Let the Buyer Beware [BOX SET]

Lenny Bruce

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 2004)
• Original Release Date: September 14, 2004
• Number of Discs: 6
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Shout! Factory
• ASIN: B0002RUPGK
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,537 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

UNEDITED, UNCENSORED, UNAPOLOGETIC...The ultimate Lenny Bruce box set 10 years in the making!

Let The Buyer Beware is an unprecedented 6-CD boxed collection of Lenny Bruce’s popular recorded performances, never-before-released performances, and various private recordings that tell the powerful, funny, and ultimately tragic story of the man whose brilliance and convictions turned stand-up comedy on its head. Lenny Bruce (1925–1966) was a brilliant, outspoken satirist unafraid to speak about such then-taboo topics as sex, race, religion and politics. According to critic Nat Hentoff, "Lenny delighted in exploring why certain words were forbidden—and then demystifying them." Bruce eventually became a victim of his own talent; he was blacklisted by the establishment, but fought the laws of censorship until it eventually killed him.

Much of the public remains unaware of the wealth of personal recordings Bruce made over the years; he recorded everything from private rehearsals of new bits, to phone conversations and paranoid tirades. This collection is the first to tell the definitive Lenny Bruce story.

*This long-awaited box set is the ultimate tribute to a man that Comedy Central calls the #3 comedian of all time.

*Over 7 1/2 hours of performances, interviews, and wire taps, including: 69 previously unreleased recordings, 10 previously unreleased selections from Lenny’s personal tapes, and 4 previously unreleased radio interviews.

*Contains classic recordings of "Religions, Inc," "How To Relax Your Colored Friends At Parties," "Airplane Glue," "Jewish & Goyish," "Tits And Ass" and more.

*Also contains such unreleased material as Bruce’s WFMT Chicago radio interview with Studs Terkel, many bits from performances at the Jazz Workshop and Off Broadway in San Francisco, The Gate of Horn in Chicago, and The Den in New York and an unused radio ad for Zeidler & Zeidler clothiers.

*Luxuriously packaged in a unique 80-page hardbound book, containing unpublished photos and memorabilia, as well as essays by Lenny Bruce’s daughter, Kitty; Bruce expert Marvin Worth; set producer Hal Willner; and writer Paul Krassner; plus tributes, a chronology, a glossary, and much, much more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for new listeners, a dream come true for fans, September 16, 2004

By	Jason Crane (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a Lenny Bruce fan and collector since my teens, I was thrilled to see this painstakingly crafted boxed set. Over the course of six CDs, you'll get to hear Lenny at his creative peak as a "bit comic" and as a free-form legal scholar. Lenny was a brilliant and perceptive commentator on the world around him, and a true patriot who often seemed shocked that the country he grew up in was turning its back on its founding freedoms. This set captures all the controversy, all the passion, and all the genius.

If you're new to Lenny Bruce and you have some extra bread lying around, this is a wonderful set to pick up. (If you're more cash-conscious, start with the two-volume Lenny Bruce Originals on Fantasy records.) If you're a longtime fan of Lenny, this will not only reaffirm your love for his material, it will open new windows into the mind of one of America's great thinkers. Very highly recommended.

79 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars BUYER BEWARE!, November 12, 2004

By	Edward Azlant - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This anthology is aptly titled: LET THE BUYER BEWARE, an announcer's introduction to Bruce's show used to signal rough language forty years ago, now somewhat ironic, because the buyer of this pricey collection is getting less than a "classic" anthology of "definitive" versions. First, a disclaimer: I edited some Bruce albums for Ralph Gleason at Fantasy, including the Curran Theater concert. That said, I have major reservations about this collection. The selections and their order are seemingly without reason, not chronological or thematic. There are a number of repeats, for no seeming reason except perhaps padding. Some new materials are interesting, like the Godfrey show and the Terkel interview, but some are borderline, like the phone conversations, the microphone test, and the Z&Z commercials, compounding the general bloat of the printed materials. There are basic mistakes (Robie, not Ruby the Robot; his SF lawyer was Al Bendich). This seems like a project dictated mostly by the material available to Marvin Worth and Bruce's daughter Kitty. There's nothing wrong with marketing a stash of tapes, but not as a comprehensive, definitive, or original collection. The buyer would be much better off spending the money on the Originals collections plus the three major concert recordings, Carnegie Hall, Berkeley, and Curran Theater.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Release of the Lenny Bruce boxset is a cultural EVENT, February 3, 2005

By	Matthew St Amand (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a long-time fan of Lenny Bruce's work I have collected every available recording and book on the man and his art. The Lenny Bruce boxset, LET THE BUYER BEWARE, is a cultural event as important as a trunk filled with unpublished Mark Twain novels being unearthed. LET THE BUYER BEWARE presents over 7 hours of Lenny Bruce material, much of which has never been released in any form. As a hardcore fan, I was amazed to find virtually no overlap between this boxset and previously released Lenny Bruce albums.

As for the comedy on this boxset, Lenny Bruce has never been more relevant, never more hilarious, as he lampoons santimonious religious and political leaders, gives frank and insightful opinions about the art of comedy and who the "real" comedians of his time were. Lenny himself does not escape his incisive eye and satire as one track on Disc 2 has him reading a scathing review his nightclub act received, admitting to the audience how the review rankled him.

LET THE BUYER BEWARE is much more than a "Best of" Lenny Bruce. It provides tremendous scope of this comic genius' career, from his very early apperance on THE ARTHUR GODFREY show (winning the talent contest for that week) to his being warned by a police officer to keep his nightclub act "clean" while performing in a particular city.

To this fan, the single most poignant track in the entire boxset comes on Disc 6 when Lenny explains how "I Picked on the Wrong God." Lenny is never maudlin, but introspective and painfully honest as he assesses what has been about his outlook and nightclub act that ignited his myriad legal troubles.

It's easy to cast Lenny Bruce as a philosopher, as a martyr for freedom of speech, but I think Lenny's assessment of himself is most apt: "I'm not a comedian. I'm Lenny Bruce." His brand of insight and satire was so singular, it cannot be summed up as simply "comedy." It was no mere entertainment, nor was he simply pontificating from a nightclub stage. Lenny Bruce opened himself before his audience unlike any performer at that time, and like few have since then.

Very special thanks must go to Lenny's daughter Kitty Bruce for making this material available. LET THE BUYER BEWARE is the Dead Sea Scrolls of contemporary culture. Whether Lenny Bruce discussed the Kennedy assassination, the death of Marylin Monroe, St. Paul, or LBJ, he expresses his thoughts with a rare and abiding honesty and hilarity.

For anyone interested in the art of Lenny Bruce -- whether you saw the man perform during the 1950s and '60's -- or have no idea what the fuss is about, get your copy of LET THE BUYER BEWARE and listen to a man whose work has been compared to Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain. Hear the words of what most people consider to be the greatest comedian of the 20th Century.

--Matthew St. Amand author of AS MY SPARKS FLY UPWARD and FOREVER & A DAY... www.matthewstamand.com