Tour de Farce: American History and Other Unrelated Subjects | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | November 1, 1964 | |||
Recorded | 1964 at The Ice House, Pasadena, California | |||
Genre | Comedy, folk | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Smothers Brothers chronology | ||||
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Tour de Farce: American History and Other Unrelated Subjects is the sixth comedy album by the Smothers Brothers (released November 1, 1964 on Mercury Records). It reached number 58 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. Recorded at The Ice House, Pasadena, California. The back of the album contains the note: "For special enjoyment, try playing your old Smothers Brothers albums at 45 rpm."
Year | Chart | Position |
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1965 | Billboard Pop Albums | 58 |
The Smothers Brothers are Thomas and Richard, American folk singers, musicians and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs, which usually led to arguments between the siblings. Tommy's signature line was "Mom always liked you best!" Tommy acted "slow" and Dick, the straight man, acted "superior."
"All My Trials" is a folk song which became popular during the social protest movements of the late 1950s and 1960s. Alternative titles it has been recorded under include "Bahamian Lullaby" and "All My Sorrows." The origins of the song are unclear, as it appears to not have been documented in any musicological or historical records until after the first commercial recording was released on Bob Gibson's 1956 debut album Offbeat Folksongs.
Golden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2 is the Smothers Brothers' first greatest hits album. There is no Volume 1, but all of the routines had been performed on earlier comedy albums by the duo. These are not the same performances contained on other albums, making it a "new" album. There was not a true hits collection for the duo until Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers released in 1988.
Mason Douglas Williams is an American classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental "Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, and Saturday Night Live.
Vashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter.
The Smothers Brothers Play It Straight is the ninth album by the Smothers Brothers. As the title indicates, the folk comedy duo were singing the songs "straight". Like the B-side of their second album, Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers, the recording was done in a studio instead of on stage. The album cover shows Tom standing with his guitar and Dick sitting on a stool with his bass lying behind him. There is also a chicken eating chicken-feed, which could be a representation of Frank, Tom's wagon pulling chicken who is discussed on Mom Always Liked You Best!.
The Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion, released May 1, 1961 on Mercury Records, is the first album released by the Smothers Brothers and established their reputation as folk music satirists. The Purple Onion was a celebrated comedy and music club in the North Beach area of San Francisco that also launched the careers of the Kingston Trio and Phyllis Diller, besides the Smothers Brothers. The album's full cover text is: The Songs and Comedy of the Smothers Brothers! Recorded at the Purple Onion, San Francisco, and is Mercury catalog number MG 20611 (monaural), and SR 60611 (stereo). It is sometimes referred to as Live at the Purple Onion.
The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers is the second comedy album by the Smothers Brothers. Side A consisted of comedy and was recorded at The Crystal Palace in St. Louis during a live performance. Side B was recorded at the Bell Sound Studio in New York City with a full orchestra and represented the singing side of the boys. It reached number 26 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Think Ethnic! is the third comedy album of the Smothers Brothers, released February 15, 1963 on Mercury Records. It reached number 27 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart in 1964.
"Curb Your Tongue, Knave!" is the fourth comedy album recorded by the Smothers Brothers, released November 1, 1963 on Mercury Records. The album was recorded live at Mister Kelly's in Chicago, Illinois. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. This was the first of their original albums to be released on CD.
"It Must Have Been Something I Said!" is the fifth comedy album from the Smothers Brothers. It reached number 23 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The single "Jenny Brown" had peaked at #84 on the 1963 Pop Singles chart, however the recording here is a different, "live" version. The album was recorded at The Ice House in Pasadena, California. The cover photograph showed Dick having just smashed a guitar over Tom's head, thereby justifying the album title as a word balloon.
"Mom Always Liked You Best!" is the eighth comedy album by the Smothers Brothers. It reached number 39 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The album was recorded at The Troubadour, Los Angeles, California, The Golden Bear, Huntington Beach, California, and the Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1988. A 1998 CD re-issue added "Cabbage", "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" and "You Didn't Come In"/"Tommy's Song" as bonus tracks. The album contains at least one track from each of their previous albums with the exception of The Smothers Brothers Play It Straight.
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is a 1968 comedy album released on Mercury Records by the Smothers Brothers consisting of bits from their CBS television series, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. As a result, much of the album consists of political humor, which was absent from their previous recording efforts but remained true to their television show's content. It reached number 164 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Prospect Hummer is an EP by Animal Collective released in May 2005. It is an accompaniment to Sung Tongs.
Laurie Lewis, is an American singer and bluegrass musician.
The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland is the tenth studio album released by The Supremes for Motown in 1967. It includes the number-one hit singles "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone". As the title states: all songs on the album were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland. Most of the album was recorded during the spring and summer of 1966; however several songs date back to the summer of 1964.
"Man of Constant Sorrow" is a traditional American folk song first published by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally titled "Farewell Song" in a songbook by Burnett dated to around 1913. An early version was recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928, which gave the song its current titles.
"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" is an African-American spiritual first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The best-known recording was released in 1960 by the U.S. folk band The Highwaymen; that version briefly reached number-one hit status as a single.
"To Be a Pilgrim" is the best known hymn using words of John Bunyan in The Pilgrim's Progress. It first appeared in Part 2 of The Pilgrim's Progress, written in 1684. The hymn recalls the words of Hebrews 11:13: "...and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."