Allan Sherman

Anybody who could write the line "King Louie was living like a king" is all right with Cohen. Allan Sherman was a great wit and song writer who until now has not gotten his critical due. Cohen is helping to correct the situation.

Liner notes to My Son, The Box

Rhino Records released the six-CD boxed set of Allan Sherman's musical parodies, My Son, The Box. The Box includes all of Sherman's albums and also his unreleased parody of the Broadway musical My Fair Lady. It also contains Cohen's 7,000-word essay on Sherman, which is the first installment of a planned biography.

To research his biography of Allan Sherman, Cohen is continuing to interview Sherman's old friends, business associates, college buddies, family members, and acquaintances. If you knew Allan Sherman in any capacity at any point in his life, Cohen would like to interview you. Please send him an email. He will respond to you promptly.

Sherman articles

"My Fair Sadie" is the first academic research article ever written on Allan Sherman. It argues that Sherman's Jewish parodies of My Fair Lady and other Broadway musicals revealed what few recognized 50 years ago: that the musical was the creation of Jewish Americans who were eager to communicate their ideals while concealing their identities. Themes of interest to Jews, such as racial tolerance, upward mobility, and the great promise of American freedom, infused South Pacific, My Fair Lady, and Finian's Rainbow. Jews themselves remained invisible. Sherman's Jewish parodies unmask the role Jews played in creating the Broadway musical, which remains one of America's most popular cultural achievements.

"Allan Sherman." Major essay on Sherman's music and life for Warner Music Group's six-CD boxed set, My Son, The Box.

"Allan Sherman: A Different Kind of Jewish Music." Heritage, publication of the American Jewish Historical Society (Fall 2004).