1 comments about Being Julia.

1. Being Julia OST has a beautiful main melody which occurs over and over again throughout the tracks. I especially like "Curtain Up" and "Quite Alone". However, Being Julia OST doesn't have other strong melody to show along side with the main melody which seems a little too simple for a complete album. The movie is great too. Annette Bening's performance is outstanding.

2 comments about Without Tears.

1. "Lenny Bruce Without Tears" shows us the late "sick comic" at his best, as well as at his worst.

   Kinescopes from "The Steve Allen Show" and an unaired TV project show Lenny as sharp and energetic. News footage shows him during (and after) his slow death from drugs, and what one observer called "an overdose of police."

   There is some padding. Stock footage accompanies routines from Lenny's LPs. Too many people who barely knew Lenny give us their opinions on him (Fans of "A Christmas Story" will cringe as Jean Shepherd suggests Bruce's popularity may lead to a new totalitarianism, in which the un-hip are sent to gas ovens[!]).

   However, the filmmakers did the best they could with what they had, and none of the footage they used happens to be currently available elsewhere. This alone makes "Lenny Bruce Without Tears" a must-see.




2. If you want to learn about Lenny Bruce, buy this video. You will see him at his best but also at his rambling worse after his arrests. This is a study of his life so if you are viewing this just for comedy, you may be disappointed. Most of the jokes don't translate well for 40 years. But as a study in this cult hero, this is a "must buy".

No comments about Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From the Tonight Show (Original Recording Double Album).

5 comments about Bruce Almighty.

1. I watch the DVD of Bruce.
   There's a cute song during the DVD's "menu section".
   It's not in the movie but I love it very much.
   Anyone could help??



2. The song at the beginning of the credits is: Are You Ready for A Miracle sung by The World Harvest Choir from the album: The Sound Of Jubilee.



3. Does anyone know the song Tony Bennett plays while Bruce is at the restaurante with Grace?



4. I wish they would have included the Barry White song Bruce uses to seduce Grace with. Also they left out The Vines' song "Outtathaway" which is played when Bruce is driving his sportscar and parts all of the cars in traffic. I LOVE that song! But the album is OK otherwise, nice to listen to at work or while driving.



5. It's a nice little score, this is not my thing(lord of the rings)but it's one of those happy go lucky scores with a choir in the background. p.s. this review is on the promo score

No comments about Bill Hicks 7 Cd Bundle Set.

4 comments about The Lenny Bruce Originals, Vol. 2.

1. The Best of the Originals series. But be warned that this is not the real Lenny: It is not live (the CD breaks off into "bits" which was not Lenny's style at all). It is also censored so badly you can hear the edits!

   Check Out the Carnegie Hall Concert. Still, this CD does have some good bits.




2. "[Lenny Bruce] is the eighth wonder of the world! You have to go back to Mark Twain to find anything remotely like him. And if they don't kill him or throw him in jail, he's liable to shake up this whole f'n country!" - Dick Gregory, African-American Comedian and Activist

   This CD compilation, like Originals Vol. 1, is an absolute must for all fans of the late, great Lenny Bruce. This volume contains two more early Lenny Bruce albums: I Am Not A Nut, Elect Me and American. Note: a few tracks from American were put on Volume one due to time constraints.

   The four albums collected on Originals Volumes 1 and 2 were originally released by Fantasy Records in the late 1950s and pressed onto fancy red vinyl. For the CD release, Fantasy has digitally remastered these recordings. The result is a crisp, clean sound that is a joy to hear. I know - my father owned all the LPs, and as a kid in the 70's, I would listen to them on the family Hi-Fi. The remastering and CD quality is a definite improvement.

   While these albums consisted of pre-written routines (in one bit, Lenny states that at the time, he did very little improv) and not the amazing free-form improvisational work of his later career, Lenny's genius and caustic wit shine through.

   Some of the classic bits on this CD include White Collar Drunks, My Trip To Miami, Our Governors, Lima Ohio, and Marriage, Divorce, and Motels. Also present are Lenny's all-time great routines like The Steve Allen Show (where he talks about his problems with Allen's censors), The Palladium (Lenny's satire of the working life of a comedian) and How To Relax Your Colored Friends At Parties, where Lenny attacks the casual racism of self-professed "enlightened" white folks of the late 1950s.

