St. George and the Dragonet

"St. George and the Dragonet" is a short audio satire recorded August 26, 1953 by Stan Freberg for Capitol Records. It was released September 21, 1953 as a 45 rpm single (Capitol F2596), and reached #1 on both the Billboard and Cash Box record charts.

Scripted by Freberg and Daws Butler, the spoof combined the tale of "St. George and the Dragon" with the popular 1950s radio-TV series Dragnet. The recording was a #1 hit, selling over one million copies in the first three weeks. The cast featured Freberg, Butler, June Foray and Hy Averback. Freberg used a variation of the line "Just the facts, ma'am," which was popularly associated with Dragnet despite never being used in the series. Freberg actually said: "We just want to get the facts, sir."

The introduction states that the legend that the listener is going to hear is true, and that "only the needle should be changed to protect the record." St. George begins his story: "This is the countryside. My name is St. George. I am a Knight." (This parodies Sgt. Joe Friday's opening narration, "This is the City.") St. George learns that the dragon is wanted for "devouring maidens out of season", and he sets out to apprehend it. He encounters a maiden (June Foray in a New York accent) who was "burned up" by the dragon. He also meets a knave (Daws Butler) who has been accused of "stealing tarts", who gives the description of the dragon. When the Knave asks St. George how he plans to capture the dragon, the knight says he will use a "dragon net". George finds the dragon and takes it into custody. The dragon's fire is "burned out", its "maid-devouring license" is revoked, and it is sentenced to a prison term. The narrator concludes by saying, "Devouring maidens out of season is punishable by a term of no less than 50 years, or more than 300 years."

Freberg wanted to use the original Dragnet opening theme music by Walter Schumann. Capitol Records insisted he get the permission of Dragnet star and creator, Jack Webb. Being a Freberg fan, Webb liked the idea, approved the use of the theme and allowed Freberg to use the same orchestra from the Dragnet series with Schumann conducting. (According to Freberg, when he approached Webb with the idea for the record, the actor said, "I was wondering when you'd get around to me, Freberg.")

...
Wikipedia