The First Family (album)

The First Family
Studio album by
Vaughn Meader
ReleasedNovember 1962
Spring 1963 (Volume Two)
RecordedOctober 22, 1962
March 18, 1963 (Volume Two)
StudioFine Recording Studio, New York City
GenreComedy
LabelCadence Records
ProducerEarle Doud[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
New Record Mirror[3]

The First Family is a 1962 comedy album featuring comedian and impressionist Vaughn Meader. The album, written and produced by Bob Booker and Earle Doud, was recorded on October 22, 1962, is a good-natured parody of then-President John F. Kennedy, both as Commander-in-Chief and as a member of the prominent Kennedy family. Issued by Cadence Records, The First Family became the largest and fastest selling record in the history of the record industry, selling at more than one million copies per week for the first six and one-half weeks in distribution and remained at #1 on the Billboard 200 for 12 weeks. By January 1963, sales reached more than seven million copies. Cadence president Archie Bleyer credited the album's success to heavy radio airplay.[4] The album was first played by Stan Z. Burns on WINS radio, a friend of Booker, and it instantly became a hit all over New York City. By the time the sequel album, The First Family Volume Two, was released, The First Family had sold 71⁄2 million copies[citation needed] – unprecedented for any album at the time, especially a comedy album.

The First Family won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1963, becoming the second and most recent comedy or spoken word album to win the award.

  1. ^ Smith, Ronald L. (2013). ""The First Family" (1962)" (PDF). Library of Congress.
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ Watson, Jimmy (5 January 1963). "Vaughn Meader: The First Family" (PDF). New Record Mirror. No. 93. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  4. ^ "The 'First Family' Story. WOW!" Billboard (February 2, 1963)