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Bill by Bill Cosby (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Bill
  • Artist name: Bill Cosby
  • Year: 1973
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: MCA Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Clipped top left corner
    • Sticker on back: SAMPLE COPY
  • Buy it on Amazon: $130.00

Bill by Bill Cosby

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record, and never intentionally watched or listened to any of Bill Cosby’s work. Mostly I know him from The Cosby Show, which my parents watched when I was a child but which I did not find even remotely interesting; and from the crass commercial advertisements on television featuring his endorsement of Jell-O; and from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, which was shown in class by teachers in my elementary and middle schools (the schools were government-operated, and the teachers were union members).

What I expected

The record claims:

“Bill Cosby is a beautiful man” (…and also very funny)

Ok. I am looking forward to an hour and a half of Bill Cosby telling his jokes.

What it was actually like

I thought that I would find many parts of this to be very funny and that I would be laughing despite myself, but actually, it was not funny at all, and I don’t think I even cracked a smile. In fact, I had a very difficult time even paying attention, and kept getting distracted by my iPhone and my dog.

Notable moments included:

  • Cosby making fun of how the Italian language sounds to an American, which is the perfect complement to Adriano Celentano’s Prisencolinensinainciusol
  • Cosby mocking his wife, who’s from the South, for liking chitterlings, and also mocking Greek people for eating tripe
  • Cosby telling stories about his toddler children and their diaper habits
  • Cosby claiming that he tried taking a bath in the toilet bowl when he was a child (“The problem with bathing in the toilet bowl is that the water is cold”)

Grade

1/5: I made it all the way to the end, but could not force myself to pay attention

Here’s Johnny: Magic Moments from the Tonight Show (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Here’s Johnny: Magic Moments from the Tonight Show
  • Artist name: Various, including Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, Bette Midler, Groucho Marx, George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Aretha Franklin, the Smothers Brothers, Richard Nixon, Ike & Tina Turner, Lucille Ball, Dean Martin, Jack Benny, Glen Campbell and Sammy Davis Jr.
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Casablanca Records
  • Distinguishing characteristics: PROMOTION / NOT FOR SALE printed on LPs
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $8.98

Here's Johnny: Magic Moments from the Tonight Show

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never particularly been a fan of late night television or its format of a moderately progressive host sitting at a desk, reciting jokes and interviewing celebrity guests, while appealing to the widest possible audience of adult Americans, yet letting them all think that they’re “edgy” for watching network- and advertiser-sponsored cultural commentary after dark.

I probably last saw The Tonight Show around the time I graduated high school in 1999, and I’ve definitely heard of Johnny Carson a lot, but am surprised to know that he was still making new episodes as late as 1992, meaning that I could have watched him and even understood a lot of it, if it had not been on way too late for a kid in elementary school.

What I expected

My guess is that this will be a little bit like I Can Hear It Now / The Sixties, starring Walter Cronkite.

What it was actually like

While listening to this, I wondered some more about what made so many people so loyal to late night television, and besides the obvious (it was the only thing on, and everyone else was watching it because it was the only thing on, meaning that everyone would be discussing it at work), came to another idea: there’s something weirdly intimate about feeling that one “knows” a celebrity because that celebrity has appeared out of character, sharing personal anecdotes, while one is in one’s pyjamas.

Anyway, following along in audio was surprisingly difficult, as I am not that familiar with all of these people. For example, I could not figure out the Smothers Brothers’ jokes without seeing their faces.

A highlight was Doc Severinsen and His Sweetheart Band’s Ode To Billy Joe, which was a pretty good funk song.

Some lowlights included:

  • George Carlin’s jokes about marijuana, which evoked A Child’s Garden of Grass: A Pre-Legalization Comedy[1]
  • Richard Nixon kissing Johnny Carson’s ass (“You come over on television like gangbusters”) and then proceeding to tell a makeup joke about his 1960 debate against John Kennedy
  • Someone performing The Stars and Stripes Forever on what I hope was a kazoo, but what I’m afraid might actually have been armpits or hand-farts[2]

Grade

2/5: weak, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

References

References
↑1 By the way, according to Carlos Slim’s blog, New York’s first legal cannabis dispensary opened today.
↑2 Here is my review of Stars and Stripes Forever.

Urban Cowboy soundtrack (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Urban Cowboy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  • Artist name: Various artists, including Jimmy Buffett, the Charlie Daniels Band, the Eagles, Dan Fogelberg, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Rogers and Boz Scaggs
  • Year: 1980
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Asylum Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $28.09

Urban Cowboy soundtrack

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have heard of the movie Urban Cowboy, but have not seen it. I recognize a bunch of the artists’ names from the soundtrack, but only a few of the song names.

What I expected

Country, country rock.

What it was actually like

Side One

Rock was the dominant sound of this side, but it was definitely country rock.

I liked All Night Long by Joe Walsh the best, as it was more of a hard rock song that had a strong electric blues influence, with a very good guitar riff.

