Peter and Sophia
Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren
Parlophone PMC 1131
1960
I first heard the song "Goodness Gracious Me!" when some joker on KXLU played it. Even though the song is racist and inane, it stuck in my head and led me to purchase this record although I was certain it would be awful. I was largely correct about that but I have no regrets. Sophia Loren was my first movie star crush as a child and I'm still fond of her. I also was a big fan of Peter Sellers as a child, but that has not lasted. I find him tedious and annoying now. The record was produced by the great George Martin probably one of the least distinguished albums in his discography. He had a long association with Sellers producing his comedy records in the 1950s. The album is a mix of music and comedy bits. I like Loren's two solo numbers which are the beguiling and silly "Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo" and Rodgers and Hart's "To Keep My Love Alive" which chronicles the various ways that a woman murders her many husbands. Loren is not a strong singer but her voice is pleasant and warm. I find her engaging. I think her best performance comes in Leslie Bricusse's "I Fell in Love with an Englishman" in which she breathily croons and then speaks of her love for the title character who is voiced by Sellers as an upper class twit in one of his typically exaggerated caricatures. There are three more duets with Sellers and Loren which I find simultaneously appealing and annoying. The best is easily "Goodness Gracious Me!" which describes an Indian doctor fending off an amorous patient's advances. George Martin commissioned the song for inclusion in the film "The Millionairess" which has a similar plot. It was rejected but a photograph from the film was still used for the cover of this album. Sellers' caricature of an Indian is blatantly racist and unfunny but Loren's ardent wooing of him is genuinely sexy. The song is mercilessly catchy and whenever I hear it, it sticks in my head for awhile. It was a hit in England and inspired a follow-up "Bangers and Mash" in which Sellers portrays a Cockney who marries an Italian woman during World War II and finds himself missing English food because his wife only serves him Italian food. It is as stupid as it sounds. Sellers can't resist showing off, adopting an American accent for the middle section and then an Italian accent for the final verse. I can barely stand his clowning but Loren is charming. The final duet is the swinging "Fare Thee Well" which Sellers starts singing in his normal voice which is too weak for the demands of the song. Of course Sellers being Sellers that does not last long as he quickly breaks into his bag of accents to muck up the song. Loren struggles with the song as well which is beyond her skills but unlike Sellers she gamely sticks with it to the end. Sellers has three musical numbers of his own. In Gershwin's "Oh! Lady Be Good" he thankfully does not sing. It is an up-tempo jazz number performed by Ron Goodwin and his orchestra in which Sellers uses his voice to sound like a piccolo although I think he sounds more like a clarinet or a saxophone. If I am to believe his dumb patter at the end of the song he apparently recorded his voice at a slower speed and then they speeded up the tape for the record. It sounds like a George Martin type thing to do. If nothing else the song does cook and it is neither offensive nor tedious unlike most of Sellers' other tracks. He poorly impersonates an old timey crooner for "Ukelele Lady" which dates back to 1925. He is accompanied by the faux 1920's jazz band "The Temperance Seven" who later had a hit with "You're Driving Me Crazy." The song is tiresome and pointless to me. The worst of the three is "Grandpa's Grave" in which Sellers portrays a cockney singer named Eugene Squills regaling the audience with a ditty about moving grandpa's grave to the sewer. It is moronic but still better than Sellers' comedy bits which comprise the rest of the album. I find them all painful and unfunny. In "'Smith'" he portrays a pompous thespian describing his latest play in mind-numbing detail. "Setting Fire to the Policeman" finds him nostalgically recalling his favorite childhood prank of setting policemen on fire. "Why Worry?" employs a man in the street interview approach to allow Sellers to show off a variety of English accents as he trivializes the arms race and the nuclear bomb. The worst track is easily "Africa Today" in which Sellers portrays the savagely racist Brigadier Sir John Hanley-Adamant droning on and on about abusing his African servants. I know he is mocking him but it is still hard to listen to. I find it mind-boggling that anyone ever thought this was funny. If Sophia Loren were not on this record, I would have discarded it long ago. Her charisma and allure are enough to get me to endure Sellers' contributions. I could just record her bits and listen to them without Sellers, but I have to admit that terrible though they may, I do find Sellers' tracks fascinating in their awfulness. I can't recommend this record, but if you like Sophia Loren as much as I do you might want to seek it out.
