A terrific lyricist himself, back in the '30's he sometimes collaborated with his friend Paul Feltenstein, a fine musician, to write songs.
One of these, Let's Put our Heads Together and Kiss, was even published and featured on Pianist Eddie Duchin's radio show!*
Here are some examples of his songs!
I know I'll never come close but I'll keep trying!
*********
Uncle Al wrote this one around 1978, when he was on a trip to Israel.
SPEAK A LITTLE HEBREW
by Alfred Preskill -- 1972
Tune: Let me Call you Sweetheart
Speak a little Hebrew, it will be all right,
Boker-tov: Good Morning; Laila-to: Good Night,
Todo Rabat is Thank you, Bavakasha, not at all, please,
Ani Ohev Otakh -- I love you, that's the best of these!
Speak a little Hebrew, This is lesson two,
Malakh is an angel, Malakhini are two,
The word for King is Melekh, Do not be confused,
When business goes Makhula, then we sing the blues.
We are all khaverim (friends)
We drink our Maccabees (that's beer)
Eshkolit is grapefruit, from Jerusalem to the sea,
The Sea is yam, and Mayim laps the sunny, sandy shore,
Let's go back for JUF and shnorr, shnorr, shnorr!
If Mom and Dad don't marry, you're a mamzer, lad,
If sister sells her fanny, she's a nafke sad,
You name the vice they did it twice in Joshua, Judges and Kings,
But you'll go to jail in Eretz Yisrael if you do those things!
Uncle Al saw some things I was writing and wrote a few lyrics of his own on the same topics! They were terrific! Much better than mine. Here is one that he wrote during the energy crisis of the 1980's. (I had done some songs about this for a show - about which more elsewhere)
To: "Brush up your Shakespeare" from Kiss Me Kate. February 1980
Harness that action, channel that energy,
What satisfaction, the left and the right agree!
Let the OPEC chiefs hassle and heckel,
We will not pay those sheiks one more shekel,
We won't bow to oil oligopoly,
We will start our own muscle monopoly!
We could burn up each corpulent calorie,
To diminish some Saudi's fat salary;
Harness your action, save your en-er-gy!
Harness that action, channel that energy,
Wat satisfaction, your country looks to thee!
When you job hock yourself to a gizmo,
Getting wats from that sweat and machismo,
When you dance up a storm at a disco,
Keep an old lady warm out in fresco!
(and) when you shake that thing almost nightly,
You could light up the Great White Way brightly!
Harness your action, channel your en-er-gy!
(possible last couplet: Or when moving to Dan Cupid's rhythm,
All that voltage will tell 'em you're with 'em!
Harness that Action, channel your energy,
What satisfaction, all the power we need for free!
When offered new shoes from Lapides,
Say "No thanks, I prefer my Adidas!"
With beans as the stuff of your diet
You could generate power, just try it!
Burn your junk mail from each politician,
And we wouldn't need nuclear fission!
Harness your action, save your en-er-gy!
Uncle Al wrote this Anniversary Song for his sister and brother-in-law: my parents!
For Es and Abe February 16, 1980
Tune, "Midnight in Paris," Bridge from "Lover."
Isn't it nifty,
In wedlock to be fifty years,
That a couple of dears
Everyone say "three cheers,"
No scars of battle, not even a rattle,
They run
Like a son of a gun
Everyone say "what fun!"
Esther is always lady,
Abe cavalier and old school,
Never are they ever shady,
They're just cool-man cool.
Our hearts are brimming
In nachos we're swimming away
What a Glorious Day
Happy Anniversary!
(I wrote a few for this occasion as well -- not nearly as good!)
I know I'll never come close but I'll keep trying!
*********
Uncle Al wrote this one around 1978, when he was on a trip to Israel.
SPEAK A LITTLE HEBREW
by Alfred Preskill -- 1972
Tune: Let me Call you Sweetheart
Speak a little Hebrew, it will be all right,
Boker-tov: Good Morning; Laila-to: Good Night,
Todo Rabat is Thank you, Bavakasha, not at all, please,
Ani Ohev Otakh -- I love you, that's the best of these!
Speak a little Hebrew, This is lesson two,
Malakh is an angel, Malakhini are two,
The word for King is Melekh, Do not be confused,
When business goes Makhula, then we sing the blues.
We are all khaverim (friends)
We drink our Maccabees (that's beer)
Eshkolit is grapefruit, from Jerusalem to the sea,
The Sea is yam, and Mayim laps the sunny, sandy shore,
Let's go back for JUF and shnorr, shnorr, shnorr!
If Mom and Dad don't marry, you're a mamzer, lad,
If sister sells her fanny, she's a nafke sad,
You name the vice they did it twice in Joshua, Judges and Kings,
But you'll go to jail in Eretz Yisrael if you do those things!
*********
Uncle Al saw some things I was writing and wrote a few lyrics of his own on the same topics! They were terrific! Much better than mine. Here is one that he wrote during the energy crisis of the 1980's. (I had done some songs about this for a show - about which more elsewhere)
To: "Brush up your Shakespeare" from Kiss Me Kate. February 1980
Harness that action, channel that energy,
What satisfaction, the left and the right agree!
Let the OPEC chiefs hassle and heckel,
We will not pay those sheiks one more shekel,
We won't bow to oil oligopoly,
We will start our own muscle monopoly!
We could burn up each corpulent calorie,
To diminish some Saudi's fat salary;
Harness your action, save your en-er-gy!
Harness that action, channel that energy,
Wat satisfaction, your country looks to thee!
When you job hock yourself to a gizmo,
Getting wats from that sweat and machismo,
When you dance up a storm at a disco,
Keep an old lady warm out in fresco!
(and) when you shake that thing almost nightly,
You could light up the Great White Way brightly!
Harness your action, channel your en-er-gy!
(possible last couplet: Or when moving to Dan Cupid's rhythm,
All that voltage will tell 'em you're with 'em!
Harness that Action, channel your energy,
What satisfaction, all the power we need for free!
When offered new shoes from Lapides,
Say "No thanks, I prefer my Adidas!"
With beans as the stuff of your diet
You could generate power, just try it!
Burn your junk mail from each politician,
And we wouldn't need nuclear fission!
Harness your action, save your en-er-gy!
*******
For Es and Abe February 16, 1980
Tune, "Midnight in Paris," Bridge from "Lover."
Isn't it nifty,
In wedlock to be fifty years,
That a couple of dears
Everyone say "three cheers,"
No scars of battle, not even a rattle,
They run
Like a son of a gun
Everyone say "what fun!"
Esther is always lady,
Abe cavalier and old school,
Never are they ever shady,
They're just cool-man cool.
Our hearts are brimming
In nachos we're swimming away
What a Glorious Day
Happy Anniversary!
(I wrote a few for this occasion as well -- not nearly as good!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Here are the lyrics, as well as I can recall, to this song which my Uncle Al wrote with his friend Paul Feltenstein:
Let's put our heads together and kiss,
Let's put our heads together, like this.
Two heads they say, are better than one,
Two heads together, can be so much fun.
Let's put our thoughts together, and dream,
And concentrate on love as our theme.
Let's put our heads together,
Together we can't miss,
Let's put our heads together, and kiss, kiss, kiss!
******