Jimmy Buffett’s Hello Texas was a very solid country rock song, and I liked the honky tonk piano in Nine Tonight by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band.

Dan Fogelberg’s Times Like These was very over-produced, like the worst of 1980s rock, and it sounded like it used a drum machine.

Side Two

This side was more line dancing music than the first.

Mickey Gilley’s version of Stand By Me was kind of sad, and I don’t object at all to reinterpreting this classic song, but I do think that if someone wants to mess with it, then it needs to be really impressive not to be treated as crap, since the original is such a classic.

Cherokee Fiddle by Mickey Gilley had great fiddle and steel guitar solos and a very country sound, but terrible percussion.

I’ve always considered the Eagles Lyin’ Eyes a potentially great country rock song, but I’ve never much cared for the vocals in it – they just felt too smooth, like they did not have enough emotion for the song’s lyrics.

Could I Have This Dance by Anne Murray was country, but really slow and boring.

Side Three

I’m aware that there are people who really like The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels Band, but I have always found it to be a little bit silly and melodramatic, especially the rhyming couplets and almost spoken vocals.

Lookin’ for Love by Johnny Lee, on the other hand, is one that I’ve always liked, especially the good harmony.

The Gilley’s “Urban Cowboy” Band version of Orange Blossom Special/Hoedown was atrociously turned into Oompa Loompa music for no reason that I can discern, but even though they ruined the song, the fiddle solo was still great[1].

I didn’t care much for Bonnie Raitt’s Don’t It Make Ya Wanna Dance, which was very country and had some good fiddle, but was just not a good song overall, and sounded like it was made for country radio. I felt similarly about Here Comes the Hurt Again by Mickey Gilley, which was too whiny for my taste.

Side Four

I thought that Love the World Away by Kenny Rogers, an easy listening song, would certainly be the worst on the record, but that was until I heard Look What You’ve Done to Me by Boz Scaggs. That was in fact easily the record’s worst song and one of the worst I’ve ever heard. “Easy listening” would not even begin to describe it, but “soporific” does, and if I had been listening on a digital format, there’s a 100% chance that I would have skipped this song after 30 seconds or so.

Falling in Love for the Night by Charlie Daniels Band was weirdly trying for that same Caribbean sound that Loggins and Messina were attempting, and also was not good.

Darlin’ by Bonnie Raitt was much better, and thought that she nailed her version.

I also liked Hearts Against the Wind by Linda Ronstadt and J. D. Souther. It was slow for my taste, but an excellent song, and they did a very nice harmony.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

References

References
↑1 Just listen to this version instead.

Chariots of Fire soundtrack by Vangelis (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Chariots of Fire: music from the original soundtrack by Vangelis
  • Artist name: Vangelis
  • Year: 1981
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Polydor Records Ltd.
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $3.99

Chariots of Fire soundtrack by Vangelis

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve heard of Chariots of Fire the movie, but I’ve never seen it, and I don’t think I’ve ever listened to this music. I’ve also never heard of “Vangelis.”

There is, however, a certain melody I have in my head that I think may be from the movie.

What I expected

I’m not sure. The back says, “Composed, Arranged, Produced and Performed by VANGELIS,” so I’m guessing that it will be modern classical-style music. The front has a picture of a bunch of men running on a beach, wearing what appears to be plain white undershirts and boxer shorts.

What it was actually like

I was absolutely right about that melody, which was the song Titles! Here is a movie montage that features it. Also, I guess they were not running on the beach in their underwear, but actually were wearing some kind of British sports uniform. This was, weirdly, the best song.

Basically this was a mostly instrumental classical-style record, but done with techno instruments, so it had a weird “futuristic” sound to it, despite being as old as I am.

Abraham’s Theme sounded kind of like the music that I sometimes use to fall asleep.

I recognized Jerusalem as a sometimes-, not-quite national anthem of the United Kingdom[1].

The entire second side was just called Chariots of Fire, a 20+ minute track that mostly consisted of some boring sound effects and repetition of other themes from the first side.

Grade

2/5: weak, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

References

References
↑1 And it’s kind of weird to have another country’s capital as the name of their anthem, right? And is this what we’re supposed to be calling “cultural appropriation” now?

The Best Of B.B. King (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Best Of B.B. King
  • Artist name: B.B. King
  • Year: 1973
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: ABC Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $49.96

The Best Of B.B. King

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m familiar with B.B. King as an important blues guitarist, and I expect that I’ll recognize some of his songs, but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to any of his music.

What I expected

Blues.

What it was actually like

This was pretty good, but I did not recognize any of the songs. Taken as a whole, listening to this record made me hungry for barbecue, as it kind of reminded me of the music that they play in barbecue restaurants outside of the American South (in a good way).

The songs that I liked the best were Caldonia, which was the fastest and most danceable, and had a great trumpet solo, and Why I Sing The Blues, which was also quite lively, with a great bass line, and very strong vocals and guitar solo.

I did not care much for the gospel style backing vocals and organ on Ain’t Nobody Home and Hummingbird.

Grade

4/5: would listen again