WIWS Banner

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ News

Shout! Factory to Release Nine-Disc Richard Pryor Box Set

March 28, 2013 By Mike Duquette 5 Comments

Pryor boxRichard Pryor - one of the most culturally-significant, nearly-unprintable and flat-out funniest stand-up comedians in history - will be celebrated by Shout! Factory this summer with a massive career-spanning box set.

No Pryor Restraint: Life in Concert captures more than 12 hours of Pryor, from his popular (if comparatively pedestrian) early works as a Cosby-esque stand-up in the 1960s, to his wildly popular, immensely controversial glory years in the 1970s and 1980s to his last stand-up appearances in the 1990s, before retiring from the stage to cope with multiple sclerosis.

Pryor's glory years, of course, were punctuated by genuinely funny and captivating observations on American issues in the at-times turbulent '70s. He fearlessly discussed race, crime, drugs and a slew of other hot-button issues - and did so in ways that most publications would have trouble printing even today. Pryor parlayed that success into television and film, making one of the most notable appearances of Saturday Night Live's early run, as well as co-writing Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles (Pryor was in fact the first choice for the lead role of Black Bart) and a run of films with Saddles co-star Gene Wilder, including Silver Streak and Stir Crazy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVHaioBfWiE]

Though Pryor passed away in 2005, his influence looms large over stand-up comedians; Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle doubtlessly owe their ability to speak uncompromisingly about race to Pryor, and most of his contemporaries from Bob Newhart to Jerry Seinfeld have gone on record concerning his comic abilities.

Following the idea of Shout! Factory's terrific The Incredible Mel Brooks box, No Pryor Restraint will feature an exhaustive look at Pryor's career with seven CDs and two DVDs, including two hours of previously unreleased content on top of his most classic albums. "The best material from Pryor's classic albums for the Laff, Stax & Warner Bros. labels" will be featured, as well as compilation-only material, including tracks from:

  • Richard Pryor (Dove/Reprise, 1968)
  • 'Craps' (After Hours) (Laff, 1971)
  • That N-----'s Crazy (Partee/Stax, 1974)
  • ...Is It Something I Said? (Reprise, 1975)
  • Bicentennial N----- (Warner Bros., 1976)
  • Wanted: Richard Pryor Live In Concert (Warner Bros., 1978)
  • Live on the Sunset Strip (Warner Bros., 1982)
  • Here and Now (Warner Bros., 1983)
  • ...And It's Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings 1968-1992 (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2000)
  • Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years 1966-1974 (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2005)

The box will also contain the concert films Richard Pryor Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) and Richard Pryor Here and Now (1983). There will also be a book inside the package, featuring "rare photos, multiple essays, exclusive celebrity tributes, a discography, a filmography, and a personal note penned by Richard's widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor."

Those who pre-order from Shout! Factory directly get a tenth bonus disc - the unreleased Live At The Comedy Store, October 1973 CD - and will see it ship in mid-May, well ahead of its June 11 street date. The A.V. Club also has an exclusive unreleased audio clip from the box. We'll update this post with Amazon links and a track list as it's available.

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, DVD Tags: Richard Pryor

Avatar photo

Mike Duquette

Michael Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he discovered there was more than one version of John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, with bylines on catalog at Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Prince and credits on titles including the Grammy-winning 'Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with an ever-expanding collection of music.

Connect With Mike:

You Might Also Like

  • WattstaxThe Living Word: New Box Sets Chronicle Wattstax in Full, 50 Years On
  • BobDylan 1970CollectionRelease Round-Up: Week of February 26
  • Allen Ginsberg At Reed College HowlHeart and Brain: Omnivore Preps Spoken Word Releases from Richard Pryor, Allen Ginsberg
  • motown 25What's Going On: "Motown 25" Comes To DVD In New Box Set, Highlights DVDs

Comments

  1. Hank says

    March 28, 2013 at 3:32 pm

    As most of Pryor's original albums are only available on the "...And It's Deep, Too!" box, I have mixed feelings about ordering another $90 boxed set without at least the basis of a tracklisting. Laff Records released a bunch of Pryor albums back in the 1970's, containing quite a bit of material that has never made it to CD. Pryor gained ownership of the Laff masters before his death; it would be nice if the estate allowed material from albums like "Insane" and "Holy Smoke" to be heard again.

