Omnivore Recordings is heating up this winter with a trio of spoken-word releases from two legendary and provocative figures, Richard Pryor and Allen Ginsberg.

Richard Pryor (1940-2005) wasn't just one of the most significant and influential stand-up comedians of all time but also a genuine film superstar, an accomplished writer, an Emmy Award recipient, Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize honoree, and five-time Grammy Award winner.  Omnivore Recordings is traveling back to the early years of the groundbreaking performer's career with two releases available on CD and digitally.  The self-titled Richard Pryor album, released on Dove and Reprise Records and produced by Robert Marchese (no relation!), was recorded live at Hollywood's famed Troubadour.  It marked a move from his middle-of-the-road comedy as seen on such non-threatening programs as Ed Sullivan and Merv Griffin's shows; the album opened with his "Super N---er" routine and continued with his piquant observations about "Girls," "Farting," "Smells," and "Army Life."  From the cover artwork shot by Henry Diltz and designed by Gary Burden (who received a Grammy nomination for his efforts) to the material, nothing about Richard Pryor was typical.  The album has been expanded by Omnivore with a second disc of 21 tracks previously issued on Rhino's box set Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966-1974).  That box was compiled by Reggie Collins and Steve Pokorny, and the former continues his work here alongside Omnivore's Cheryl Pawelski and Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee Pryor.  Scott Saul, author of the 2014 biography Becoming Richard Pryor, writes the liner notes while Michael Graves remasters.

The comedian's eponymous album is joined on the same date of February 26 by an expanded edition of Craps (After Hours).  The 1971 album was his first for Laff Records and was recorded in front of a predominantly black nightclub audience at Hollywood's Redd Foxx Club.  (Foxx, the club's proprietor and a famously "blue" comedian, would find his greatest success starring in Sanford and Son, for which Pryor was once a writer.)  In these clubs, Pryor took his art to the next level, freed of expectations and censorship.  Here, he took on "Gettin' High," "Masturbating," "Religion," "White Folks," and other controversial topics with frequently outrageous, off-color results.  The 32 tracks on the original album have been joined here by four more cuts from Evolution/Revolution.  Once again, the expanded release has been annotated by Scott Saul and remastered by Michael Graves.  Filmmaker Larry Karaszewski provides a new introduction.

Equally influential - albeit in the disciplines of poetry and literature - was Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997).  The leading light of the Beat Generation will be remembered by Omnivore on April 2 with At Reed College: The First Recorded Reading of Howl and Other Poems.  "Howl," first published in 1956 in Howl and Other Poems, was subject to a 1957 obscenity trial for its many drug and sexual references; the publisher (poet, activist, and City Lights bookstore owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti) happily prevailed.  But despite being recognized as a seminal work of American literature, controversy continued to plague "Howl" into the 21st century when broadcasts of readings were mooted.  It remains a scathing indictment of capitalism and conformity in America, with relevance to this day.

The first public reading of "Howl" took place at San Francisco's Six Gallery in October 1955, but that performance wasn't recorded.  It was long believed that the first recorded reading was in March 1956 in Berkeley, California, but that turned out not to be the case.  On February 13 and 14, 1956, Ginsberg and Gary Snyder read at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, alma mater of such renowned folks as Steve Jobs, Ry Cooder, Lee Blessing, Barbara Ehrenreich, James Beard, and even Dr. Demento.  In 2007, author John Suiter made a remarkable discovery at Reed's Hauser Memorial Library: the Valentine's Day reading had been recorded.

Omnivore's release is a true community effort.  Reed Professor of English and Humanities Dr. Pancho Savery wrote the liner notes, and Gregory MacNaughton of the Calligraphy Initiative in Honor of Lloyd J. Reynolds has created the new cover artwork in the style of what a poster hung at Reed for the event circa 1956 might have looked like.  Omnivore has an association with the late Ginsberg, having issued The Last Word on First Blues in 2016 and The Complete Songs of Innocence and Experience the following year.  The label has a connection with Reed College, as well: Omnivore co-founder Cheryl Pawelski is married to Dr. Audrey Bilger, named president of the college in 2019.

Michael Graves has restored and mastered this release from that original tape which includes shorter selections as well as most of Part I of "Howl" and a taste of Part II, after which Ginsberg concluded, "I don't really feel like reading any more; I haven't got any kind of steam.  So I'd like to cut, do you mind?" A landmark release, At Reed College: The First Recorded Reading of Howl and Other Poems will arrive on CD, black vinyl, and digital platforms on April 2.

You'll find pre-order links and track listings for all three Omnivore releases just below!

Richard Pryor, Richard Pryor [Expanded Edition] (Dove/Reprise LP RS 6325, 1968 - reissued Omnivore OV-414, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore Webstore)

CD 1

1. Super N---er
2. Girls
3. Farting
4. Prison Play
5. TV Panel Show
6. Smells
7. Army Life
8. Frankenstein

CD 2: Bonus tracks from Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966-1974) (Rhino R2 78490, 2005)

1. Peoria
2. Improv Pt. 1
3. Heart and Brain
4. Taxi Cabs and Subways
5. Playboy Club
6. Rumpelstiltskin
7. Slippin' in Poo Poo
8. Birth Control
9. N---er Babies
10. Faith Healer
11. Black Power
12. I Feel
13. Jail
14. Directions
15. Movie Stars in the Bathroom
16. War Movies
17. The Army
18. Hippy Dippys
19. Hank's Place
20. Improv Pt. 2
21. Mankind

Richard Pryor, Craps (After Hours) (Laff LP A-146, 1971 - reissued Omnivore OV-416, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore Webstore)

1. Gettin' High
2. F--k from Memory
3. Big Tits
4. Gettin' Some
5. The President
6. Ass-Hole
7. The Line-Up
8. Masturbating
9. Religion
10. Black Preachers
11. Being Born
12. Blow Our Image
13. I Spy Cops
14. Sugar Ray
15. White Folks
16. Indians
17. Ass Wupin'
18. Got a Dollar
19. Pres' Black Baby
20. Dope
21. Wino Panthers
22. After Hours
23. 280 Pound Ass
24. Crap Game
25. Insurance Man
26. Black and Proud
27. Gettin' the Nut
28. F--k the Fa---t
29. Jackin' Off
30. Snappin' Pussy
31. Fartin'
32. Whorehouse Pt. 1
33. Whorehouse Pt. 2
34. Wino and Junkie (Alternate Version)
35. Attica (Behind Those Walls)

Tracks 32-35 from Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966-1974) (Rhino R2 78490, 2005)

Allen Ginsberg, At Reed College: The First Recorded Reading of Howl and Other Poems (Omnivore OV-412, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore Webstore)

1. Epithamalion (later published as "Love Poem on Theme by Whitman")
2. Wild Orphan
3. Over Kansas
4. A Dream Record
5. Blessed Be the Muses
6. A Supermarket in California
7. The Trembling of the Veil (later titled "Transcription of Organ Music")
8. Introduction
9. Howl
10. Line Pick Up
11. Howl (Part II)