Does anybody even do comedy albums anymore? Well, anyhoo…
FM & AM *George Carlin * (1972)
Worth the purchase price solely for Shoot (described as a dry-run for his later bit Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television) wherein he deconstructs a four-letter word and it’s uses. I also appreciate the album being recorded in a small club (The Cellar Door in D.C.) as opposed to a theater or auditorium; more intimate, you feel like you’re there.
My Father Confused Me, What Must I Do? What Must I Do?Bill Cosby (1977)
Not a well-known Cosby effort, though he did introduce his popular Dentist bit on this album. Great bits all around; The English Language, Glazed Donut Monster and *Dudes on Dope * (a rare instance of drug humor from the Cos) are standouts.
Monty Python’s Previous RecordMonty Python’s Flying Circus * (1972)
If you’re like me, you were first introduced to Python through their record albums, not their television show. Thus I’ve always considered MPPR’s version of The Argument Clinic to be definitive and the TV version not quite as crisp. * A Fairy Tale, which was an utter failure on TV, is also quite good as an album track. Great album-only bits include* Eclipse of the Sun, Australian Table Wines * and Wonderful World of Sounds.
Reality: What a ConceptRobin Williams (1979)
Released at the peak of Morkmania, Reality presents Williams at his improvisational apex. Especially notable is *Come Inside My Mind * where we experience the thoughts of a comedian as he’s bombing.
Don’t Crush that Dwarf, Hand me the Pliers and How Can You Be Two Places at Once When You’re Not Anywhere at All, both by the Firesign Theater. The funniest comedy group ever. The humor was so dense that could could listen to it a dozen times and still discover jokes you hadn’t noticed before. The latter has the truly great “Nick Danger” routine.
First Rush – Chris Rush. Obscure comedy album by a guy who didn’t really get much recognition. It was by far the funniest standup I’ve come across. Rush had a way of setting up a situation and then rattling off six hilarious punchlines in a row, leaving you helpless with laughter.
Bill Cosby has a lot of great stuff, but I’d like to single out To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With for the long title routine, which may be Cos’s best (“Who told you that you was… the Jello Sheriff of the house?”), and Himself (either the album or the concert video) for such classic stories as “Chocolate Cake For Breakfast.”
I grew up with the Smothers Brothers’ albums on LP, including “Curb Your Tongue, Knave!”; “Think Ethnic”; and “Mom Always Liked You Best.” They were wonderfully funny in a way not quite like anyone else. The original albums are no longer available, but Rhino has collected some of their best routines on a CD called Sibling Revelry.
I’d have to add I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus and Everything You Know is Wrong to that list, actually. “Man, Woman, Child, all up against… The Wall of SCIENCE!!!”
I literally grew up on a steady diet of FST. Some of my earliest memories are of reciting lines to my father. Imagine a 3-year-old Whifton saying “Nick Danjah, t’ird eye” in perfect deadpan…
Yes, I had a bizzare childhood. Firesign Theatre, Frank Zappa, and Bob Dylan in truly heroic doses.
-PLD
I love comedy records, and have collected many of them over the years. I have all the Cosbys and all the Newharts and all the Pythons (including “Matching Tie And Handkerchief” with the two sets of concentric grooves on one side), all of George Carlin, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Cheech & Chong and National Lampoon. I also have several albums by each of the other artists mentioned. Including Chris Rush! A 1981 album called “Beaming In”.
Stan Freberg is a genius. I have all of his recordings. A lot of people did satire and parody, but not like Freberg. His recordings are in a class all by themselves.
Two of my earliest memories are of hearing “Comedy In Music” and “Caught In The Act” by Victor Borge. I could recite these albums by heart. I took my late mom to see Mr. Borge in 1994 at Hamilton Place in Hamilton, Ontario. I arranged beforehand to get us backstage to meet him. He autographed my copy of his first 78 RPM album on Columbia from 1942. I have a photo of him writing on the inner sleeve.
Special mention must be made of Jonathan Winters. I love this guy! I could listen to him as long as he wanted to talk.
And I need to include Del Close and John Brent, whose album “How To Speak Hip” is somewhat of a counterculture classic.
Agreed, especially the “Lincoln vs Madison Avenue” bit.
Also Tom Leher’s That Was The Year That Was But during National Brotherhood Week, National Brotherhood Week,
Lena Horne and Sheriff Clarke are dancing cheek to cheek.
It’s fun to eulogize
The people you despise,
As long as you don’t let 'em in your school.
Anna Russell’s Anna Russell Sings. Again?!
“Our story opens in the River Rhine. IN it. If this were in New York, it would be like the Hudson. And swimming around in it are three Rhine Maidens…a sort of aquatic Andrew Sisters.”
I have several Smothers Brothers albums on absolutely pristine vinyl. I bought them at an estate sale, and some of them were in their origininal unopened plastic wrap.
When I get around to it, I intend to burn them to MP3.
All of **Carlin’s ** '70’s albums
Steve Martin’s Let’s Get Small
Tom Lehrer’s - That Was The Year That Was The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart Don’t Crush that Dwarf, Hand me the Pliers
How Can You Be Two Places at Once When You’re Not Anywhere at All
and I have to add
Allan Sherman’s My Son, the Folksinger
My Son, the Nut
My Son, the Celebrity