Customer Reviews

Richard Pryor: ...And It's Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968-1992)

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I have to preface this review by saying that nobody has more respect and love for Richard Pryor than me, especially with regards to sheer talent. Of all the comedians you could ever think of, he's pretty much the only one whose repetoire merits the box set format. And while we've got a number of reviews that overdose on their own reverence, has anybody actually listened to the discs??? That's what this particular review is about.

The main reason I bought this was the reissues--Bicentennial Nigger, That Nigger's Crazy, Wanted, and particularly the first album had never been released on CD, and we had to make do with the sometimes patchy efforts on Straight Cannon records. The packaging is fantastic--though some might be annoyed at the vinyl throwback of the sleeves, and the liner notes are for the most part, very well done.

The first disc is in mono, but it hardly detracts from the material. In each progressive CD you can hear Pryor improving everything about his act, from the politics to the delivery, although to be honest there wasn't much wrong with the delivery from the very beginning.

That Nigger's Crazy improves (mostly) on bits found on the Video 'Live & Smokin' but includes the brilliant "Nigga With a Seizure."

Is it Something I said--refer to my individual review already on Amazon. They made a mistake of adding 'Ali' to this disc, because A) it isn't all that funny, and B) he'd already ended the disc with the perfect finale. It detracts from the rest of the album.

Bicentennial Nigger plays like a continuation of Is it Something I Said, but showcases Richard's political bent somewhat. It's a bit patchier than the first 3 albums, but has some killer moments, especially the Mudbone bit and "Chinese Restaurant."

Wanted: Live in Concert is a bit disappointing, if only because what the liner notes say is true--this is a performance you have to see on video/dvd/whatever, because the visual Richard Pryor is just as funny as the audible. The two combined are amazing; rent Live in Concert the movie and you'll see what I mean.

Live On the Sunset Strip is a good album, but his delivery in the movie version is funnier, for the most part--again, this is a performance that is a bit funnier on the video than the album. Hereafter, Richard forgoes the word "nigger", and his later performances never sound the same again.

Here and Now gets credit for being funnier than it might have been, simply because a drug-free Richard is less potent than his earlier incarnations. But you side-step all that simply because his performance wins you over; bonus star for the interview track tacked on the end of this.

The cream of the crop is the bonus CD--it's chock full of album-worthy material, especially the 70s output. But even on the last track "M.S.", circa 1992, Richard is still a comedian's comedian. Past his peak both physically and creatively, but still able to both perservere AND deliver some strong material. It's worth getting for "Patty Hearst" and "Mudbone Goes to Hollywood (Alternate Version)" alone.

Honestly, you won't be disappointed with this set, even if you already own much of the non-WB material, as I do. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close.

Here is something that Richard Pryor fans have been waiting for, for a long time. His classic Warner/Reprise albums are now finally available on CD, all except for "Is It Something I Said?" have never been released on CD until now. Lavishly packaged with a booklet that gives you an overview of Richard's career. The discs come in cardboard slip cases that look like miniature versions of the original LP's. Besides all of the classic routines featured, the real bonuses are an eighth disc that has over an hour of unreleased material, and at the end of the "Here And Now" disc is a 30 minute interview. Richard's ability to be extremely funny, profane, and sensitive are the things that set him apart from other comics. His gift for making something beautiful out his own personal pain is why he is and always will be the greatest comedian of all time. This box is a must have!!!

Any self-respecting comedy aficianado cannot do without this set. Richard Pryor, together with his peer George Carlin in the '60s & '70s, simply raised the bar of stand-up and has never been surpassed (the closest someone's come thus far has been Sam Kinison and Chris Rock). The good news to the uninitiated is that none of the material on these albums, even the earliest, has dated in the least. It's still fresh, vibrant, and hilarious because Pryor, like most great artists, worked from a closely autobiographical and personal viewpoint. His work was largely apolitical (in the Mark Russell/Capitol Steps sense) and he stayed clear of many pop-culture references, ensuring his comedy a very long shelf life. There isn't one bad disc in the set and the "archives" disc is just as strong. Buy this box and don't let future generations forget this master (as they are starting to forget about Kinison). Oh, and did I mention that you'll be out of breath from laughing so hard?

Finally, a record company does something right. This long overdue compilation will catch you up to the genius of Richard Pryor. If all you have are now-scratchy vinyl Pryor LPs, the excellent remastering of these CDs will overwhelm you. If you only thought Richard Pryor was a movie star, this collection will startle you. The four-letter words are flying a mile a minute, but I dare you not to laugh at his priceless take on the human condition.

The box set has each individual comedy album on one CD (except the double album which is on 2 CDs) with the original album artwork. It comes with a very well researched booklet and it all fits nicely into a beautiful and easy to handle box.

My only complaints: Because they decided to make the booklet the length of the box (instead of one or two CD-shaped booklets), it is hard to open and handle as you are listening to the albums. Some of the photos are also spread across two pages, and I hate when they do that. And, while I like the idea of the neat reproductions of the album covers, it would have been a lot cheaper for consumers if they had just put two albums on each CD.

This set is a goldmine for Pryor fans who have had to wait far too long for this superb collection. Do yourself a favor and splurge. You'll be happy you did.

