funkycomic,
My mom would take us to every movie with Pryor in it from the time I was four or five years old on, so I can't remember the first time I saw Pryor's work. (Pryor was like Sesame Street in our house. There from the beginning.)
But I remember us going to the drive in or movie theater to see "Richard Pryor-Live in Concert" and it not getting in because it was packed. When I finally saw it, I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen at that point. (Come to think of it, along with Mooney's "Race", "Live In Concert" is still actually the funniest shit I ever heard. "Bring the Pain", "Delirious", Carlin and Eddie Griffin's work are up there, but still far behind those two, IMO.) At fourteen I finally taped Live in Concert on VHS and watched it almost everyday during that summer.
Eddie Murphy's "Raw" sucked. I was very dissapointed when that came out but I recognized "elements" of Pryor's "Live on Concert" in it. Especially Murphy's fight in the bar bit. Murphy did the punch sounds and described his lip puffing up. Bits of that were variations on Pryor's bit about his dad punching him in the chest.
yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
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Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
funkycomic,
hello,
I don't remember how old I was when I knew of Richard Pryor...I just knew he was always around. I remember him an Redd Foxx....George Carlin, Cosby, Dangerfeild, Shecky Greene was funny too...Red Buttons.....they were all funny but Pryor was an is the best. I still remember the "spittin on the sidewalk in new york city...".........it is true but funny
hello,
I don't remember how old I was when I knew of Richard Pryor...I just knew he was always around. I remember him an Redd Foxx....George Carlin, Cosby, Dangerfeild, Shecky Greene was funny too...Red Buttons.....they were all funny but Pryor was an is the best. I still remember the "spittin on the sidewalk in new york city...".........it is true but funny
Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
Appaloosa,
I don't know how old I was. I just remeber too, that he was always around. Each and every one of my older cousins have a story that relates to Richard Pryor. He has a lot to do with a lot of growing up in the 70's......
That Nigga was crazy!
Vee
I don't know how old I was. I just remeber too, that he was always around. Each and every one of my older cousins have a story that relates to Richard Pryor. He has a lot to do with a lot of growing up in the 70's......
That Nigga was crazy!
Vee
LoveYALongTimeNegro!
Vee
Vee
Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
I'm kinda in the same boot with Appaloosa--he's always just been around! I'm 19, so that would make sense.
But I think some of the first times hearing or watching him was from the saturday movie of the week. Memphis likes black heroes on tv. "Stir Crazy", "See no evil, Hear no evil" and "Lady Sings the Blues." Probably around 4,5,6. I remember them and being strangely fascinated by "lady sings the blues."
As for stand-up, probably 7 or 8. We had exposure to HBO for the first time. Oh, it's the guy from Superman and those other movies with Gene Wilder...it'll be good. Turned it on. My mom snatched the remote and changed the channel so fast, it would have made your head spin! Saying..."Richard Pryor...he's just nasty. He's funny, but it's not for little girls to be hearing."
Good times, good times.
But I think some of the first times hearing or watching him was from the saturday movie of the week. Memphis likes black heroes on tv. "Stir Crazy", "See no evil, Hear no evil" and "Lady Sings the Blues." Probably around 4,5,6. I remember them and being strangely fascinated by "lady sings the blues."
As for stand-up, probably 7 or 8. We had exposure to HBO for the first time. Oh, it's the guy from Superman and those other movies with Gene Wilder...it'll be good. Turned it on. My mom snatched the remote and changed the channel so fast, it would have made your head spin! Saying..."Richard Pryor...he's just nasty. He's funny, but it's not for little girls to be hearing."
Good times, good times.
I don't know Karate. But I know Ka-Razy!
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Reg_Man_98
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Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
My introduction to Richard Pryor was in 1971 when he (along with Louis Gossett, Jr.) made an appearance in the “The Soul Club” episode of (believe it or not) “The Partridge Family.” I was 9 years old at the time, and I was a huge Partridge Family fan...and so was just about every other kid my age, black or white, truth be told. (Check out Spike Lee’s early ’70s period piece “Crooklyn,” if you think I’m lyin.’) Since I didn’t know who Richard Pryor was, it wasn’t until many years later, when I saw the episode again in reruns, that I realized that it was him.
Fast forward three years. I'm 12 years old and in the 7th grade. My best friend hips me to the just-released album “That Nigger’s Crazy.” He would sneak the record over to my parents’ house, and we’d both hunker down near the stereo speakers with the volume turned way down (and with my bedroom door closed) to avoid parental detection. And we’d be laughing our asses off, even at the bits that we were too young to understand. Many of Richard’s lines from that album became in-jokes for us in the years to come: “I knew that my mom was gonna KICK ma ass”; “I couldn’t WAIT to kiss a pussy”; “Are we having sexual intercourse this evening? We’re not? Oh, well then, what the heck!”
