Stan Freberg is a
satirical composer, voice
actor and
advertising writer. Freberg gained popularity in the
1950s when he released a single called '
John and Marsha' which is a spoof of the over-the-top '50s radio
soap operas. His staple recordings were spoofs of contemporary jazz, pop, and rock-and-roll, similar to
Weird Al Yankovic. Many times he's satirizing the recording process itself, typified by his recording of '
The Yellow Rose of Texas' interupted by frequent arguments between the band leader and the overenthusiastic
snare drummer.
He also had a couple of radio shows in the '50s, including 'That's Rich' and 'The Stan Freberg Show.'
His greatest claim to fame was his 1961 recording "Stan Freberg presents The United States of America: Volume One, The Early Years." This epic album recounts, in pageant style, the history of America from Columbus to the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown (with anachronistic help from Norman Rockwell). In Dallas, the local Public Radio station anually plays "The United States of America" every 4th of July. In the late 1990s Freberg went back to the studios for "Volume Two, The Middle Years." This is unfortunately not the equal of the original.
Following the recording of the "The United States of America" Stan Freberg has made a very successful career of making humerous commercials.
If you're interested, there's a great interview with Freberg on The Onion's AV Club: http://www.theavclub.com/avclub3531/avfeature3531.html