Customer Reviews

It's True It's True

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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rhino Records presents "It's True! It's True!", the early works of Bill Cosby, master of comedy and storytelling...all selections written by Cosby...his standup style covers childhood antics and still holds up very well today as it did back in the '60s through the '80s...stories like "AMERICAN GAMBLER", ANTS ARE COOL", "BURLESQUE SHOWS", "FOREIGN COUNTRIES", kept us rolling in the aisles.

Although this is just an appetizer of some of the best, it is still a side splitter and brings out some of the routines we've come to know and love..."HELICOPTERS", "MR. IKE & THE NEIGHBORHOOD TV SET", "SHOESLACES", "SPANISH FLY", in today's world of crude humor, Cosby is a refreshing and welcome change in the genre of comedy...first issued in January 1969 (Warner Bros. #1770)...my children and I would listen to the old LP's that would leave us in hysterical laughter...those days and times are priceless, and so is this compilation from Bill Cosby!

Total Time: 33:51 on 9 Tracks ~ Rhino Records 74615 ~ (3/01/2005)

"It's True! It's True!" is a collection of standup comedy material by Bill Cosby, first released on vinyl in 1969, now on CD. It's not Bill's funniest, in my opinion, but it does have it's moments, plus Bill is always a great storyteller.

Among the things Bill talks about here: Adam and Eve, helicopters, ants, shining shoes, shoelaces, burlesque houses, gambling and the early days of television sets. A lot of material (the classic "Spanish Fly" and the 14 minute "Foreign Countries") focuses on the time when Bill was on location filming "I Spy" around the world.

It's not a perfect bunch of material. Bill sounds a little tired here. Not that his material is, just sounds like he's exhausted. They were busy times for him back then in the late 1960s, after all. Listen to the opening track "It's the Women's Fault", it takes a while for him to warm up. It's a very short CD, too, (roughly 34 minutes) which is a little disappointing. The booklet is equally brief, but it does tell you where and why Bill was when he was recording this, which was interesting.

It's worth picking up, but get some of the classic Bill Cosby CDs first like Revenge. Even the 2 disc Bill Cosby Collection (with material from 1977-1978) would be a decent pick. Three and a half stars for this one.

This is Bill Cosby at his creative best; brilliant insight into the human condition, with enough humorous sympathy to get a smille and a laugh out of anyone. This is a must for anyone who likes humor without being subjected to the risque.

I own a lot of Cosby. This is fine material, but it is nowhere the genius of some of his other work. Before you buy this, buy Wonderfulness or Revenge or To My Brother Russel Whom I slept With or Why is there Air or Himself or Fat Albert. Nothing on the CD really stands out.

The olive green label comedy album IT'S TRUE! IT'S TRUE! (1969) marked a couple of career turning points for Bill Cosby: 1.) His three season run on I SPY had recently ended and Cos' was gearing up for a new series, THE BILL COSBY SHOW. 2.) This was his last of nine original LPs for WARNER BROS. (THE BEST OF BILL COSBY makes ten), a successful run dating back to 1962.

Due to a musician's strike when he played Harrah's Lake Tahoe, Bill was allowed an extra 45 minutes per set, time ably filled with improvs and reminiscences of his first TV series. These added bits constitute the bulk of what is heard here.


"SIDE" NOTES--
ONE
1.) Eve / Vicks / Nose wipes
2.) Eight feet off the ground
3.) "...a piece of bread 14 times my size!"
4.) Shoeshine Boy / Old filthy underwear
5.) Crapshoot
6.) "...pop when you're going some place"
7.) I SPY in Spain / Spanish cab driver

TWO
1.) Chewing tobacco
2.) Greek donkey ride / Mexican food /Fire-roasted goat / English money / Little brown coins / Japanese yen / Geisha bath house / Via Veneto / Israel / Africa


PROGRAM--

SIDE ONE
[4:13] It's the Women's Fault
[1:44] Helicopters
[1:07] Ants Are Cool
[2:32] Burlesque Shows
[1:13] The American Gambler
[1:02] Shoelaces
[2:56] Spanish Fly

SIDE TWO
[4:46] Mr. Ike & The Neighborhood TV Set
[14:16] Foreign Countries

TOTAL TIME: 32:29

This was the last album Bill Cosby recorded for Warner Brothers Records, thus ending the "Golden Age" of Bill Cosby albums. It was recorded at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe during a musicians strike, so Cos was asked to perform an extra 45 minutes to fill up the time that the musicians would normally be playing, which he did by ad libbing. It's not easy to tell which material on this album was pre-written and which was ad libbed, other than the obviously made up on the spot "Foreign Countries", where he talks about countries he visited while working on I Spy. This isn't Bill's funniest album, but it's still very funny.

Coming at ya from 1969 is this album of Bill Cosby material recorded live in front of a Nevada audience is not one of his more famous efforts. But that's a shame as pretty much any album by Cosby is going to have his innate sense of comedic timing and relentless rib tickling tales of life in the ordinary lane. And it's hardly breaking new ground to state that this intense study of the human being in it's natural state, devoid of pretension, that is the secret both to Cosbys success and any humour that plans to stand the test of time in general.

What is great is that many of these albums were previously not available in the CD format and it would appear that gradually through the 00's more of them have found their way onto the format and opening up the appreciation of many of Cosbys' less well known sketches for new generations of fans.

My personal favourites here are Foreign Countries, Shoelaces and Ants Are Cool. Throughout this CD you will get the usual comedic one liners and also some nice set ups in tracks such as Burlesque Shows and a nice touch is that Cosby is quite happy to make himself the butt of many of much of his routine. And this further aids him in identifying with his audience.

All up a solid buy - many of these old Cosby releases being fairly cheap and leaving little excuse for any fan not to get around to owning them one and all.

It is an older cd so the content is just that. I love to hear Bill Cosby never the less. There were some humorous moments and took the frustration out of a commute.