Pryorites and fans of comedy, folklore, storytelling, whatever you want to call it, simply put, this CD set is worth it.

Aside from the material on EVOLUTION/REVOLUTION (containing much of the material recorded for Laff records and elsewhere), this is the complete above-ground recordings of Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor, and then some!

From the first Pryor Lp in 1968, we get the embyonic genius of PRISON PLAY (aka Black Ben The Blacksmith), and early classic on the theme of interracial sex during slavery in a play at a prison overseen by a racist warden-with Pryor voicing all the characters! TV PANEL SHOW is along similar lines, as our hero does all the voices of the said subject.
SUPERN(egro) aside, the other routines here are not so hot, but you get a good glimpse of what was to come.

On to THAT N(egro)'s CRAZY where our man does polished versions of the routines he had been doing for the past few years in LIVE & SMOKIN, WATTSTAX, and CRAPS AFTER HOURS regarding sex, the police, racism, etc. This is where he became a "ghetto superstar" on the verge of exploding into mainstream America.

IS IT SOMETHING I SAID (1975) is his best unified work (to me). Not only do we get the classic OUR TEXT FOR TODAY (his classic take on the ministry), we also get chapter 1 of the MUDBONE saga, Pryor's ingenius take on the old folklore-spouting tale-spinning wise black men once found on every street corner in America.

BICENTENNIAL N(egro) is largely forgotten today, but it shouldn't be. This is Pryor's magnum opus on being Black in America during the nation's 200th birthday. Like Brian Wilson's SMILE and Marvin Gaye's WHAT'S GOING ON, it should be heard in its entirety to be effective.

On to the live albums LIVE IN CONCERT, LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP, and HERE AND NOW. The first is considered a classic. Has its moments, but he's done things that I've liked better. In the second, he recounces the N-word which gets a standing-o from me and delivers part 2 of the MUDBONE saga. The latter is a lesser work, but he puts some racist hecklers in check, gets into a really cool improvised conversation with a fiddler crab that a fan puts onstage.

The previously unreleased bits are largely a treasure-BLACK MESSIAH and HISTORY LESSON are masterpieces that mix the profane and profound, with verbal nuclear bombs and breathtaking social observations that make you laugh and gasp at the same time. PATTY HEARST is a skewered but interesting take on the famous kidnapping (one of the few occasional bits that it would help to be a history buff or a 70s person to dig), but MS is a very sad piece, probably one of his last recordings, as he ruminates on the effects this disease has on him. It's not likely that you'll want to hear that one more than once.

Overall, this is an amazing collection well worth the price that works in both ways as laugh material you can bring your buddies over for beer and pizza for (as I did with a number of these albums during my college years)and something you can really meditate and think over. This set is the ultimate legacy that Richard Pryor left to the world. RIP.

Richard Pryor is the greatest standup comedian ever.
This boxed set proves why he is a living legend.
This cd's in this collection is hysterical. I really
enjoyed listening to " That Nigger's crazy " and
" Bicentennial Nigger". Anyone who is a Richard Pryor
fan should get this boxed set - immdiately!

Richard Pryor is a comedy legend. He shaped the edgy role of the stand-up comedian and pushed the boundaries of humor with his 1970's comedy albums. All of those albums are included in this extensive box set as well as an intriguing interview from 1983. Mr. Pryor had the unique ability to push all the right buttons for laughs and his material has stood the test of time. There is a dark underbelly to his humor, the pain and isolation of his drug addiction, skin color and other demons. But those demons drove him towards the greatness he achieved. Unfortunately Mr. Pryor's career has been cut short due to his battle with MS. But as he fights a courageous fight against the disease, we can be reminded of his brilliance with this box set.

Richard Pryor is the Bob Dylan of comedy, and this six disc box set shows why. From his early routines on, Pryor takes the basic differences between peolpe-- men & women, winos & straight people, blacks & whites, and gives unique, truly insightful comments about what they are and why they exist. he never stoops to cliches or easy toilet jokes and set the bar high for all those that followed. if you've never heard any ofhis routines or just know of Pryor from the movies, you've gotta' hear this stuff. it's hysterical, will keep you laughing ......and it's deep too!

It has been said that the United States has produced three truly great comics -- Mark Twain, Lenny Bruce, and Richard Pryor. I'd say that is about right.

Its about time Pryor's work was made available in remastered CD form. I liked the book that came along with the CDs, but I hate when CDs are packaged in cardboard envelopes (Jewel Boxes are the way to go for CD packaging as far as I'm concerned). That would be my only complaint regarding this box set, and it has nothing to do with the content of the CDs.

What's on the CDs are pure gold. Every black comedian to arrive on the scene since 1980 has been compared to Richard Pryor. Once you listen to this material, you'll realise that Pryor has no equal. His comedy is something that is going to outlast us all.

Richard Pryor was such a good comedian beacause it was obvious that his act wasn't an act, and he had a unique ability, no matter how many times he had performed a particular routine, to perform it as if he was doing so for the very first time. Nothing was sacred in Pryor's life, and he was able to find comedy in the many tragic events in his life.