seventy.<ref name="liner">{{cite AV media notes| title = Songs for Swingin' Sellers | others= Peter Sellers| year = 1959| type = liner| publisher = [[Parlophone]]}}</ref> The second, "The Critics", has Sellers and the comic actress [[Irene Handl]] poking art critics in broadcasting, with a panel of speakers discussing an art exhibition at [[Tate Britain|the Tate]] using excessive, indecipherable jargon.<ref name="norman"/><ref name="grin">{{cite book |last1=Carpenter |first1=Humphrey |title=A Great, Silly Grin - The British Satire Boom Of The 1960s |date=2002 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=9781586480813 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Great_Silly_Grin/UCdaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Faith%20Bradshaw%20irene%20handl |access-date=2 June 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212114/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Great_Silly_Grin/UCdaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Faith+Bradshaw+irene+handl |url-status=live }}</ref> Handl's character, Faith Bradshaw, is a parody of [[Dilys Powell]].<ref name="french">{{cite book |last1=French |first1=Philip |title=Ariel at Bay - Reflections on Broadcasting and the Arts : a Festschrift for Philip French |date=1990 |isbn=9780856359453 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Ariel_at_Bay/qJBZAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Faith%20Bradshaw%20irene%20handl |access-date=2 June 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212115/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Ariel_at_Bay/qJBZAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Faith+Bradshaw+irene+handl |url-status=live }}</ref> Sellers' rendition of "[[My Old Dutch (song)|My Old Dutch]]", a [[music hall]] song published in 1892 and written by [[Albert Chevalier]] and [[Charles Ingle]], is delivered with mock-sentimentality and deliberately over-the-top emotion.<ref name="comedystars">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Ronald L. |title=Comedy Stars at 78 RPM |date=1998 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786404629 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Comedy_Stars_at_78_RPM/XiJaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=peter%20sellers%20my%20old%20dutch |access-date=2 June 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212114/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Comedy_Stars_at_78_RPM/XiJaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=peter+sellers+my+old+dutch |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="louvich">{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Louvich |title=Here, there and everywhere |url=https://amp.theguardian.com/education/2002/oct/05/highereducation.biography |website=AV Club |access-date=26 May 2022 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524015626/https://amp.theguardian.com/education/2002/oct/05/highereducation.biography |url-status=live }}</ref> The song had been taught to Sellers as a child by his mother, Peg, and biographer [[Ed Sikov]] has postulated that Sellers' apparent distaste of it explains the rendering's "distinctly nasty edge".<ref name="sikov">{{cite book |last1=Sikov |first1=Ed |title=Mr Strangelove A Biography of Peter Sellers |date=2002 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=9781447207146 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Mr_Strangelove/PO-5-ttYn3UC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=31 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212114/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Mr_Strangelove/PO-5-ttYn3UC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> "The Contemporary Scene – 2: T.V. Today" consists of two sketches. The first, "Face to Face", has Sellers play a loquacious interviewer who never allows his interviewee to answer the questions.<ref name="norman"/> The second, "In a Free State", presents an interview with Mr Bedham, an [[Irish people|Irish]] playwright who is "slurred, angry, panting and ready to commit murder to get at a drink".<ref name="lewis">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Roger |title=The Life and Death of Peter Sellers |date=1995 |publisher=Arrow |isbn=9780099747000 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Life_and_Death_of_Peter_Sellers/biKazcH-dXoC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=30 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212115/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Life_and_Death_of_Peter_Sellers/biKazcH-dXoC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bedham is a parody of the Irish playwright [[Brendan Behan]], who generated significant publicity for his play ''[[The Quare Fellow]]'' in June 1956 when he made a drunken appearance on [[BBC Television]] programme ''[[Panorama (British TV programme)|Panorama]]''.<ref name="behan">{{cite book |last1=Mikhail |first1=E.H. |title=Brendan Behan Volume I: Interviews and Recollections |date=3 January 2016 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=9781349060139 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Brendan_Behan/9ievCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=inauthor:%22E.H.+Mikhail%22&printsec=frontcover |access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=On this day in 1956... |url=https://www.facebook.com/BBCRadio4/photos/on-this-day-in-1956-brendan-behan-turned-up-for-a-bbc-television-interview-roari/10158766278065459/ |website=BBC Radio 4 |access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref> According to the journalist [[William J. Weatherby]], Behan's wife admired Sellers' impersonation of her husband and considered Bedham's references to "the thirst" the most accurate part of the sketch.<ref name="behan"/>
