Search - Paul Shanklin :: Bill Clinton: The Early Years

Another winner by Paul Shanklin!

Michael J Woznicki | Holland, MA USA | 10/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tired of the current administration? Wish you could find out the truth? Ready to laugh? Then this CD is for you. Paul Shanklin has combined great parodies with great songs to give the perfect combination.Using well-known tunes, Shanklin leaves no doubt as to how he feels about what's going on. I found myself laughing for hours over what was said and sung. There are 24 wonderful tracks, each one is great.ALL YOUR MONEY and WAKIN' UP IS HARD TO DO are just a couple of the songs you find on this CD. Shanklin's voices are so close to the real life characters, you have to ask yourself just who is singing.So if you want meet Bill, Hillary, Teddy and the whole cast of characters, hop on down to your local music store and get a copy of The Early Years."

Not his best -- but good enough

Michael J Woznicki | 09/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Shanklin hasn't quite gotten his voices perfected in this album -- except for Ross Perot. "They're Coming to Take Ross Away" is a perfect parody. Still, though "Save Our Bill" and "Pay Your Fair Share" are very funny, his Clinton is better in "Executive Privileges" and "This Land Was Your Land". The parodies are also better in the later albums.But although -- as an example -- his Sammy Davis Jr. needs work, the song "Farrakhan" is very true.And that's the basis of Paul Shanklin's humor. Humor only works if there is an element of truth -- and throughout all his albums, even here, Shanklin has a way of eerily uncovering layers of hidden truth, sometimes with the skill of a surgeon, sometimes with the glee of a jolly butcher. But always with a twinkle in his eye, and a Wildean wit that should amuse all but the most hidebound liberals.Far more astute a political humorist than Mark Russell, Shanklin has a talent for identifying the absurdities of the Dickensian array of 1990's political characters, and carrying those figures own ideas and words to humorous (and frightening) extremes. The fact that, like most of his targets, he is a southerner, certainly must help.Presenting the voices of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ross Perot, and James Carville singing wacky versions of hit songs with lyrics comprised of their own nutty ideas carried Mr. Shanklin through five albums; and though this one is not his best work, it does have classic songs like "They'll Get You, Babe", a duet between the Clintons that represents what most Americans thinks goes on behind their bedroom door; and the skits and parodies will always remind you of the wackiness, deceit, scandal, and media hypocrisy that was politics in the last decade of the twentieth century."

All the classics

Martin Andrade | Minnesota | 04/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection of political parodies done by Paul Shanklin is great. Even if you like the Clintons you?ll have a hard time not laughing. Also, along with the songs you get some shorts that parody liberals.The top songs in this collection (12 total) are ?All your money,? ?I lied to you? and ?They?re taking Ross away?. The best skit is the parody of Forrest Gump As Forrest Gore.Even though it?s been 8 years since these things were released, it?s still fun to listen to. It?s a reminder to conservatives about the way it was, when Clinton ruled."