George Carlin

• Class Clown [Little David, 1972] A-
• Toledo Window Box [Little David, 1974] C+

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Class Clown [Little David, 1972]
I much prefer the organic humor of this LP to the contrived bits and pieces of Carlin's Grammy winning AM and FM. Like Bill Cosby, Carlin seems genuinely good-natured--his takeoffs on his old parochial school buddies are affectionate and respectful. This is probably why his political humor tends to go a little flat--he can't muster the sustained hostility it requires. That is, he may end a parody of "America" "from sea to oily sea," but he'll never echo Robert Klein's suggestion that what one man can do to stop pollution is put his mouth over the exhaust pipe--if the one man is the president of Amoco. Great in person, he'll be at the Westbury March 30. A-

Toledo Window Box [Little David, 1974]
Despite healthy bits of the affectionate wordplay--a somewhat sentimentalized legacy from Lenny--that is Carlin's major comedic strength, the main thing this proves is that making up too many dope jokes is almost as bad for you judgment as smoking too much dope. C+