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Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody
August 7, 2009 10:30 am
I love this record. And I couldn’t resist showing off the label (above). Marquis Howell (of Hobo Jazz.com and bass player for Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys) handed me this record at the show last night. He found it in a thrift shop for a buck and gave it to me as a gift. Thanks, man! I’d heard the track before, but I don’t recall ever seeing the label for it. You can listen to the classic Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody on You Tube — as well as it’s flip side, I’m Glad That I’m Bugs Bunny, both written by Warren Foster and Michael Maltese, with incredible vocals by Mel Blanc. For more information on vintage Looney Tunes recordings, visit Golden Age Cartoons. Click thumbnails below see larger images of the labels and record sleeve.
18 comments posted in Classic, Warner Bros. 
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This series of Capitol records were among the finest childrens’ recordings ever made, many arranged by big band/Sinatra legend Billy May. Things only went downhill from there.
Boy do I hate clowns.
That Daffy number is a ready-made soundtrack for a short. I wish that WB had tossed it at somebody like Darrel Van Citters or Greg Ford to create visuals for it.
Message to Murph: You are right on my wavelength! Your entire statement (including your closing opinion) is 100% accurate! I am a big fan of these records, and I have collected them (among other 78 rpm records) for about the last 51 years! (And I was listening to them for about a decade before THAT!) Today, the man who wrote what I’d call “discography PLUS” books on Billy May and on Spike Jones (Jack Mirtle) is working on a new book about those Capitol children’s records! I am one of a few people contributing info on the output (which is mostly 1944-1956, w/a few one-shots that followed).
I’d like to be put in touch with you, if you are agreeable to the idea. I think that we could have “fun stuff” exchanges. Being relatively new to the Intenet, I am not sure how this connection could be accomplished. (Perhaps we could be put in touch with each other through Jerry Beck somehow?)
Regardless, I at least wanted you to know how much your comment was appreciated by
Walt Mitchell
“Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody” is available on CD on the 2-CD various artists compilation tilted “Dr. Demento’s 30th Anniversary Collection” from Rhino Records.
“Released with the proud endorsement of Pennywise the Clown”
There’s no school like Old School! Thanks for reminding us what a megatalented genius Mel Blanc was, (not that anyone doubted it.)
What other songs/ albums are there like these. I have heard the Tweety Pie one.
Holy moley — I haven’t heard this in over 30 years! What a find!
These two songs are interesting, especially in how well-suited to the characters they are. Daffy Duck laments his lot in life in “Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody”, while Bugs Bunny sings of self-acceptance (“I’m glad to be the way I am…”). Leave it to me to find something philosophical in old children’s records…
Jeez Louise! In that YouTube video, the guy plays the Bugs Bunny record on an accoustic Gramophone! Here’s a lesson for you kiddoes: NEVER play a record on a machine that’s of an older generation than the record is. You’ll do irreparable damage to the groove.
Wow. I think I heard this somewhere before but the older I get the more I appreciate the comic genius of Mel Blanc, someone I confess I took for granted as a kid. This record is a wonderful example of how vividly he could lay down absolutely one-of-a-kind voice tracks. He himself truly was one of a kind. He didn’t just “put on” funny voices, he made them real. And real, real funny. Thanks Jerry!
Decades ago, I heard “Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody” played on an April Fool’s Day broadcast on WFMT, a classic music radio station in Chicago. Afterwards, the announcer deadpanned something like, “That was the Hungarian Rhapsody Number Two, by Franz Liszt, performed by Daffy Duck. The conductor is not listed.”
It’s still a vivid memory.
Many years ago I worked for a director locally whose wife was a nurse for the Children’s Hospital. She brought home several of these Capitol 78s for husband, I guess they being considered old media unlike LPs or Cassettes. As well as the voice tracks and unique arrangements I loved the booklets that were built in each album usually drawn by the respective character’s studio. I have a very modest kiddie LP collection (no 78s yet) and I will say I picked them up usually for the artwork.
Well, I never expected this…
If you follow that link in Jerry’s post to the video for Daffy’s Rhapsody, you are taken to a video that I made. Never thought I’d see anything I created on linked to on such a prestigious website. I am quite flattered. Thanks to Jerry for linking.
While “Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody” would make a wonderful cartoon…
Earle Doud recorded a comedy album of Henry Kissinger, titled “Henry the First”. (It’s got a great Hirschfeld drawing on the cover.) On the first track, Doctor Kissinger (Kenneth Mars?) is sent to Disneyland, to mediate a strike. Mickey and gang are on strike (Pluto is the shop steward), and the Looney Toons are scabbing. It’s actually much funnier as audio, with your mind filling in the pictures to go along with the sound effects!
Was one of my favorite records growing up as a kid.
I have a very vivid memory of seeing a cartoon with this song in it in, I think, the 70’s or early 80’s on tv. The Bugs Bunny show, I think. It starts off with a hunter (non PC) chasing Daffy them asking him why he was so daffy, then the song. I remember it because when Daffy sings “Rabbit for a rabbit stew”, he pulls down a roll up poster with a picture of Bugs on it. Does any one else remember this cartoon? I’m trying to remember the title. I think I may have actually video taped this on my first vcr.