Customer Reviews

The Button-Down Mind on TV

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Mono copies of Bob Newhart's fourth WARNER BROS. comedy album, THE BUTTON-DOWN MIND ON TV (1962, W/WS 1467) are on that company's gray label, with stereo discs on the gold.

This LP documents Bob's first concert appearance after taping the final show of his self-titled NBC-TV variety series. For this performance recorded "live" at the Broadmoor Int'l Center in Colorado Springs, CO., Newhart selected some of the best routines he wrote for that program.


"SIDE" NOTES--

ONE -- 1.) A phone all from Sir Walter Raleigh (aka "Nutty Walt"), who's just bought 80 tons of tobacco leaves. / 2.) Getting his cat "fixed." / 3.) He tries talking a very nervous man through disarming a ticking torpedo.

TWO -- 1.) He's afraid of his friend Harry's monstrous watch dog. / 2.) Marketing a "fully-loaded" chariot, a bit inspired by his twice seeing William Wyler's BEN-HUR (1959). / 3.) Two German soldiers ordered to wait in a bunker in 1945, argue 17 years later about whether the war is over, and who won.


SIDE ONE
[6:02] Introducing Tobacco to Civilization
[2:04] The Siamese Cat
[7:02] Defusng a Bomb

SIDE TWO
[7:01] A Friend with a Dog
[5:24] General Chariot Corp.
[5:27] The Hold Out Huns

TOTAL TIME: 33:00

This CD is funny! Bob sets up a scene, then plays a single character reacting to all the other unseen characters. As usual, some characters are on the phone; ohters are talking to a friend or a comrade. There is a bit of the Madison Avenue advertising slant to some of the material that is still funny today. The only problem is that the entire CD is only a little over 30 minutes long. Bonus tracks would have been much appreciated!