 ===Side two===
+[[File:LonnieDonegan1956.jpg|thumb|right|In "Puttin' On the Smile", Lenny Goonigan frequently mentions "workin' on the railroad", an allusion to [[Lonnie Donegan]]'s "[[Rock Island Line]]"<ref name="telegraph">{{cite journal |last1=Chilton |first1=Martin |title=Lonnie Donegan and the Birth of British Rock & Roll, by Patrick Humphries: review |journal=The Telegraph |date=16 November 2012 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/biographyandmemoirreviews/9678833/Lonnie-Donegan-and-the-Birth-of-British-Rock-and-Roll-by-Patrick-Humphries-review.html |access-date=24 May 2022 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524122822/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/biographyandmemoirreviews/9678833/Lonnie-Donegan-and-the-Birth-of-British-Rock-and-Roll-by-Patrick-Humphries-review.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
 "Puttin' On the Smile", a parody of [[Lonnie Donegan]]'s recording of "[[Puttin' On the Style]]", caricatures the [[skiffle]] craze.<ref name="NMEreview"/> It features Sellers in the guise of a self-serving [[Folk music|folk singer]] named Lenny Goonigan. As well as a musical spoof, the track presents an interview with Goonigan and satirises Donegan's practice of covering American folk songs; when asked if he's been to the [[Deep South]], Goonigan tells the interviewer "I've been all over, man - [[Brighton]], [[Portsmouth]], [[Truro]], [[Penzance]]". Goonigan also explains that his last record was "an obscure folk song hidden at the top of the American hit parade".<ref name="NMEreview"/> Donegan was unamused by the sketch.<ref name="telegraph"/><ref name="wynn">{{cite book |last1=Wynn |first1=Neil A. |title=Cross the Water Blues: African American Music in Europe |date=2007 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=9781604735475 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Cross_the_Water_Blues/PMaszIALuVYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+sellers+donegan&pg=PA170&printsec=frontcover |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212116/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Cross_the_Water_Blues/PMaszIALuVYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+sellers+donegan&pg=PA170&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref>
@@ Line 41: / Line 42: @@
 ==Release==
-[[File:1962 Peter Sellers advert.jpg|thumb|left|[[Peter Sellers]]' likeness appears on a [[wanted poster]] on the album cover<ref name="liner"/>]]
+[[File:1962 Peter Sellers advert.jpg|thumb|right|[[Peter Sellers]]' likeness appears on a [[wanted poster]] on the album cover<ref name="liner"/>]]
 ''Songs for Swingin' Sellers'' was released on 4 December 1959 in an eye-catching sleeve depicting "the booted and spurred feet of a man, presumably the artist, hanging from a tree above one of those record players that the adventurous might take on a picnic".<ref name="hepworth"/> The artwork appears in [[Barry Miles]], Grant Scott and Johnny Morgan's book ''The Greatest Album Covers of All Time'', in which it is speculated that the shot of a [[hanging|hanged]] man may have been inspired by "[[Mort Sahl]]'s brand of "[[Black comedy|sick humour]]"".<ref name="greatest">{{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Barry |last2=Scott |first2=Grant |last3=Morgan |first3=Johnny |title=The Greatest Album Covers of All Time |date=2016 |publisher=Collins & Brown |isbn=9781911163367 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Greatest_Album_Covers_of_All_Time/UFAmEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+sellers+swingin&pg=PT43&printsec=frontcover |access-date=31 May 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212121/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Greatest_Album_Covers_of_All_Time/UFAmEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+sellers+swingin&pg=PT43&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition, the packaging carries several humorous notes, including instructions to "only use needles of Burmese plywood" to play the record and to "send Grandma out of the room".<ref name="hepworth"/><ref name="liner"/>
@@ Line 116: / Line 117: @@
 ==References==
 {{Reflist}}
-{{Authority control}}
 [[Category:1959 albums]]

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