Complaints and Grievances

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
ReleasedDecember 11, 2001
RecordedNovember 17, 2001
VenueBeacon Theatre, New York City
GenreComedy
Length56:16
LabelEardrum/Atlantic
ProducerGeorge Carlin
George Carlin chronology
The Little David Years (1971–1977)
(1999)
Complaints and Grievances
(2001)
Life Is Worth Losing
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Production

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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

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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

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All tracks by George Carlin.

  1. "The Opening" – 9:22
  2. "Traffic Accidents: Keep Movin'!" – 6:16
  3. "You and Me (Things That Come Off of Your Body)" – 10:38
  4. "People Who Oughta Be Killed: Self-Help Books" – 1:16
  5. "Motivation Seminars" – 1:05
  6. "Parents of Honor Students" – 2:15
  7. "Baby Slings" – 0:59
  8. "My Daddy" – 0:51
  9. "Telephone Mimes" – 1:09
  10. "Hands-Free Telephone Headsets" – 0:38
  11. "Answering Machines" – 0:52
  12. "Family Newsletters" – 1:23
  13. "Music on Answering Machines" – 1:39
  14. "People Who Wear Visors" – 0:39
  15. "Singers with One Name" – 0:41
  16. "Rich Guys in Hot Air Balloons" – 1:01
  17. "People Who Misuse Credit Cards" – 0:51
  18. "Guys Named Todd" – 1:30
  19. "Gun Enthusiasts" – 1:26
  20. "White Guys Who Shave Their Heads" – 0:48
  21. "NASA-Holes" – 1:32
  22. "Why We Don't Need 10 Commandments" – 7:14

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ "45th Annual GRAMMY Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Opie and Anthony (October 24, 2001). 2001 (WNEW) : Opie & Anthony. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  4. ^ "George Carlin: Complaints and Grievances". georgecarlin.com. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  5. ^ Crouch, Ian (September 10, 2016). "George Carlin's Shocking Prescience on the Nights Before 9/11". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die, 6-23-2001 (Bonus). YouTube. George Carlin. October 16, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
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