Shelley Berman, A Personal Appearance (1962)
I love listening to old stand-up comedy records – so out of date in so many ways, but find a good one and you can revel in the storytelling, the timing, the performance (even if the material doesn’t stand up). If the material isn’t overtly sexual or political then it will more often than not still stand-up (if you’ll pardon the pun). Shelley Berman died a couple of years ago, reaching a very decent age (in his 90s) and with the career-rejuvenation of playing Larry’s father on Curb Your Enthusiasm. But back in the 1950s and 60s he was an influential comic – he even invented the telephone shtick before Bob Newhart (Bob perfected it, monetized it, made it legend – but Shelley accused him of plagiarism basically, of lifting the idea from him). I believe Newhart even admitted that he’d heard Berman do it first. Can you imagine a time when people sat around and listened to comedy on vinyl? Stand-up comedy records? You’ll find many Berman albums in charity shops and 2nd-handers. You’ll find a few in my collection too – I started picking them up a few years ago because I reckon Berman’s been a bit unfairly forgotten/didn’t quite get his dues. It’s not cutting edge work to hear it now but there’s a feel and flow to it. He was a master of his craft. And some of the concepts (advertising, media) were eerily prescient. Then. And now…
Sample Track: Television Advertising (It Shows It To You)
The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown