Carnegie Hall Concert (CD)

An American icon, Lenny Bruce is essentially known as a comedian, but he was equal parts comic, philosopher, and social critic. At a particularly conservative, uptight moment in American culture, he spoke out freely against the hypocrisies of religion, government, and social mores. His use of expletives and sexual themes, modest by today's standards, got him in endless legal troubles, which savaged both his life and his career. He died of an overdose in 1966, but remains one of the key influences on comedy, particularly on comedians with a sociopolitical bent.

• Category:  Music  »  Comedy  »  Spoken Comedy
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: August 15, 1995
• Label: Blue Note Records (USA)
• UPC: 724383402021
• WAPI (Tower ID): 105786032
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• Tower.com Sales Rank: #28959 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #260 in Comedy (See Top 100 Comedy Bestsellers)
• #135 in Spoken Comedy (See Top 100 Spoken Comedy Bestsellers)

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Personnel: Lenny Bruce (spoken vocals).

Liner Note Author: Albert Goldman.

Recording information: Carnegie Hall, New York, New York (02/04/1961).

The Feb. 4, 1961 concert captured on this album took place under extreme circumstances. New York City was virtually snowbound by a massive blizzard, automobile traffic was banned, and it seemed almost impossible for anyone to get anywhere. Yet somehow, the cognoscenti trooped into Carnegie Hall that night, filling up the prestigious venue to experience Lenny Bruce firsthand. What the hardy crowd got was about two hours of the comedian/philosopher at his best, mixing Beat-like stream-of-consciousness flow with jazzman argot, pidgin Yiddish, and a unique, ironic perspective on the social issues of the day.

Delving into everything from racism and homosexuality to Christianity and the medical profession, Bruce dissects his targets with a jeweler's eye and a schpritzer's jocular venom. More than any other comedian (though what he did extended far beyond mere comedy), Bruce had the gift of enabling audiences to laugh and think simultaneously. Second only to the LIVE AT THE CURRAN THEATER album recorded the same year, this is a definitive Bruce concert recording.

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