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I Hope I'm Funny: Omnivore Reissues Richard Pryor's "Live at The Comedy Store, 1973"

July 23, 2021 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Richard Pryor Comedy Store 1973

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Earlier this year, Omnivore Recordings released a pair of albums from Richard Pryor, the rare artist for whom "legendary" is entirely apt and not at all hyperbolic.  Pryor (1940-2005) pushed the envelope in life as well as in art - on film, television, and records.  Following the expanded reissues of his eponymous 1968 debut album and 1971's Craps (After Hours), Omnivore has turned its attentions to another rarity from the five-time Grammy Award winner and pioneering writer-actor-comedian.

Live at The Comedy Store, 1973 was recorded at the venerable West Hollywood club and onetime location of the popular Ciro's nightspot.  Tape rolled on the evenings of October 29 and 30, the first two of four nights Pryor would play there.  This wasn't the tame comedian of a decade earlier; instead, the performer onstage was the confident, boundary-breaking comic who had begun to find his own, original voice in 1967.  Cory Frye, in his liner notes for the new release, indicates that the Comedy Store stand was a warm-up of sorts for future engagements at Washington, DC's Kennedy Center and San Francisco's Soul Train Club.  The latter would produce Pryor's Grammy Award-winning, chart-topping 1974 album That N----r's Crazy, solidifying both his fame and his willingness to speak freely and frankly onstage. Frye also points out that these shows were never meant for commercial release.  But while Pryor was trying out new material, his already-impeccable timing was on full display.

He's at the peak of his powers on such bits as "Street Corner Wino," "Wino and Junkie," and "Fighting."  The latter would become "The Back Down" on the '74 LP which closed with "Wino and Junkie."  Pryor also revisited material from Craps ("Masturbating," "Religion," "The Line-Up") and topically tackled "Nixon," "Cops," and "Black Movie Stars."  His material is both completely of its time and yet timeless as his observations still retain relevance today.

Live at The Comedy Store, 1973 was first issued by Shout! Factory as a promotional CD exclusive for website purchasers of the label's No Pryor Restraint: Life in Concert box set.  For this reissue, Omnivore adds five bonus tracks to the original 14 (the last of which cuts off due to the tape running out).  These include additional Comedy Store routines on "Jim Brown," "Death," "N----rs and Italians," "Black Films," and whether "Jesus Saves" plus an edit of "Street Corner Wino."  These bonus tracks were previously issued on past Pryor box sets.

Michael Graves has remastered the album, and Greg Allen has designed the eight-page booklet which contains Frye's detailed liner notes (helpfully explaining the lineage of many of the routines, and where else Pryor recorded them).  Richard Pryor was a master at challenging his audience's preconceived notions of what was and wasn't appropriate to banter about; one can hear the occasional groans as well as the loud guffaws throughout.  Much of the material he performed nearly fifty years ago would still prove controversial today.  His Live at the Comedy Store 1973 isn't for those who might be offended by strong language or provocative imagery; indeed, it revels in its outrageousness while reminding the listener that the funniest, most keenly-observed, and indeed, most powerful comedy can sometimes also be the most uncomfortable.

Live at The Comedy Store, 1973 arrives from Omnivore today.  You'll find the track listing and order links below.

Richard Pryor, Live at The Comedy Store, 1973 (Omnivore, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

  1. Introduction
  2. Street Corner Wino
  3. Wino and Junkie
  4. Fighting
  5. Masturbating
  6. Dope
  7. Sex
  8. Religion
  9. Acid
  10. Black Movie Stars
  11. Cops
  12. The Line-Up
  13. Nixon
  14. Celebrities in the Audience
  15. Death
  16. N----rs and Italians
  17. Jim Brown (Alternate Version)
  18. Black Films
  19. Jesus Saves
  20. Street Corner Wino (Evolution/Revolution Edit)

Tracks 1-14 from Live at the Comedy Store, Hollywood, CA, Shout! Factory CD PRO-00072, 2013
Track 15 from ...And It's Deep, Too!: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968-1992), Warner Bros./Rhino 76655, 2000
Tracks 16-20 from Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966-1974), Rhino 78490, 2005

Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming Genre: Comedy Tags: Richard Pryor

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. zally says

    July 23, 2021 at 2:22 pm

    along with lenny bruce, richard was the man. a must needed reissue at the right time when laughter is much hard to come by in these times.

    Reply
  2. Brian Stanley says

    July 23, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    On the one hand, yay for physical product and expanding Pryor’s audience

    ...um, however...

    I feel Shout Factory originally included this as a bonus disc with the box set because virtually all of this material was better performed and better recorded elsewhere (many on that box set itself). Inessential for all but the completists.

    Reply

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