Jack Eljan

This cover may be the earliest Tom Lehrer cover, and one of the oddest stories to go with it. It seems that Tom Lehrer let his first album go out of print for a while, so some group from Rivoli Music Company thought it would be a good idea to re-record the album, word for word by someone else. Tom Lehrer once told me that Jack Elgan was so embarrassed about this recording, that he changed the credited name from his real name of Jack Nagle. This Story, or rather this second name may be false as I have found no record of Jack Nagle doing anything else. This recording was done without Tom Lehrers permission under some player piano legislation that is still on the books that allows you to do things like this. Tom Lehrer said to me the one time we spoke that he only ever remembered getting one royalty check for this album. In any event it was released in on several formats of vinyl, including 12", 10" and 7" between 1958 and 1960.

Download Be Prepared sample mp3

Albums:

  • Tom Lehrer's Song Satires by Jack elgan
    Rivoli music Company EPR4
    Be Prepared
    I hold your hand in mine
    The hunting song
    the old dope peddler
    Lobachevsky
    My Home Town
    I wanna go back to dixie
    When you are old and grey
    The wild west
    Fight Fiercely harvard.
    the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz
    The Irish Ballad