Anybody else collect comedy records/CD's?

Don Rickles' Hello Dummy! is not very "politically correct" but it's still hilarious.

 

I have the George Carlin and Richard Pryor CD box sets that Rhino put out. When Pryor died the wife and I spent a few days digging through his classic albums on the box set. That famous one where he impersonates the wino and the junkie, and it's the very last track on the album, it brought tears to our eyes. The live audience has been laughing and laughing the whole time, and suddenly at the very end, it's so quiet in the audience you can hear a pin drop.

The George Carlin one has an amazing early recording of him as a little kid, doing goofy comedy/spoken word in one of those "make a record, record the sound of your own voice" type places with the booth. It's not exactly funny, like "haha" funny, but it's like...you really get a glimpse of his natural comedic timing and his already-blossoming weird worldview. It's instantly recognizable as him, which is really cool.

 

I bought one comedy album just for the cover: Rodney Dangerfield - The Loser.
Other favorites are the first two Cheech and Chong lp's, Alan Sherman, Tom Lehrer, Rich Little

 

Lenny Bruce was quite before Allan Sherman. His heyday was the 50's. Died in '66. Anyhow, I wouldn't speak of them in the same breath.

 

First comedy album I bought (1968) was Bill Cosby's To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With. I gave that classic so many repeated spins that I know practically every word of it by heart. Before he fell from grace, he was the gold standard of standup comedy and this album, IMO, is his peak. I still have that same vinyl copy and it still makes me laugh.

 

I used to have Firesign Theater, Martin Mull and Cheech & Chong.
Are the Redd Foxx's that you have his pre-TV "blue" material, I'd love to hear that.

 

I bought a so called comedy LP (really cheap, about 10 pence) once called "Bill Martin, Contra Bufoon in a Minor" or something similar, I didn't get it at all..

 

There was a First Family sequel album in the 80's.

 

There were at least three FF albums; maybe even four.

 

Although I don't really collect them (OK, a bit), I do have a few British comedy albums. Monty Python, Not the Nine O'Clock News, Spitting Image, The Young Ones, The Goon Show, Peter Sellers. Also, Ivor Cutler, who is a genius with his dry humour and harmonium accompaniment.
Furthermore, tons of Dutch comedy that most of you won't be familiar with, and oh yes, I have 7 original Muppet Show records that I would never part with.

 

Steve Martin
George Carlin
Richard Pryor
Bob Newhart
Cheech & Chong
Bill Cosby

These are ones I have that I grew up with.

 

I still have a good 20 odd that I have from the late 70s/early 80s.

You have to remember that this was a time that the vast majority of people didn't have VCRs, so I spent many hours listening to classics from...

Fawlty towers
Tony Hancock
Jasper Carrot
Monty python
Billy Connelly

I still enjoy audio only comedy and spend many an hour listening to some later stuff like Bill Hicks etc..

 

Don't collect but have a number:
Gerard Hoffnung
Victor Borge
Beyond the Fringe

I love well crafted after dinner speeches:
Blaster Bates
David Gunson

Radio
The Goons
Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life etc.
Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks

 

Yep, that sounds like my folks, circa 1963.

 

George Carlin

 

Yeah, mine too. We had a custom made RCA console Hi-Fi that was the size of a WW II diesel submarine. Might have been heavier.

And the built-in shelves were piled high with the best of Al Hirt, Herb Alpert, Arthur Lyman and the Hollyridge Strings.

Good times.

 

Some comedy CDs in my collection - both spoken word, live performances and novelty songs. I love to be a bit silly now and then, and I also like more considered comedy like Bill Hicks. (Though I don´t consider him a comedy god. Just a sometimes very clever stand up.)

 

I have all of George Carlin on CD starting with Take Offs and Put Ons.

I find myself, often, wishing that George was with us so that he could put his own spin on the news of the day.

He is missed.

 

Throughout my radio careeer I didn't collect comedy records, so much as, "novelty" records. Dr. D. compilations; funny sound effects; radio-specific collections of drop-ins and short "stabs" of music; children's records; TV & film soundtracks...and, a lot of comedy records that never turned out to be worth it to be in the collection.

Growing up we had the usual suspects: Jose Jimenez, Vaugn Meader, Cosby, Cosby, Cosb- WAIT!...Flip Wilson, Laugh-In, George Carlin,soundtracks...and then somewhere in my third radio gig, I came across a jock who had an "arsenel" of Albert Brooks, Joe Piscopo, other "Brady-Boom-era" comedians, showtunes and the like, and it occurred to me I could benefit from that.

 

Had to get rid of mine,but couldn't let go of a timed/edited radio comp of his first few albums. Also held on to the Hikky Burr 45 on Uni. Around here,a buck will get you two Cosby LPs. He is the Streisand of comedy LPs.

 

No mention yet of Bob & Ray. While there isn't a bunch of B&R vinyl out there,radio was their best medium. Many of the bits where they assume multiple voices don't translate as well visually. They created a universe of characters,making fun of everything: news reporters,interview shows,commercials,soap operas,etc. Add to this,they sometimes were paid to do commercials and many times made fun of the product they were hawking. To this,their one visual diamond was the animated ads for Piels Beer,featuring the fictitious Bert & Harry Piel Brothers. Radio producer Larry Josephson not only curated many of their early material for modern times ,but brought about their last hurrah with shows at Carnegie Hall. In the '90s Josephson sold collections,mostly on tape,trying to keep their art alive. Many complain about the time needed to explore Bob & Ray routines,but,if one listens just to The Slow Talkers of America,that was part of the point of it all. There will never be another Bob & Ray. As they ended many a show:Write if you get work. And hang by their thumbs.

 

Everyone else pales to George Carlin.

Sure, I have some Red Foxx, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, but that's just dirty humor (which I enjoy).

But Carlin was more. I even have gray market Carlin stuff. He was the real deal.

I am a Carlinist. Not the goofy definition that one might Google. He was probably the greatest satirist that ever lived. The second coming of Mark Twain, in more modern parlance.

 

I don't collect comedy albums on vinyl or CD but I do have a CD and some vinyl by The Firesign Theatre, PDQ Bach and Rodney Dangerfield.

I have the MFSL silver CD for the for the "Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him" by The Firesign Theatre. I did have the MFSL silver CD for "Dear Friends" but I sold it since I found a vinyl copy and my fave album by them has always been the first album "Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him" which I have on vinyl as well.

I have other albums on vinyl by The Firesign Theatre but they are not as fun to me compared to "Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him." Some are pretty worn as well.

I have a couple PDQ Bach LPs which I have not played in a very long time but they were weird from what I recall.

I also have the Rodney Dangerfield "No Respect" LP on vinyl. I may have a couple more comedy albums on vinyl but I can't recall off the top of my head.

Plus I like comedy rock like Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention, The Bonzo Dog Band and The Fugs to some extent.

 

Don't collect, but was delighted to pick up a copy of Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts' "Nuts to You" the other day.

The real animal house band. Let's have a party.

 

My wife and I found a couple of Rudy Ray Moore cassettes, when we were living in DC.
Imagine our surprise when we started playing poker at The Palms, here in Vegas, and, for a few months, we actually PLAYED at the same table with DOLAMITE HIMSELF!
Good times!