   These incendiary routines were the real reason why Lenny Bruce was persecuted by the authorities, not his use of vulgar language. Buy this CD and hear for yourself why Lenny Bruce was the most brilliant and daring comedian of all time.




3. There are some amusing moments on this CD. "Lima, Ohio" deals with a lonely traveling salesman who meets a Jewish couple (it helps to understand yiddish to understand this one) and the bit about airplane glue brings a chuckle or two (Richard Pryor has credited this bit with being a major influence). "The Defiant Ones" (with Eric Miller) causes a few yuks with this gag on integration "For a piano to play, you need both the Whiite keys and the dark-keys." However, the dated references to Krushchev, Nixon, Orval Faubus, Sherman Adams, etc. will make this largely of historical interest.



4. Lenny Bruce was one of the most brilliant and daring comedians of all time... Especially when he contracted/hired my late aunt Sylvia Mansfield (the Black woman) for $50.00 cash to model on the "Togetherness" LP cover to Lenny's right...
   
   It was quite a story that was past down oral-traditionally to me from my late grandmother (Elizabeth Mansfield) of how Lenny first saw my aunt and my mom (as young post-teenage women) walking down the street of Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California on a weekend shopping spree in the late 1950's... Moreover, according to my grandmother at the time, she said that Lenny came over to the house one late evening and begged her for a release so that my aunt Sylvia could do the "photo-shoot" for the LP cover-- my grandmother nearly called the police on him...which often seem to be a common trait with Lenny...
   
   The cover art idea for this LP project was timely and extremely controversy for it's time...with Black guys posing under white sheets as "Kans Men..." (*Note, the actual "photo-shoot" was taken in front of the Abe Lincoln statue "up at" the Los Angeles Griffith Park Observatory, 2800 East Observatory Road Los Angeles, CA 90027).
   
   Buy the CD or the original red vinyl LP if you can find it-- it is well worth every penny!
   
   *Footnote, this LP was one of Elvis Presley's favorite comedy LP's...for proof of this, you can view it for yourself at his Graceland home in Nashville, TN, it is in one of his trophy cases...for all you Elvis fans...
   
   --"Big Dave" Burleigh, 'AmeriCanadian' Record Producre.

4 comments about The Lenny Bruce Originals, Vol. 1.

1. has the best: non-skiddo, religions incorporated, finding a dictator and ike and sherm. visit lenny's grave site-mt.eden memorial park,san fernando valley, califonia "peace at last"



2. Censored "bits" of Lenny Bruce. His earliest work, but not nearly as great as he was to become. Has some great stuff but not really his best work. Get a live performance for the real reason people love Lenny.



3. My father owned all of Lenny Bruce's early albums. They were pressed on gorgeous red vinyl discs, released by Fantasy Records in the late 1950's. I first listened to these records as a kid in the mid 1970's, on Dad's Hi-Fi stereo phonograph. The records have since gone to the great turntable in the sky, except for American, which is scratched up, but kept for sentimental reasons. Imagine my delight to find all four albums remastered and released on 2 CD volumes!
   
   At the time these albums were recorded, Lenny Bruce had just become a star. Like most of his contemporaries at the time, his act consisted mostly of "bits" - prewritten routines. He hadn't yet discovered his true improvisational genius, but these routines are still brilliant and filled with Bruce's caustic wit and social satire. They are an absolute must for all fans of the greatest standup comic of all time.
   
   This disc, Originals Volume 1, is comprised of Lenny's "The Sick Humor Of Lenny Bruce" and "Lenny Bruce's Interviews Of Our Time" albums, plus a few great bits from "American" that couldn't fit on the Volume 2 CD. This is classic early Bruce, featuring some of the routines that got him into trouble, like the great "Religions, Inc.", "Ike, Sherm, and Nick", and "Psychopathia Sexualis."
   
