User:Nick12345213/Draft of Taller Than Jesus

Taller Than Jesus is the debut album by the Jewish musical comedy act Jewmongous, the occasional nom de guerre of singer-songwriter Sean Altman.

Title and song inspirations
The title song of the album is 6' Altman's tribute to John Lennon's 1966 misunderstood declaration that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus." He pokes fun at the controversy and speculates that Lennon meant they were physically bigger, and therefore taller, than Jesus Christ was, as the average man at the time of Christ was 4'9" to 5'5". The album's dozen original songs, produced by Jon Spurney, include the fractured Passover story song "They Tried to Kill Us (We Survived, Let's Eat)", which was featured on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross; the Irish drinking song ode to the infamous Blood Libel "Christian Baby Blood"; the venomous anti-Jews-For-Jesus punk anthem "Jews For Jesus"; the ska-inflected "What the Hell is Simchas Torah?"; the bluesy "My Pact with Satan"; the longing crooner ballad "Another Inch"; the cowboy romp "Long-Tongue Shloime"; the dysfunctional Bar Mitzvah anthem "Today I Am A Man"; and the swinging "Blow, Murray, Blow!", about a Yom Kippur shofar blower so virtuosic that his playing purges listeners of all their sins, no matter how despicable. The album's only cover song is a semiticized version of the Ramones' classic "I Wanna Be Sedated", as Altman believes that Joey Ramone (born Jeffery Hyman) would have wanted it sung that way.

Reception
Taller Than Jesus has been critically acclaimed to be:

“The tunefulness of the Beatles and the spot-on wit of Tom Lehrer.” (Boston Globe)

"Tuneful and sharply witty.” (Los Angeles Times)

“Catchy melodies, clever arrangements and lyrics that yield satiric gems... Bawdy with a wicked, modern streak." (Washington Post)

"Wildly funny... Part of a new breed of Jewish hipster comedy that includes Jon Stewart, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sarah Silverman..." (Philadelphia Daily News)

Personnel

 * Sean Altman – vocals, guitar, Irish drum, shofar
 * Deni Bonet – vocals, violin
 * Inna Dukach – vocals
 * Jacob Garchik – trombone, trumpet
 * Bob Golden – drums
 * Roger Greenawalt – guitar
 * Julian Maile – guitar
 * Joe McGinty – keyboards
 * Mike Mendyke – vocals