Live At The Comedy Store, 1973

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Live At The Comedy Store, 1973
Live album by
Richard Pryor
ReleasedJuly 23, 2021
RecordedOctober 29-30, 1973
VenueThe Comedy Store
GenreComedy
LabelOmnivore Records, Stand Up! Records
ProducerRichard Pryor, Jennifer Lee Pryor, Reggie Collins, Cheryl Pawelski

Live At The Comedy Store, 1973 is a concert album by comedian Richard Pryor.

History[edit]

The material on Live At The Comedy Store, like his early-1970s albums Richard Pryor and Craps (After Hours), captures Pryor during his most transformative period as a comic, when he evolved from a family-friendly comic in the mode of Bill Cosby into the challenging, politically aware comedian of his most famous albums.[1] It was recorded on October 29 and 30, 1973, at West Hollywood, California, nightclub The Comedy Store, during a four-night run of performances. At the time, Pryor did not intend to release the recordings commercially, but was preparing for upcoming shows, including the performance at San Francisco's Soul Train Club which would become the Grammy-winning 1974 album That Nigger's Crazy.[2][3] In the early 1970s, Pryor habitually used the Comedy Store to try out and refine new material. Pryor's evolution was drawing considerable interest within the comedy scene, and his shows were well-attended by other comics.[1][4][5]

In his liner notes for the album, Cory Frye notes that much of the material was brand-new and untested, but would reappear in different versions on later albums like That Nigger's Crazy and Bicentennial Nigger. In contrast to Craps (After Hours), which Frye calls "a damn-near symphonic restaging of [Pryor's] life up to that point", on Live At The Comedy Store Pryor brings his newfound political and social awareness back to mainstream audiences, which would result in his breakthrough a year later.[6]

Reception[edit]

The Comedy Store performances were acclaimed at the time, as Pryor found his true comic voice, both politically revolutionary and deeply personal. In Living Color comic Tommy Davidson, who was part of the Comedy Store scene, later said that "no one could make life into art onstage like that, while making you laugh so hard you are crying, gasping for air, and falling out of your chair. That was Richard Pryor at the Comedy Store. ... There is comedy before and after Richard Pryor, and no comedy today without him."[7]

Reviewing the album in 2023, Den of Geek writer Tony Sokol said that "Richard is in exquisite form, whether he’s updating material or materializing madness."[2] Joe Marchese of The Second Disc called the album "both completely of its time and timeless", and stated that Pryor remained relevant even 50 years later because of his willingness to speak freely, shock audiences and make them think about uncomfortable topics such as race.[3]

Releases[edit]

The material on Live At The Comedy Store, 1973 was first released as a promotional extra for the 2013 box set No Pryor Restraint: Life in Concert by Shout! Factory. Omnivore Recordings re-released it as its own project in 2021 with five bonus tracks including additional Comedy Store routines and an edit of "Street Corner Wino", which had appeared earlier on the box sets …And It’s Deep Too!: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings and Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years. Liner notes for the reissues were written by pop-culture journalist Cory Frye.[8][2] Live At The Comedy Store, 1973 was re-released on vinyl by Stand Up! Records on May 26, 2023, featuring three color versions, a variant cover painting by Jason Edmiston, and original and expanded liner notes.[3][9]

Track listing[edit]

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Introduction"0:39
2."Street Corner Wino"9:59
3."Wino & Junkie"5:50
4."Fighting"4:01
5."Masturbating"0:25
6."Dope"1:41
7."Sex"3:16
Side two
No.TitleLength
8."Religion"4:00
9."Acid"6:25
10."Black Movie Stars"3:24
11."Cops"1:20
12."The Line-Up"3:18
13."Nixon"1:53
14."Celebrities In The Audience"6:53
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
15."Death" 
16."Niggers & Italians" 
17."Jim Brown (Alternate Version)" 
18."Black Films" 
19."Jesus Saves" 
20."Street Corner Wino (Evolution/Revolution Edit)" 

Credits[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Henry, David; Henry, Joe (2014). Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him. Algonquin Books. ISBN 978-1-61620-447-1. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  2. ^ a b c Sokol, Tony (June 7, 2023). "Richard Pryor Vinyl Reissues Highlight the Evolution of Comedy". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  3. ^ a b c d e Marchese, Joe (2023-05-12). "The Line-Up: Stand Up! Records Reissues Three Richard Pryor Classics on Vinyl". The Second Disc. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  4. ^ Knoedelseder, William (2010). I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era. PublicAffairs. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-58648-896-3. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  5. ^ Zoglin, Richard (2009). Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 978-1-58234-625-0. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  6. ^ a b c Frye, Cory (2021). Live At The Comedy Store, 1973 (booklet). Stand Up! Records/Omnivore Records.
  7. ^ Davidson, Tommy (2020). Living in Color: What's Funny About Me: Stories from In Living Color, Pop Culture, and the Stand-Up Comedy Scene of the 80s & 90s. Kensington Books. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-4967-1297-4. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  8. ^ a b Marchese, Joe (2021-07-23). "I Hope I'm Funny: Omnivore Reissues Richard Pryor's "Live at The Comedy Store, 1973"". The Second Disc. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  9. ^ "Richard Pryor's first albums to be rereleased on vinyl". Chortle. 2023-04-23. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  10. ^ "Richard Pryor – Live At The Comedy Store, 1973". Discogs. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
  11. ^ "Live at the Comedy Store, Hollywood, CA, October 1973 - Richard Pryor". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  12. ^ Buss, Andrew (May 8, 2023). "Richard Pryor's first two albums are being re-released on vinyl". Laugh Button. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
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