   The only flaw in these early albums is not Lenny's fault, but the record company's. The flaw is incontinuity - lack of flow. These albums are not complete shows, but bits assembled from various performances. They couldn't release complete shows due to censorship considerations at the time, but hey, if Lenny had recorded for a major label like Capitol, he would have been censored even more. At least Fantasy was a little flexible. They could have done a better job editing the bits together, though.
   
   "Religions, Inc." and routines like it were, in my opinion, more damaging to Bruce's career that his occasional use of profanity and sexual references. No comedian in the late 1950's dared to make fun of religion, the government, and the police. Bruce's vicious anti-establishment satire is what really led to his downfall. The use of profanity and sexual references were the excuses given by authority figures for their persecution of Lenny Bruce, but we know why they really had to silence him - he told the truth, and the truth hurts.
   
   With the exceptions of George Carlin and Richard Pryor, there has never been another comedian as bold and brilliant as Lenny Bruce. Most of today's comics take for granted the freedoms Lenny fought for and ultimately died for. They swear nonstop and deliver endless, boring monologues on their sex lives, but when it comes to intelligent, cutting edge anti-establishment humor, there is a marked absence of material. They don't want to go there. Lenny went there before they were born.
   
   Buy this CD and listen for yourself to the caustic genius that was Lenny Bruce.



4. THIS IS HIS FIRST...IF YOU LOVE LENNY...YOU'LL LOVE THIS. his beginning. before the trials...before the crazies...before the rants. SICK, SICK, SICK. HUMOR, HUMOR, HUMOR...you'll laugh!

5 comments about Carnegie Hall Concert.

1. When Lenny Bruce performed at Carnegie Hall, the cabs weren't even running in New York. It was one of the worst snow storms that ever hit The City. Nobody could get out. Bruce filled the freaking hall...check out the liner notes. Even Jesus would have had a problem filling that gig up...maybe that's why the Church at large got so... off about the man, maybe not. Maybe it was just before 200 channels of cable showing nothing.



2. Like many jazz and blues musicians, Lenny Bruce was truly in his element when performing live. His studio recordings simply do not have the spontaneity of his live stuff. This is why his Carnegie Hall Concert is essential listening for any fan of Bruce or stand-up comedy in general. There would be no Eddie Izzard, Bill Hicks or a host of thousands of other comics without Lenny Bruce. He paved the way and was a pioneer.

   Listening to this recording is to hear the man in his element, riffing off the crowd and going off on anything that came into his head. He zips all over the place and it is almost as if you can hear his mind at work, racing from topic to topic. While his material is dated at times, it is an incredible snapshot of the times he lived in. He brutually skewered social conventions (like how we refer to minorities) and was quite political as well. But most of all he was just damn funny and this performance shows him in great form.

   This is easily one of the best live recordings of Lenny at his uncensored best. Before he got beaten down by endless obscenity trials and his slide in substance abuse. Essential.




3. On February 3, 1961, in the middle of one of the worst blizzards in New York City's history, Lenny Bruce walked onstage to a packed house at Carnegie Hall and for two solid hours, gave what all Lennyphiles agree was the greatest performance of his all-too-brief career.
   
   To the uninitiated, this CD is as good a place as any to discover the genius of Lenny Bruce. Even now, almost 45 years later, The Midnight Concert is still screamingly funny; A testiment to Lenny's depth as a social commentater and comic philosopher. This was two years before the onset of the physical and mental decline that would end with his death, at age forty, from an overdose of heroin on August 3, 1966.
   
   Why is Lenny Bruce remembered as a brilliant comedian all these years later? The answer is right here.
   
   Happy listening!
   Tom Degan
   Goshen, NY
   
   tomdegan@frontiernet.net



4. It's a crying shame that this is now unavailable. In the opinion of this Brucephile, "The Carnegie Hall Concert" is the most valuable document of what was great about Lenny Bruce and why he mattered. From a performance standpoint, he was at the height of his powers. From a social standpoint, this show was just prior to the beginnings of his problems with the law and features the best balance of his comedy and social commentary. Earlier than this, he was a bit "schticky" (as he often said himself). After the trials began, his understandable preoccupation with legalities began to imbalance his act (though he remained fascinating). Here, you get the undiluted best. I can't even pick out moments, because it should really be experienced as a whole. It's a 90-minute statement on where America stood in 1962, on the cusp of a social revolution, and it's brilliant.
   
