Complaints and Grievances is the 17th album and 12th HBO stand-up special by comedian George Carlin. It was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album.[1]
| Complaints and Grievances | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | December 11, 2001 | |||
| Recorded | November 17, 2001 | |||
| Venue | Beacon Theatre, New York City | |||
| Genre | Comedy | |||
| Length | 56:16 | |||
| Label | Eardrum/Atlantic | |||
| Producer | George Carlin | |||
| George Carlin chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Production edit
The working title of the show was I Kinda Like It When a Lot of People Die, but it was changed after the September 11 2001 attacks.[2] In an interview on Opie and Anthony on October 24, 2001, Carlin explained:
It's gonna be good, though. It's a strong show. I had to make a few alterations 'cause—you wanna hear the name of what the show was called and I'm telling you the truth? ... The name of it was I Kinda Like It When a Lot of People Die. Yeah. And it was all about natural disasters and stuff and I had a nice nine minute piece on that but the morning I woke up and saw the special effects thing on the TV I thought "Oh yeah. Oh. Change. Changing the name."
After briefly explaining the nature of the show, Carlin added, "Everything's the same, except I had to take that piece out. I just knew ... no-one would laugh. You know. Obviously."[3]
Complaints and Grievances was recorded live at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on November 17, 2001, and was broadcast live on HBO.[4]
Legacy edit
Cassette recordings of the original working version of the show, recorded in Las Vegas on September 9 and 10, 2001, were discovered in the 2010s and released in 2016 as I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die.[5] The album includes the routine removed from Complaints and Grievances, titled "Uncle Dave".[6] A recording of the first performance of the routine from June 2001 is also included as a bonus track, under its original title of "I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die".[7] Portions of this routine were later reused for "Coast-to-Coast Emergency", the closing bit from Carlin's 2005 special Life Is Worth Losing.[6]
Track listing edit
All tracks by George Carlin.
- "The Opening" – 9:22
- "Traffic Accidents: Keep Movin'!" – 6:16
- "You and Me (Things That Come Off of Your Body)" – 10:38
- "People Who Oughta Be Killed: Self-Help Books" – 1:16
- "Motivation Seminars" – 1:05
- "Parents of Honor Students" – 2:15
- "Baby Slings" – 0:59
- "My Daddy" – 0:51
- "Telephone Mimes" – 1:09
- "Hands-Free Telephone Headsets" – 0:38
- "Answering Machines" – 0:52
- "Family Newsletters" – 1:23
- "Music on Answering Machines" – 1:39
- "People Who Wear Visors" – 0:39
- "Singers with One Name" – 0:41
- "Rich Guys in Hot Air Balloons" – 1:01
- "People Who Misuse Credit Cards" – 0:51
- "Guys Named Todd" – 1:30
- "Gun Enthusiasts" – 1:26
- "White Guys Who Shave Their Heads" – 0:48
- "NASA-Holes" – 1:32
- "Why We Don't Need 10 Commandments" – 7:14
Personnel edit
- George Carlin – writing, production
- Greg Calbi – editing, mastering
- Terry Kulchar – location sound
- Winston Smith – illustration
- Dan Dion – photography
- JDK – art direction
References edit
- ^ "45th Annual GRAMMY Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Wright, Megh (August 24, 2016). "George Carlin's Unreleased Album 'I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die' Is Out Next Month". Vulture. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Opie and Anthony (October 24, 2001). 2001 (WNEW) : Opie & Anthony. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
- ^ "George Carlin: Complaints and Grievances". georgecarlin.com. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Crouch, Ian (September 10, 2016). "George Carlin's Shocking Prescience on the Nights Before 9/11". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ a b Edgers, Geoff (September 7, 2016). "Fifteen years after 9/11, we can hear the only bit George Carlin ever cut for taste". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die, 6-23-2001 (Bonus). YouTube. George Carlin. October 16, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
External links edit
- George Carlin's official website
Quotations related to George Carlin at Wikiquote
