A violent case of food poisoning/stomach virus (?) had down from 11p Saturday night until what feels like a few minutes ago, so I would hope that you are not hearing the bad, or inevitable, news from me. I lack any poignant Richard Pryor memories, other than pulling That Nigger’s Crazy out of my half-sister’s LP stack when I was seven, and being told to “put that back.” My first stand-up obsession was Bill Cosby…those LP’s were all over the house. Then I came up sneaking various episodes of HBO’s Young Comedians Special in the back bedroom. This paralleled a fixation on Eddie Murphy. Only later would I go through a Pryor phase, more with subdued reverence and strong belly laughs than a wide-eyed journey on a path yet traveled. His autobiography (Pryor Convictions) is sleek, easy, and good.

1. “Cocaine” From Is It Something I Said? (1975)
2. “Acid” From Bicentennial Nigger (1976)
3. His role in Blue Collar (1978) Note: Please rent this movie. Heartbreaking cinema.
4. “When Your Woman Leaves You” From Is It Something I Said? (1975)
5. Wanted: Live In Concert and subsequent film, Richard Pryor: Live In Concert (1978/1979) Note: Both are solid, no lose experiences. The latter created the stand-up movie genre.
6. Pryor’s Place (aired on CBS, September 1984 – June 1985) Note: Overlooked, inventive Saturday morning series produced Sid and Marty Krofft. Ray Parker Jr. sang the theme.
7. “Nigger With A Seizure” From That Nigger’s Crazy (1974)
8. “Black and White Women” From Bicentennial Nigger (1976)
9. “Just Us” From Is It Something I Said? (1975)
10. His refusal to speak, or even acknowledge the existence of the Laff Records LP’s. When Pryor walked off of a stage in 1970, after years of imitating Bill Cosby, and began honing his blue, racially/politically-charged material in small black clubs, Laff mogul David Drozen recorded much of this material (1970 – 1974), thus spreading LP’s of poor quality throughout the rest of the decade. Though without a legal leg to stand on (they were authorized recordings), Pryor nonetheless blanked out this chapter in his creative evolution. I filched the Laff logo for my website.