St. George and the Dragonet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"St. George and the Dragonet" is a short radio satire created by Stan Freberg in 1953 for use on the Stan Freberg Show. It is a spoof combining the tale of "St. George and the Dragon" with the popular 1950s radio-TV series Dragnet.

Freberg asked Daws Butler to join him in scripting his Capitol Records singles. "St. George and the Dragonet", their first collaboration, was the first comedy record to sell over one million copies.

Freberg wanted to use the original Dragnet opening theme music by Walter Schumann. Capitol Records insisted he get the permission of Dragnet star and creator, Jack Webb. 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.^[1] The recording had to be restarted several times because the trombone players were laughing so hard at the jokes that they were unable to play their instruments.

"St. George and the Dragonet" was issued as a recording through the same channels as the distribution of popular songs, and for a time in 1953 it was #1 on both the Billboard and Cash Box record charts. The B side was another Dragnet spoof, "Little Blue Riding Hood," based on the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood."