I wanted to do a daily feature but wind out of my sails and all that. This is going to be a three-fer and then I'll get the backgrounds and whatnot back to normal in a day or two.
George Carlin's earliest material from the early and middle 60s was very, very mainstream. It was funny, no doubt, with classic bits like the dippy weather man and the overenthusiastic disc jockey and observations on the general absurdity of life, but it was as straightforward as you can get. 1966's Take-Offs and Put-Ons was good, but far from where Carlin would end-up.
What Am I Doing In New Jersey, Carlin's 1988 offering, when he first truly brought the hammer down on a failed society. Strange thoughts and amusing observations had mutated into a quiet fury against criminal politicians and stupid, stupid people. This was just about the peak, completely funny and just the right amount of angry.
You Are All Diseased from 1999 was Carlin's last great special, by which point he had become a complete raging fury against pretty much everything yet still put a great amount of humor into it.
Later specials, "Complaints and Greivances," "Life is Worth Losing," and "It's Bad for Ya" were considerably angrier, with Carlin often dropping the humor in favor of telling you exactly how badly something sucked. Even at his most misanthropic, though, it was never a waste of your time. Unless, of course, you were on the receiving end. But then, fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Science Gone Mad: Audio eXchange
4 comments:
Allow me to recommend a book. Your comment about Carlin's stuff in the 1960s as mainstream made me think of something I read a few months ago. It is entitled "Revel with a Cause: Liberal Satire in Postwar America." It can best be described as cultural history...but he puts the people we grew up with as game show folks and sitcom stars (e.g. Bob Newhart, Nipsy Russell, Redd Foxx) into a historical context. It goes over what was groundbreaking when and is mostly focused on political humor. I am pretty sure that Carlin plays a role in the later chapters, but he is overshadowed by Lenny Bruce and Dick Gregory at that point.
Good lookin on these. When I was 17-18 I used to rent all the Carlin specials on VHS from Blockbuster in Motown, and "What Am I Doing In New Jersey" was my favorite.
I've got "You Are All Diseased" on CD.
Fantastic ... "I pray to Joe Pesci."
I bought "Diseased" at the Disc Exchange in Knoxville as Jake and I were driving back to Morristown (or Johnson City, maybe) after an abortion of an attempt at recording an album. We were both pretty fucking pissed because of someone's no-show and I realized the only way this drive was going to be anything less than steaming fury was some good ol' Carlin. Goddamn that was cathartic.
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