WONDERFULNESS - Bill Cosby

YEAR: 1966

LABEL: Warner Bros.

TRACK LISTING: Tonsils, The Playground, Lumps, Go Carts, Chicken Heart, Shop, Special Class, Niagara Falls

IMPRESSIONS: As long as I can remember, I've been listening to Bill Cosby records. I took possession of a few of my parents' Cosby albums at such a young age I can't even remember a point when I didn't listen to them. WONDERFULNESS and BILL COSBY IS A VERY FUNNY FELLOW RIGHT! were the first two I played to death. Next up was I STARTED OUT AS A CHILD which I bought myself (or actually my grandfather bought for me at the Listening Booth record store in the Pennsauken Mart). Then I confiscated WHY IS THERE AIR? from my father's record collection. REVENGE eventually followed; picked up from a used record store. The scratches on the records illustrated the millions of listens and the fact that, to this day, I can quote every word of all of the albums only confirms it.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Tonsils, The Playground, Lumps, Go Carts, Chicken Heart

FACT SHEET: WONDERFULNESS is Bill Cosby's fourth album. It was recorded live at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The title word is taken from a catch phrase used by Bill Cosby's character on his TV series I SPY. All the tracks deal with Cosby's childhood memories except the final track which concerns a trip to Niagara Falls by Cosby's I SPY producer Sheldon Leonard. The track "Chicken Heart" is based on an actual episode of the old radio show LIGHTS OUT by Arch Oboler. In 1986, the comedy team of Sweet Cheeks and Rickster Rick recorded their own version of "Chicken Heart" called "Jello Mold" which can be found on the CERPTS XX 20th Anniversary cd collection.