A few months later, I saw Richard in a movie for the first time when he made a cameo appearance in the Bill Cosby-Sidney Poitier vehicle “Uptown Saturday Night.” (The unkempt Afro’d-and-bearded Cos of the ’70s is, to this day, my favorite Cos.) And I remember seeing “Silver Streak” with a friend of mine on New Year’s Eve 1976. We sat in the rear of the theatre, and I’ll never forget when a couple of black guys arrived late, and I overheard them whispering to each other, “Has Richard Pryor come on yet?” (Lucky for them that Richard doesn’t make his first appearance in the flick until about half way into it.) I loved Richard so much in that movie that I went to see it at least two more times within the next few months.
Every time Richard would release a new album during the ’70s, it would be an EVENT, especially with black people. The bruthas at my high school would quote Richard’s lines just as much as they would George Clinton’s. Another key memory: Sitting around in algebra class (this must have been around 1977ish) on an afternoon in which we had a substitute teacher, and, instead of teaching, she made it a “study period.” Except no one was studying; everyone was talking, or cutting up. At the rear of the classroom was a bunch of Afro-and-bellbottomed bruthas all huddled around a small tape player, and they’d all erupt in LOUD laughter every few seconds. One of them was a light-skinned guy who was leaning over towards the tape player with his arm lifted in the air as if it were frozen, with a huge grin on his face as if he were about to emit the biggest laugh he’d ever released. But he seemed to be so paralyzed with amusement that the laugh almost appeared to be caught in his throat. And the brutha’s face was RED. I first thought was that they must be listening to a Richard Pryor cassette, because I couldn’t think of anything else that could get that kind of reaction out of them. So I made my way to the back of the classroom until I was close enough to hear what they were listening to, and sure enough, I was right. (I think the line I came in on was Richard saying, “You got to git da puss-SAY!!”) A few years later, in 1979, I was in college, and I remember sitting around with a bunch of my fellow students, and someone played us the cassette of the “Wanted/Live In Concert” album (which would soon end up being the first Pryor album I actually owned). We were all laughing so hard, we were crying. And it was very shortly after that moment that I went from being a fan to a diehard devotee. The rest, as they say, is history, and my life would never be the same.
Thank you, Richard.
Fast forward three years. I'm 12 years old and in the 7th grade. My best friend hips me to the just-released album “That Nigger’s Crazy.” He would sneak the record over to my parents’ house, and we’d both hunker down near the stereo speakers with the volume turned way down (and with my bedroom door closed) to avoid parental detection. And we’d be laughing our asses off, even at the bits that we were too young to understand. Many of Richard’s lines from that album became in-jokes for us in the years to come: “I knew that my mom was gonna KICK ma ass”; “I couldn’t WAIT to kiss a pussy”; “Are we having sexual intercourse this evening? We’re not? Oh, well then, what the heck!”
A few months later, I saw Richard in a movie for the first time when he made a cameo appearance in the Bill Cosby-Sidney Poitier vehicle “Uptown Saturday Night.” (The unkempt Afro’d-and-bearded Cos of the ’70s is, to this day, my favorite Cos.) And I remember seeing “Silver Streak” with a friend of mine on New Year’s Eve 1976. We sat in the rear of the theatre, and I’ll never forget when a couple of black guys arrived late, and I overheard them whispering to each other, “Has Richard Pryor come on yet?” (Lucky for them that Richard doesn’t make his first appearance in the flick until about half way into it.) I loved Richard so much in that movie that I went to see it at least two more times within the next few months.
Every time Richard would release a new album during the ’70s, it would be an EVENT, especially with black people. The bruthas at my high school would quote Richard’s lines just as much as they would George Clinton’s. Another key memory: Sitting around in algebra class (this must have been around 1977ish) on an afternoon in which we had a substitute teacher, and, instead of teaching, she made it a “study period.” Except no one was studying; everyone was talking, or cutting up. At the rear of the classroom was a bunch of Afro-and-bellbottomed bruthas all huddled around a small tape player, and they’d all erupt in LOUD laughter every few seconds. One of them was a light-skinned guy who was leaning over towards the tape player with his arm lifted in the air as if it were frozen, with a huge grin on his face as if he were about to emit the biggest laugh he’d ever released. But he seemed to be so paralyzed with amusement that the laugh almost appeared to be caught in his throat. And the brutha’s face was RED. I first thought was that they must be listening to a Richard Pryor cassette, because I couldn’t think of anything else that could get that kind of reaction out of them. So I made my way to the back of the classroom until I was close enough to hear what they were listening to, and sure enough, I was right. (I think the line I came in on was Richard saying, “You got to git da puss-SAY!!”) A few years later, in 1979, I was in college, and I remember sitting around with a bunch of my fellow students, and someone played us the cassette of the “Wanted/Live In Concert” album (which would soon end up being the first Pryor album I actually owned). We were all laughing so hard, we were crying. And it was very shortly after that moment that I went from being a fan to a diehard devotee. The rest, as they say, is history, and my life would never be the same.
Thank you, Richard.
Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
Reg_Man_98,
And this. ladies and gents, is a great producer and devotee-extroidenair! One of the producers of the Box-sets and Anthology and the brilliant one with whom we are working on tne latest and greatest anthology of RIchard's called-
EVOLUTION REVOLUTION to be released Jan 2005!
Thanks Reggie-that was an awesome post-you can always give the greatest tidbits re: RIchard's career!!
And this. ladies and gents, is a great producer and devotee-extroidenair! One of the producers of the Box-sets and Anthology and the brilliant one with whom we are working on tne latest and greatest anthology of RIchard's called-
EVOLUTION REVOLUTION to be released Jan 2005!
Thanks Reggie-that was an awesome post-you can always give the greatest tidbits re: RIchard's career!!
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Reg_Man_98
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- Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2004 8:00 am
- Contact:
Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
Jennifer,
Thanks for the compliments! Fellow fans, working with Jennifer on these projects has been an absolute pleasure. I've been a Richard Pryor fan since 1974, but in the last several years, I've become a big admirer of Jennifer's as well. Steve Pokorny (my indispensable co-producer on the Pryor projects) and I can tell you from personal experience that she's a great lady, and we both consider her to be a treasured friend. Our man, Richard Pryor, is truly blessed to be in such good hands.
Love to both you and RP!:)
Thanks for the compliments! Fellow fans, working with Jennifer on these projects has been an absolute pleasure. I've been a Richard Pryor fan since 1974, but in the last several years, I've become a big admirer of Jennifer's as well. Steve Pokorny (my indispensable co-producer on the Pryor projects) and I can tell you from personal experience that she's a great lady, and we both consider her to be a treasured friend. Our man, Richard Pryor, is truly blessed to be in such good hands.
Love to both you and RP!:)
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Reg_Man_98
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2004 8:00 am
- Contact:
Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
Jennifer,
One more Pryor-related memory:
Remember how I told you that the first time we met was actually at the "Pryor Convictions" book signing at the Comedy Store back in '95? (I snapped a photo of my then-girlfriend getting her book signed by Richard at that event, and you were looking right at me. Who could have predicted at that time that we'd ever work together one day?) And remember how I later relayed to you that, after I got my book signed, I thanked you for taking care of Richard? (Being the Pryor fan that I am, I already knew about your significance in his life long before we knew each other personally.) You seemed to be moved by what I said, and you thanked me... And then I looked over at Richard, and he put his hand on his heart, and thanked me for thanking you. He said something along the lines of, "Thank YOU, man (for saying that)...Because I know that I can be a pain in the ass." And you replied, looking at Richard with a smile, "You've ALWAYS been a pain in the ass!" But, despite the words, it was said with tons of affection. That was a great moment that would have stayed with me even if we had never met again.
One more Pryor-related memory:
Remember how I told you that the first time we met was actually at the "Pryor Convictions" book signing at the Comedy Store back in '95? (I snapped a photo of my then-girlfriend getting her book signed by Richard at that event, and you were looking right at me. Who could have predicted at that time that we'd ever work together one day?) And remember how I later relayed to you that, after I got my book signed, I thanked you for taking care of Richard? (Being the Pryor fan that I am, I already knew about your significance in his life long before we knew each other personally.) You seemed to be moved by what I said, and you thanked me... And then I looked over at Richard, and he put his hand on his heart, and thanked me for thanking you. He said something along the lines of, "Thank YOU, man (for saying that)...Because I know that I can be a pain in the ass." And you replied, looking at Richard with a smile, "You've ALWAYS been a pain in the ass!" But, despite the words, it was said with tons of affection. That was a great moment that would have stayed with me even if we had never met again.
Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
Reg_Man_98,
This is a very sweet memory!Thank you!
This is a very sweet memory!Thank you!
Re: yo how old where you when you first heard richard?
funkycomic,
The first time I eever heard Richard Pryor was when I was about ten, no, twelve. Yeah, twelve. My parents and I had just had a huge discussion about how I was still too young to see PG-13 movie; they then took me to the CD store so I could buy something. I started looking through the comedy CD's and found a Richard Pryor CD by the name of "...iss it something I said?". They weren't too familiar with him (my parents are from Europe), and I definitely wasn't, so they bought it for me. I believe shortly after that day I became quite connected with the words 'Fuck' and 'Pussy'. I'm so happy I found that CD because it kept me from becoming the FUCKING PUSSY that I may have turned out to be.
The first time I eever heard Richard Pryor was when I was about ten, no, twelve. Yeah, twelve. My parents and I had just had a huge discussion about how I was still too young to see PG-13 movie; they then took me to the CD store so I could buy something. I started looking through the comedy CD's and found a Richard Pryor CD by the name of "...iss it something I said?". They weren't too familiar with him (my parents are from Europe), and I definitely wasn't, so they bought it for me. I believe shortly after that day I became quite connected with the words 'Fuck' and 'Pussy'. I'm so happy I found that CD because it kept me from becoming the FUCKING PUSSY that I may have turned out to be.
