The New First Family, 1968 - A Futuristic Fairy Tale

Released in 1966 by Verve Records, The New First Family was a satirical comedy album conceived by writers Bob Booker and George Foster. Following the massive success of their earlier parody album The First Family, which poked fun at the Kennedy administration, this record sought to apply the same template of affectionate political caricature to the Johnson family. The production features a cast of impressionists who lean into the exaggerated archetypes of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, and their daughters, set within a loosely constructed futuristic fantasy framework.

The album reflects the mid-1960s craze for political satire, a genre that thrived on vinyl before the rapid-fire pace of television news cycle dominated political humor. Booker and Foster were pioneers of this format, utilizing a 'staged' radio play aesthetic that allowed listeners to imagine the inner workings of the White House in absurd, domestic settings. While it never achieved the cultural ubiquity of their original 1962 release, the album remains a noted artifact of political comedy during the tumultuous mid-1960s, serving as a time capsule of how the public viewed the shifting dynamics of the era's executive branch.