Jerry Clower - Classic Clower Power *

Artist:

Clower, Jerry

UPC:

602498532997

Description:

Liner Note Author: Rich Kienzle. Photographer: Alan Messer. Classic Clower Power is a two-and-a-half-hour double-CD compilation drawn from Jerry Clower`s 28-album catalog for Decca and MCA Records, stretching from the 1970s to the 1990s. As such, it is the most comprehensive best-of ever assembled of Clower`s country comedy. MCA Nashville`s decision to release a collection so extensive in 2006 is a reflection of Clower`s influence on an entire generation of comedians, an influence that could not be more obvious from these discs. One need only turn to the third track on the second CD, "Examples of a Red Neck," to recognize Clower`s definitive impact on Jeff Foxworthy, who has made a career out of sentences that begin, "You might be a redneck if.." But if Clower is influential, he is also a distinct comic personality on his own. More than anything, he is an old-fashioned storyteller. This is not a man who needs a punchline every few seconds. He sets up elaborate jokes in the form of stories that illuminate rural Southern life, particularly as lived by the Ledbetter family, who seem to embody all the quirks of a country existence. Nor is Clower a blue comedian. Over the course of 150 minutes, there is never a four-letter word or a sexual situation. Like any comic, Clower has his targets, the most frequent ones being supposedly sophisticated city people. But the joke is just as likely to be on one of his Southern heroes. When he strays into the political realm, he can become fuzzy-minded, however. "The She Coon of Women`s Lib" finds him describing his wife`s luxurious and lazy life as an argument against women`s lib, and he doesn`t make much sense. At another point, he declares, "President Clinton hates me," by which he presumably means that, as a wealthy man, he is required to pay income taxes in the highest bracket. He makes the specious argument that this is unfair, since he was born poor, as if tax laws shouldn`t apply to self-made men. Again, however, he is just as ready to poke fun at his characters` political views as anything else. "A real Mississippian," he says at one point, "don`t even agree now that Richard Nixon ever done anything wrong." But then, as a real Mississippian himself, maybe he`s not kidding. ~ William Ruhlmann

Track Listing:

DISC 1:

1. Southern Humor
2. Young People of Today, The
3. How to Back into Show Business
4. Room 411
5. Coon Huntin` Story, A
6. She Coon of Women`s Lib, The
7. Maddest Man I Ever Saw, The
8. My Pet Peeve
9. All About Clovis Ledbetter
10. Ole Slantface
11. Bird Huntin` at Uncle Versie`s
12. Marcel Ledbetter Moving Company
13. Wanna Buy a Possum?
14. Seein` Eye Dog
15. Crack, W.L. and Rover
16. New Bull, A
17. Second Down and Goal to Go
18. Brother Sonny Goes to Church
19. Where Will You Be When You Get Where You`re Goin`
20. New Fad, The
21. Resort Hotel, The

DISC 2:

1. I Love Small Towns
2. Apple Pie and Coffee
3. Examples of a Red Neck
4. I`m That Country
5. Headless Man, The
6. Knock Him Out John
7. Mr. Jake Ledbetter
8. Marcel`s Talkin` Chain Saw
9. Who`s the Boss
10. Hot Hotel, The
11. You`re on My List
12. Feudin` Stars
13. Clovis Gets a Job
14. Deep Water Baptist
15. Physical Examination
16. If I Was President
17. Trucker and the Lady, The
18. Marcel the Truck Driver
19. Last Day of School, The
20. Steel Marbles
21. Graduate Returns, The
22. Uncle Versie`s Bond
23. Coon Huntin` on TV
24. Wooden Leg
25. You`re Fixin` to Mess Up

Album Information

Release Date:

05/16/2006

Type:

Performer

Genre:

Comedy

Label:

MCA Nashville

Producer:

Barry Korkin (Compilation)

Catalog Number:

0006437

Original Release Year:

2006

# of Discs:

2

Studio/Live:

Studio

Mono/Stereo:

Stereo

Portions copyright 2005 Muze Inc. All rights reserved.