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Lenny Bruce was a stand-up comedian, satirist and social observer who was one of the first really controversial figures of stand-up comedy, adopting an unstructured free-wheeling approach that addressed topics no-one else would go near, and not afraid to employ shock tactics in his language and reference points, which eventually saw him convicted of obscenity, although he was pardoned posthumously. One critic said he was “a comic right out of the jazz world….colossally irreverent…..ribald….even sometimes rough”. This 35-track album comprises most of the contents from the first four albums of his for the Fantasy label – “Interviews Of Our Times”, “The Sick Humor Of Lenny Bruce”, “I Am Not A Nut, Elect Me! (Togetherness)” and “American” – unfortunately, there was not room for his 19-minute performance “The Palladium”. The contents of the albums range across a spectrum of topics, satirising the hypocrisy and pretence of American life, religion, showbiz, political and national affairs, and more – the targets for his barbed commentary know no boundaries. The year after “American” was released he was arrested on stage, and by 1966 he was dead from a drug overdose at the age of 50. He broke new ground in comedy and counterculture and this album captures him in the core era of his career, and is a startling showcase for one of the boldest and most challenging comedians of all time.
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