    I would also hope that as the box contains three concert films on DVD, there will be no overlap of material from the concurrent albums--the "Live In Concert" and "Sunset Strip" albums were recorded on different nights than the movies were filmed, but the routines are the same; the "Here And Now" album contains the audio direct from the film soundtrack.

    This box has the potential to be a great set, but comedy routines don't quite have the same replay value as music; having to skip through familiar material to hear something "new" may prove to be a chore. Lord knows, I'll probably pick this up, but Shout Factory has to clear some pretty high hurdles if they intend for this set to be anything but a step-sibling to "Evolution/Revolution" and the "...And It's Deep, Too!" box.

    Reply
  2. Jason Michael says

    March 28, 2013 at 10:55 pm

    I hope Shout Factory manages to correct the audio sync problems of previous DVDs of "Wanted: Richard Pryor Live In Concert". As long as this box has a watchable copy of that film, which is the funniest stand-up routine I've ever seen, it will be worth the price.

    Reply
  3. Hank says

    May 10, 2013 at 5:48 pm

    Wow--I ordered this earlier this week, assuming it wouldn't arrive until next weekend at the earlier, and instead, it arrived today--bonus disc and everything. As sour as I sounded a few weeks back, I'm quite stoked by it now after flipping through the book--a lot of love and care went into this title. I'm probably not going to listen to the discs for a few more days--I'm taking a lengthy drive up north in a couple of weeks, and will save my first listen for the road--but I will probably screen the DVD's sooner rather than later.

    Pryor was one of my heroes growing up. God knows, I probably have much of the contents of this set already memorized by now, but his material absolutely deserve any and all deluxe treatment.

    In the meantime--pay no attention to the "mid-May" ship date--it is apparently shipping now!

    Reply
  4. Hank says

    May 22, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    The unreleased stuff in this set is amazing--one recording is from the first night of filming for "Richard Pryor Live On The Sunset Strip", a show which a jittery Pryor cut short, apologizing to the audience as to why. There is another confessional segment from that same 1981 tour, in which Pryor talks to the audience about his plans to take time off and think things over. The audience audibly protests this, but Pryor's confessional, apparently ad libbed and from the heart, is, again, amazing.

    I should also mention that I detected no audio sync problems with the "Live In Concert" DVD.

    Reply
    • Bitch Fantastic (@RobLives4Love) says

      December 24, 2013 at 9:39 pm

      The latter track is called "Bein' Real" - it actually explains the departure of quality in "Live On The Sunset Strip" and even more in "Here and Now" - after the fire, his heart just wasn't in it no more.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Upcoming Releases

  • Crazy Horse All Roads Lead Home
    All Roads Lead Home
    Crazy Horse
    March 31, 2023
  • The Who With Orchestra Live at Wembley
    The Who with Orchestra Live at Wembley
    The Who
    March 31, 2023
  • The Birth of Bop
    The Birth of Bop: The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collection
    Various Artists
    March 31, 2023
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,572 other subscribers

Popular

  • Rush Signals 40th
    Chemistry: Rush Revisits "Signals" For 40th Anniversary posted on March 22, 2023 | under News
  • Elton John Honky Chateau Cover
    Release Round-Up: Week of March 24 posted on March 24, 2023 | under Release Round-Up
  • Stream Solar
    The Weekend Stream: March 25, 2023 posted on March 25, 2023 | under The Weekend Stream

Comments

  • small faces here come the nice2
    Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces' "Here Come The Nice" Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3] 84 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 3, 2013 | under News
  • the beatles u s albums box2
    British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January 69 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 12, 2013 | under News
  • Rolling Stones in Mono
    Out of Their Heads: Stones Plan Mono Box Set 47 comments | by Mike Duquette | posted on August 10, 2016 | under News

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popblerd
  • Popdose
  • Record Racks
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Viva La Mainstream
  • Wolfgang's Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Resonance Records
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • SoulMusic Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me, Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2023 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy