Bill Cosby: Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow...Right!
1963
Warner Bros. Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. A Nut in Every Car 2. Toss of the Coin 3. Little Tiny Hairs 4. Noah: Right! 5. Noah: and the Neighbor 6. Noah: Me and You, Lord 7. Superman 8. Hoof and Mouth 9. Greasy Kid Stuff 10. The Difference Between Men and Women 11. Pep Talk 12. Karate
I'm covering all the Bill Cosby albums I own in one big post...I usually don't have a lot to say about comedy albums..Mainly, because I don't want to spoil all the jokes! I think I mentioned in the Cheech and Chong post, I did a few months ago, that I particularly love comedy albums because they're always only a buck or so...And any Comedy Section is guaranteed to be filled with wonderful Bill Cosby albums....
Alright, let's just get this out of the way...One of the funniest things I've seen in my entire life was the Cosby Show porn...The guy playing him is so freakin' perfect...It's a few years old so I'm sure you've already seen it, but if not, watch the video below (BTW the video below is just a trailer and doesn't have any actual porn in it...So it's safe to watch in front of yer folks, but it's not much fun to wank to....)
But yea, like most people my age, we will forever remember Bill Cosby for two things...
His immensely popular sweater-filled Thursday Night Sitcom....
...and Puddin' Pops!
But by the often-sanctimonious end of the Cosby Show it was easy to forget what a talented comedian he was...One of the all-time greats in my opinion... This album largely focuses on observational humor and is surprisingly light on the childhood anecdotes that characterized this classic period. That said, his observations often have a child-like quality to them...
The highlight here is the epic three-part Noah routine, where he does a hilariously realistic interpretation of the biblical story of Noah's ark...
"What's a cubit?"
I count the Noah bits as among the best things he's ever done, so for that alone, I'd snatch this record from the dollar bins if I was you...
Here's "Toss of the Coin"...
Bill Cosby: I Started Out as a Child
1964
Warner Bros. Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Sneakers 2. Street Football 3. The Water Bottle 4. Christmas Time 5. The Giant 6. Oops! 7. The Lone Ranger 8. Ralph Jameson 9. Medic 10. My Pet Rhinoceros 11. Half Man 12. Rigor Mortis 13. The Neanderthal Man 14. T.V. Football 15. Seattle
This album, on the other hand, is almost all childhood reminiscences, which are Cosby's specialty...As a result I tend to lean towards this as his most consistently entertaining album...On "Christmas Time" he totally nails the electrifyingly torturous feeling of being a kid on Christmas eve (trying to force yourself to go to sleep at 3 pm)...
...and you know exactly what he means when he talks about the water jug in the fridge that always has an inch of water at the bottom that everybody's too lazy to refill...
Another of his strong points are his takes on television shows and movies (usually westerns)...For some reason these types of routines always tend to steal the show...It gives the impression it's a lot of fun to hang out and watch TV with the Coz....
Here, check out "The Lone Ranger"...Enjoy....
Bill Cosby: The Best of Bill Cosby
1969
Warner Bros. Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Noah: Right 2. Noah: And the Neighbor 3. Noah: Me and You, Lord 4. Revenge 5. The Lone Ranger 6. Old Weird Harold (9th Street Bridge) 7. Driving in San Francisco 8. The Apple 9. Babies (Baby) 10. The Water Bottle 11. Street Football 12. Fat Albert (Buck, Buck)
FLAZM!!
The comedy section in any record store is sure to have at least ten copies of "The Best of Bill Cosby" and boy, is this great if you're looking for a taste of Bill Cosby's stand-up...This covers his Warner Bros years from 1963-1968 and features some of the best moments in comedy history such as "Revenge" and "Old Weird Harold (9th Street Bridge) " (which chronicles the frightening walk home after watching monster movies all day at the theatre)...
Oh yea, this also has "Buck, Buck" from 1968's "Revenge" album, which is the track that introduces Fat Albert...
(Damn, I love Fat Albert...I used to watch it religiously every Saturday morning...)
Although Bill explains the game very thoroughly, I still can't figure out what the hell "Buck Buck" is...Maybe I should google it...
