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Richard Pryor‘s legendary run is chronicled in the new box set I Hope I’m Funny: The Warner Albums (1974-1983), out now via Rhino.
The 7-LP set features the late comedian’s classic trilogy of 1974’s That N****r’s Crazy, 1975’s Is It Something I Said?, and 1976’s Bicentennial N****r, three consecutive albums that each won him a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.
That N****r’s Crazy, which was recently placed on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 74 Best Albums of 1974, was recorded at Don Cornelius’ Soul Train nightclub in San Francisco in February of that year. The album became a cultural phenomenon, as Pryor shattered boundaries and offered hilarious — and incredibly real — commentary on sex, drugs, and race.
“Whenever they have a list of the 100 greatest albums, Richard is never there,” Chris Rock once toldRolling Stone. “He’s not a musician, but Richard is one of the greatest recording artists ever. I’ll takeThat N****r’s CrazyoverFrampton Comes Alive!any day.”
Rounding out the collection are the 1978 double album Wanted/Richard Pryor Live in Concert, 1982’s Live On The Sunset Strip, and Here and Now, released a year later. The latter marked Pryor’s first time sober since he was 14 years old. “I feel a lot different,” he told the crowd. “I had to stop drinking, though. Because I got tired of waking up in my car, driving 90.”
Scott Saul, an English professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of the 2014 biography Becoming Richard Pryor, wrote the box set’s liner notes. “The Age of Pryor has never ended,” he writes. “Across the six albums collected here, Pryor blew open what a comedian could do onstage, and it’s the rare comedian who is not somehow in his debt.”
I Hope I’m Funny: The Warner Albums (1974-1983) Track List
That N****r’s Crazy
Side A
I Hope I’m Funny
N****r With A Seizure
Have Your Ass Home By 11:00
Black & White Life Styles
Exorcist
Wino Dealing With Dracula
Side B
Flying Saucers
The Back Down
Black Man/White Woman
N****s Vs. The Police
Wino & Junkie
…Is It Something I Said?
Side A
Eulogy
Shortage Of White People
New N****s
Cocaine
Just Us
Mudbone – Intro
Side B
Mudbone – Little Feets
When Your Woman Leaves You
The Goodnight Kiss
Women Are Beautiful
Our Text For Today
Bicentennial N*****
Side A
Hillbilly
Black & White Women
Our Gang
Bicentennial Prayer
Side B
Black Hollywood
Mudbone Goes To Hollywood
Chinese Restaurant
Acid
Bicentennial N****r
Wanted/Richard Pryor Live in Concert
Side A
New Year’s Eve
White And Black People
Black Funerals
Discipline
Side B
Heart Attacks
Ali
Keeping In Shape
Leon Spinks
Side C
Dogs And Horses
Jim Brown
Monkeys
Kids
Side D
Nature
Things In The Woods
Deer Hunter
Chinese Food
Being Sensitive
Live On The Sunset Strip
Side A
Women
Prison
Africa
Side B
Mafia Club
Mudbone
Freebase
Hospital
Here and Now
Side A
Here And Now
Southern Hospitality
Slavery
Motherland
I Met The President
Fire Exit
Mudbone (Part One)
Side B
Mudbone (Part Two)
Inebriated
One Night Stands
One Day At A Time
I Like Women
Being Famous
I Remember
