“Shaving Cream” is 70 Years Old

AVON, Conn. - Jan. 1, 2016 - PRLog -- He may have recorded more than 200 songs on dozens of albums, singles and 78-rpm records, but Benny Bell’s career owes much of its longevity to one pungent recording, “Shaving Cream,” which became a hit exactly seventy years ago. The popular song was written and first recorded in 1946 to great jukebox success. It was resurrected on national radio in 1973, giving Bell a second act that lasted until his death in 1999 at the age of 93.

People coast to coast instantly recognize the naughty-but-not-too-naughty double-entendre ditty, which in a half-dozen verses substitutes the white foam for a four-letter expletive, such as:

“My old lady died in a bathtub,
She died from a terrible fit.
In order to fulfill her wishes
She was buried in six feet of ...
Shaving cream, be nice and clean,
Shave every day and you'll always look keen.”

After its 1946 debut, “Shaving Cream” was covered by many other artists and groups. There is a recorded reggae version; country version; versions by novelty deejay Dr. Demento;  is featured on dozens of fan-produced YouTube videos; and has been referenced on TV by many personalities, including several times by Drew Carey on “The Price is Right.”

Benny Bell, whose musical legacy has been preserved in a series of compilation CDs called “Benny Bell: A to P” and “Benny Bell: P to Almost Z” (available on CDBaby.com and Amazon iTunes), had his greatest popularity between the late 1930s and the early 1950s with such novelty classics as “Everybody Wants My Fanny,” “Take a Ship for Yourself,” “Grandpa Had a Long One,” “My Janitor’s Can,” “She Got Her Tidbit,” “A Goose for My Girl” and dozens of others. Bell was known in the music industry not just for writing and singing, but also for arranging, engineering and promoting his own recordings.

In the summer of 1973, Dr. Demento played “Shaving Cream” on his radio show, and before long it was picked up by other stations and became a Top-40 hit.

Billboard Magazine ran an article in January 1974 in which WNBC program director John Lund described what happened just after “Shaving Cream” started playing on his station: Here’s an excerpt: “December 9, record becomes most requested song during WNBC’s Total Request Week. December 31, Total Request Week ends at 5 p.m. Tally of tens of thousands of requests tabulated shows that ‘Shaving Cream’ was most-requested song.”

Bell’s career lasted more than 70 years. Following the 1973 revival of “Shaving Cream” he made dozens of television, nightclub and nostalgia show appearances, including some with Tiny Tim and Weird Al Yankovic.

“My grandfather was one of the funniest, busiest, most resilient performers ever to come out of vaudeville and the Borscht Belt,” says his grandson and biographer, Joel Samberg, who wrote a book called “Grandpa Had a Long One: Personal Notes on the Life, Career & Legacy of Benny Bell” (BearManor Media, 2009).

“Despite the fact that he never hooked up with the right people to help him break out nationally, he’s always had a strong and loyal following, partially because he was such a lovable nut. The 70th anniversary of ‘Shaving Cream’ is as good excuse as any to hop aboard his bawdy bandwagon.”

Born in 1906 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Bell’s story in some ways parallels that of the young Al Jolson. His Russian immigrant father was a cantor who would have liked for his son to follow in his footsteps. Benny was, indeed, deeply drawn to his faith, but too deeply drawn to music and humor to consider that a viable path.

In 1922, at the age of 16, he wrote new lyrics to the old standard, “Sweet Violets,” which then became a modest success. Throughout the next few years he was able to interest artists such as Eddie Cantor and Harry Von Tilzer in listening to his songs. He appeared on radio and entered many contests, winning fans along the way. By his early twenties, his songs were accepted for recording by Herman Rose, Ted Collins and others—although many were never released. So Benny began recording on his own.

“My grandfather tried to teach me that you should spend your life doing what you truly want to do, no matter how much the world is against you,” Samberg says. “He lived by that philosophy. Of course, he and his family also suffered a bit because of it—but if you met the guy, you’d never know it. He always had a laugh, a smile and a funny story, no matter where, no matter who. How can you not admire that?”

Today thousands of people coast to coast search for rare Benny Bell 78, 45 and 33 rpm albums and singles.