"St. George and the Dragonet" is a short audio satire recorded August 26, 1953 by

Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director. His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...

for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. It was released September 21, 1953 as a 45 rpm single (Capitol F2596), and reached No. 1 on both the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' and ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' record charts. Scripted by Freberg and Daws Butler, the

spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...

combined the tale of "

St. George and the Dragon In a legend, Saint Georgea soldier venerated in Christianitydefeats a dragon. The story goes that the dragon originally extorted tribute from villagers. When they ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, they started giving up a human tr ...

" with the popular 1950s radio-TV series '' Dragnet''. The recording was a #1 hit, selling over one million copies in the first three weeks. The cast featured Freberg, Butler, June Foray and Hy Averback. Freberg used a variation of the line "Just the facts, ma'am," which was popularly associated with ''Dragnet'' despite never being used in the series. Freberg actually said, "I just want to get the facts, ma’am."

Plot

The narrator in the introduction states that the legend that the listener is going to hear is true and that "only the needle should be changed to protect the record."

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

begins his story: "This is the countryside. My name is St. George. I am a Knight." (This parodies Sgt. Joe Friday's opening narration, "This is the City.") St. George learns that the dragon is wanted for "devouring maidens out of season", and sets out to apprehend it. He encounters a maiden (June Foray in a New York accent) who was "burned" by the dragon and confident in her own testimony, stating that she got it "straight from the dragon's mouth." He also meets a knave (Daws Butler) who has been accused of "stealing tarts", who gives the description of the dragon. When the Knave asks St. George how he plans to capture the dragon, the knight says he will use a "dragon net". George finds the dragon and charges him with a 502 (Devouring Maidens Out of Season) and as the dragon over-dramatically bellows his defiance to the charge, St. George also charges him with a 412 (Overacting) and takes him into custody. The dragon's fire is "put out", its "maiden-devouring license" is revoked, and it is sentenced to a prison term. The narrator concludes by saying, "Maiden devouring out of season is punishable by a term of not less than 50, or more than 300 years."

Production

Freberg wanted to use the original ''Dragnet'' opening theme music by

Walter Schumann Walter Schumann (October 8, 1913 – August 21, 1958) was an American composer for film, television, and the theater. His notable works include the score for '' The Night of the Hunter'' and the ''Dragnet'' Theme; the latter of which earned Sch ...

. Capitol Records insisted he get the permission of ''Dragnet'' star and creator,

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Joe Friday, Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise) ...

. Being a Freberg fan, Webb liked the idea, approved the use of the theme and allowed Freberg to use the same orchestra from the ''Dragnet'' series with Schumann conducting. (According to Freberg, when he approached Webb with the idea for the record, the actor said, "I was wondering when you'd get around to me, Freberg.")Freberg, Stan. ''It Only Hurts When I Laugh''. New York: Times Books, 1988. The recording had to be restarted several times because the

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

players were laughing so hard at the jokes that they were unable to play their instruments. Schumann's music was issued on sheet music with a front cover photograph of Freberg (minus his glasses), a humorous close-up with ''noir'' lighting as if it were a still from ''Dragnet''.

Reception

"St. George and the Dragonet" was issued through the same channels as the distribution of

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

, and in 1953 it was #1 on both the ''

'' and ''

'' record charts. The B-side was another ''Dragnet'' spoof, "Little Blue Riding Hood", based on the fairy tale "

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brother ...

", in which Little Red Riding Hood (voiced by June Foray) is accused of trafficking "goodies". The introductory narration claims that "only the color has been changed, to prevent an investigation," a reference to the high-level "

red scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...

" investigations conducted in that period by the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

. Freberg's in-character narration begins, "This is the woods". Freberg and Butler later issued a Christmas-themed ''Dragnet'' parody, "Christmas Dragnet" (aka "Yulenet"), concerning a character named Grudge who was picked up by the squad for refusing to believe in Santa Claus. Freberg's in-character narration begins,"This is the season". "St. George and the Dragonet" was later made available in a 1991 CD set, ''Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection'' (Rhino R2 70743, May 21, 1991); a 1998 CD ''The Very Best Of Stan Freberg'' (Collectables COL-CD-2733; reissue of 1990 CD The Capitol Collector's Series); and a 1999 CD set ''Tip of the Freberg: The Stan Freberg Collection'' 1951-1998 (Rhino R2 75645, August 3, 1999). In 1957 Freberg reprised the sketch on one episode of his radio series, ''

The Stan Freberg Show ''The Stan Freberg Show'' was a weekly radio comedy show that ran on the CBS Radio Network for fifteen episodes in 1957 from July 14 through October 20. The show, starring comedian Stan Freberg and featuring the vocal talents of Daws Butler, June ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George and the Dragonet 1953 singles Dragnet (franchise) Number-one singles in the United States Parodies of literature Parodies of radio programs Comedy sketches Works by Stan Freberg Saint George and the Dragon