   Find this if you can. If you want to know why Lenny Bruce became an icon who deserves to be discussed alongside Kerouac, Kesey, Tom Wolfe, and Hunter S. Thompson; if you want a snapshot of our cultural mindset before the turbulence of the 60's erupted; or, if you just wanna laugh--Find this. Whatever it costs, it's a giveaway. It's a parchment of history.



5. I'm still waiting for a funny line from this icon of comedy.
   
   After listening to it, and not laughing. I wonder if his lofty reputation is merely because he was persecuted and hounded so much for his so-called "obscene" language.
   
   I feel sympathy for the horrors he experienced, but I don't find his act to be funny in this cd.

5 comments about Let the Buyer Beware.

1. Remember the old story about the old actor famous for his death scenes?
   "Dying," he explained to a younger acolyte, "is easy. It's comedy that's hard."
   Comedy may be hard, but anyone can do it. But none ever did it as well as Lenny Bruce.
   The funny man died of an overdose, at age 41, nearly 39 years go, but his legacy lives on. It's a life and legacy of laughter, and it's ripe for rediscovery.
   Now, a generation who never have heard of Bruce, for those who only know him from Bob Fosse's smoky (but well intentioned) bio-flick, for those who glance at an image of Bruce and think "Castro," can grasp one of the most inventive and prismatic talents of the last century in a set of rare recordings.
   "Lenny Bruce: Let the Buyer Beware" is a six-CD compendium of Bruce's best material, lovingly compiled by producer Hal Willner and Bruce's daughter
   Kitty. More than half has never been heard before, and a great many variants and alternate riffs of his most well-known material has been anthologized here. His debut on Arthur
   Godfrey's show is here, as well as the classic routines about Father Flotsky (a parody of Warner Brothers prison flicks), the Palladium (about an American comic dying on an
   English stage), as well as (real) taped phone calls to his lawyers.
   Horribly illustrated is his descent into near madness, not through drugs or degenerate lifestyle, but through the systematic persecution by the U.S. government. In
   America during the '50s and '60s, you could make jokes about anything, except, maybe, Jesus Christ, Milton Berle and Eleanor Roosevelt. Sacrosanct bastions were not to be
   made fun of, and especially not by an outsider, someone different, someone who was not a Christian. Bruce was a Jewish comic, steeped in the tradition, using the attitude and the
   language as a position to observe the mores and folkways of mid-century American life.
   It's not a stretch to see his persecution by the legal system of our country as another
   blatant example of anti-Semitism, a suppression of truth and, worst of all, an illustration of
   the stupidity and lack of humor inherent in a repressive government.
   Bruce's take on sexuality was summed up in his observation that if the human body
   was dirty, the fault lay with the manufacturer. He saw religion as a greedy profession, a
   logical extension of an industrial complex to control reason and money. Unfortunately,
   and fatally, Bruce believed in our government and legal system.
   Like a witty Thomas Paine, Bruce was a true patriot when it came to freedom of
   expression. Without Bruce there would be no Bill Maher, no South Park, no Jon Stewart,
   and considerably less freedoms in general --- not only in speech, but also in equality
   between races and genders. He was one of the first to use humor to attack America's
   prejudice against African Americans, gays and all of the non-religious, non-republican
   disenfranchised people in America.
   Yet one man's patriot is another man's traitor. Bruce was vilified by the press and
   by main stream contemporaries as sick, twisted and dirty.
   But it's not only Bruce's material, certainly genius and of an equal to Jonathan
   Swift or Mark Twain, but his performance style and presentational choices that this new
   collection celebrates. He may not have been the first monologist who didn't use the "A
   priest and a rabbi walk into a bar ..." joke catalogs, and certainly he had extended parables
   and parodies that could be termed as "jokes." Yet his basic presentation was something
   very new and different.
   Rather than a standard set with the identical jokes, pauses and ad-libs for each
   show, Bruce had an uncanny ability to listen ---- not only to his audience (as all performers
   must), but he had the uncanny knack of being able to listen to himself. Like a brilliant jazz
   musician, he could circle around a motif or a joke, listening to the sound and sense,
   backing off, teasing the story, until the timing was exactly right to blast into the theme or
   punchline.
   In the commemorative hardcover book that accompanies Let the Buyer Beware,
   there are a number of essays and appreciations of Bruce, but none so telling as a single
   page by his daughter. "His truths were based on our most coveted lies," she writes. "He
   left no room for rationalized bigotry or self-deception. He seduced his audience with a
   rhythmic and dynamic use of his own language, acting as the slow pull of a Band-Aid off
   denial."
   Look around at our nation of addicts, a nation where prescription drugs have their
   own snazzy TV commercials, when cell phones are required means of communication,
   when the religious right still controls the White House.
   Where is Lenny when we really need him?



