Wonderfulness

Bill Cosby | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 3, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino Flashback
• ASIN: B001O54NLW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,373 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #3 in Music > Miscellaneous > Radio Shows
  • #4 in Music > Miscellaneous > Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews
  • #6 in Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > General AAS

Editorial Reviews

Includes Shop; Chicken Heart; Special Class; Tonsils , and more. A #7-charting album from 1966.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Put your lights... OUT!", May 10, 2010

By 

Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wonderfulness (Audio CD)

William Henry 'Bill' Cosby, Jr. (7/12/37) has been a stand-up comic and a presence on the American scene since the early 1960s. This RHINO CD reissue of his fourth WARNER BROS. LP, WONDERFULNESS (1966, WS 1634) is Cosby in his prime. Tracks are from live performances at HARRAH's in Lake Tahoe, NV.

Also starring: Crying Charley / Old Weird Harold / Bill's Fainting Ma / Doris from Cooking Class / Johnson and Rudolph / Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Leonard / Cream O' Wheat / About 3,000,000 Kids / 900 Cop Cars / And a Monster Chicken Heart (from LP's back cover)


Cosby has always been at his best when relating stories (real or imagined) of his boyhood; there's a wealth of such material on this album. In "Tonsils," Bill's been promised all the ice cream he can eat once the tonsillectomy is over. "Go Carts" is a brilliant recreation of an insane downhill race between rickety carts with baby carriage wheels and brakes made from short lengths of 2 × 4's.

"Lumps" explains why our narrator cannot stand a certain brand of mush. "Chicken Heart" may be this album's most famous track. Here, young Cos' spreads JELLO on the kitchen floor to keep monsters away, then tunes into his favorite scary radio show, "Lights OUT!!" And there's more: school vignettes, playground moments and the events that make childhood a trial while living it yet a fond memory in retrospect.

PROGRAM--

SIDE ONE
[15:19] Tonsils
[3:21] The Playground
[1:39] Lumps
[5:40] Go Carts

SIDE TWO
[12:28] Chicken Heart
[2:13] Shop
[1:24] Special Class
[4:52] Niagara Falls
TOTAL TIME: 46:56

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, family friendly comedy, September 7, 2009

By 

A Fan (VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wonderfulness (Audio CD)

I remember listening to this when I was young and almost busted my gut with laughter! While Cosby is known today primarily as a TV actor, he was first a stand-up comedian, and a very good one. He released several outstanding comedy albums during the 1960s and some of his routines have gone on to become part of the American culture. This is one of his best albums and is family friendly. Tonsils and Chicken Heart are still two of my favorite routines of all time!

This album was certified PLATINUM by the RIAA for sales in excess of 1 million copies in the US.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Outdated, September 12, 2009

By 

ellyjoe (Abington, PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wonderfulness (Audio CD)

Bill Cosby's humor is timeless,aside from his chicken heart story which today's young people wouldn't find as funny having not been around when we listened to programs on the radio alone. The rest of his stories could easily happen today. His ability to take the ordinary situations in life and extract the humor is a real gift and his story telling is unmatched by anyone's standards. Go carts are still used, though I don't think kids make their own any more. Cream of wheat still makes lumps and getting your tonsils out still hurts. Some things just don't change, thank goodness, and we join together to laugh and laugh.