George Carlin: Class Clown

Remembering Mr. Conductor

I was very sad to hear that George Carlin passed away. He may not be on my top-ten list of comedy influences but I would say he has a special place in my funny bone. Carlin's 1972 landmark recording, Class Clown, was the first comedy album I ever owned. Actually, it was a cassette that I had recorded by placing my tape deck up against a speaker at Michael Carty's house. His older brothers, Joe and Tom, owned the album and Michael and I stole the album to so we could record it. The big attraction, of course, was Carlin's Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television. As funny as that bit was - Michael and I found Carlin's routines about attending Catholic grade school even funnier. Carlin's observations about God, confession, nuns, and the bible were dead on and - as two Catholic school students - Michael and I never laughed so hard.

Over the years Carlin's style of comedy changed. He was one of the few comedians who was not afraid to say what was on his mind and most of the time, I found that I agreed with him.

Rest in peace George Carlin and thank you for turning me on to the bilabial fricative.

Enjoy George Carlin's Class Clown.

Listen / Download:
1. Class Clown
2. Wasting Time: Sharing a Swallow
3. Values: How Much is That Dog Crap in the Window?
4. I Used to be Irish Catholic
5. The Confessional
6. Special Dispensation: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory and Limbo
7. Heavy Mysteries
8. Muhammad Ali-America The Beautiful
9. Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television