...aaaand now I'm even more confused...
Oh well, let's check out"Revenge" by Bill Cosby...
More of the Best of Bill Cosby
1970
Warner Bros. Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Two Daughters 2. Toss of the Coin 3. Conflict 4. Dogs and Cats 5. Smoking 6. Shop 7. Karate 8. Oops 9. The Apple 10. Hofstra
Man, Warner Bros is milking it at this point...Bill had switched labels and Warner decided to release a greatest hits album immediately and then another one a mere year later...
Oh well, he released so much excellent stuff during his tenure at the label that it wasn't hard at all to fill another volume. I'm not sure why the repeated "The Apple" again, though, why not "Christmas Time" or another similarly strong routine?
At least they were smart enough to include "Hofstra," which is a glorious expansion of the earlier "TV Football" act...Set aside 10 minutes and check it out...
Bill Cosby: When I Was a Kid
1971
MCA Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. My Hernia 2. Buck Jones 3. Snakes and Alligators 4. My Boy Scout Troupe 5. My Brother, Russell 6. My Father 7. Dogs 8. Frogs
Yes! I love this cover! It has a cool drawing of Fat Albert and the Cosby kids, but in a different style than the one used in the cartoon...A rougher, more 70's style...Y'know that distinct lumpy 70's style I'm talking about...Sort of the thing you'd see on "Picture Pages"...
As for the content of the record, more long, rambling stories of young Bill, some Fat Albert and a hilarious bit on some old western star named Buck Jones.
Typically, good stuff and a must-have for the cover alone...The quarter bins always have this one...Here's "My Brother, Russell"...
Bill Cosby: Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby
1972
Uni Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. The Invention of Basketball 2. Survival 3. Ennis' Toilet 4. Bill's Marriage 5. Bedroom Slippers 6. "Froofie" the Dog 7. The Lower Tract 8. Sulphur Fumes 9. Football 10. Slow Class
What a great suit! It looks like the kind of old drapes you always see in 70's photos...I also dig his ten-foot wide tie...
Anyway, his act really matures during this time period...Sure there's still some of his trademark boyhood memories, but "Inside the Mind..." is largely comprised of his views on marriage and parenthood, which are remarkably similar to the childhood material, just viewed from a different angle, which adds a bit of freshness...
This album, in particular, got a few big laughs from me, particularly "The Lower Tract" where he contemplates parts of the animal which perhaps are better left uneaten...
Again, the shift in his approach is welcome and ultimately ends up being just as funny as the earlier stuff...Here's "'Froofie' the Dog"...Sorry, the sound quality is a little scratchy here....
Bill Cosby: Bill
1973
MCA Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Wow! Look at Bill Cosby's gigantic mustache! He reminds me of Dave Chappelle in the "New York Boobs" sketch...
I can't quite tell if this album is called "Bill" or "Bill Cosby is a Beautiful Man (...and also very funny)"... I'm just calling it "Bill" cos it's written bigger (and I have bad eyes...) and I'm tired and don't feel like typing anymore but I will anyway...typetypetypetypetypetype....
This is another "best of" collection, except this one covers the MCA/Uni years...I highly recommend this...It's a double-album that proves the MCA years were every bit the equal of the more acclaimed Warner Bros output... I mean, this has "Fat Albert's Car" on it...
I haven't gone any further than this...I know he put out later comedy albums, where the colorful sweaters start to pop up, but I haven't check them out yet...Not sure why, considering how much I enjoyed the "Himself" film...
I've heard the common complaint, "Oh, but you can only listen to comedy records once...When you play them the second time, you already know all the punchlines!" That's why Bill Cosby is so good...He rarely relies on punchlines...On his records, it's more about the journey...Most of the fun lies in hearing him spin his lengthy, winding yarns and they have definite replay value...I understand it's easy to get lost in the exotic rock, punk, and reggae sections, but next time you're at the local record store don't neglect the comedy section...There's always plenty of cheap entertainment in there...
So grab yourself a pudding pop and let's check out "Track and Field/High Jump" by Bill Cosby...Flizm Flip...
No comments:
Post a Comment