2. This is a great collection of some classic Bruce bits and a lot of lesser known and obscure recordings. If you're a Bruce fan and know his schtick--and you're fairly well-versed in Yiddish--pick up this set. If you're new to Bruce, don't start here. The sound quality varies wildly, Bruce's references are even more arcane than usual--well, this is for aficionados. Newcomers should pick up Bruce's classic (and cleanly produced) Fantasy albums, notably: The Sick Humor of Lenny Bruce, Togetherness, and American. Once you've absorbed these discs (with a copy of "Joys of Yiddish" nearby), then move to the Carnegie Hall Concert, and then...to this multidisc set.



3. This is a well put together package. I definitely don't recommend downloading this as it comes with an awesome oversized book containing photos of personal clippings, letters, and more information about Lenny Bruce. This is the most Lenny I've listened to at one time, and after listening to this and reading the book, I feel much more respect for Lenny and love him. There is some great comedy on here, but some of the selections were boring and had poor sound quality. I'd rather look into his live stuff and The Lenny Bruce Originals 1 + 2 for a more cohesive sound quality. If you want to learn about Lenny's personality and showmanship, you can't go wrong with this set -- this is an excellent production.



4. Highly recommended listening for any red-blooded patriotic citizen and all compassionate members [or aspirants] of the human family.
   
   And for all crewmembers of spaceship earth [Bucky Fuller]



5. Hands down one of the best we'll ever see. When Dick Gregory puts you in a class with Mark Twain and Richard Pryor in terms of funniest ever, that says something. I found a copy used at a Newbury Comics, and for half off, and after listening, I would easily pay the 70$ for this collection.

5 comments about Fleetwood Mac - The Dance.

1. I have seen fleetwood mac in person and didnt feel as close to the performers as I did watching their video , the movie has great sound and picture quality and is a must for Fleetwood Mac fans



2. Fleetwod Mac haven't changed, except to have become more 'real', and this concert shows that clearly. There are just a couple of new songs, the rest are oldies but goodies, sung with more passion than their earlier recordings, the same but not the same, and very definitely better.



3. I really enjoyed the dance and had to listen hard not to hear Christine McVie's soulful melodic part in the band and enjoyed the memories, the harmony, the smiles that came to me often. People who rant about things, internal problems seem to forget all is human and the music and love of the songs, melodies, words and memories should be the reason for buying a cd or dvd anyway. Of course there are stinkers with every group one time or another but the good very far outweighs the other. cabaniss1....anne



4. Of course I'm Speaking about Mick Fleetwood. He definitely is a man of many facial expressions while taking his percussion to the ultimate playing experience. Not only is Mick fantastic on the drums, Lindsey Buckingham is one of the best guitar players of today. Watching the way his playing almost becomes magical is astounding. And of course you cannot and would not forget that distintive voice of Stevie Nicks, along with Christine McVie, make the great sounds of this vintage group awesome. If you like the music of Fleetwood Mac, you will love this dvd !!!



5. I have always had the "Rumours" album but I never paid any attention to them until I ran across the DVD of "The Dance." I have watched this DVD 52 times in two days and am nowhere near tired of it. Fleetwood Mac is now my favorite group. Come back, Christine McVie! You're the best!