Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip is the seventeenth album by American comedian Richard Pryor. Produced by Pryor and Biff Dawes, the album was released alongside the comedian's film of the same name in 1982. The material includes Pryor's frank discussion of his drug addiction and of the night that he caught on fire while freebasing cocaine in 1980. The album later won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1982.
| Live on the Sunset Strip | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | March 24, 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 1981–1982 (see below) | |||
| Genre | Comedy | |||
| Length | 59:53 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Richard Pryor, Biff Dawes | |||
| Richard Pryor chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [1] |
Track listing
edit- "Women" – 11:24
- "Prison" – 6:25
- "Africa" – 10:33
- "Mafia Club" – 6:04
- "Mudbone" – 7:38 from Tupelo, Mississippi
- "Freebase" – 8:12
- "Hospital" – 10:17
Recording locations
edit- Tracks 1–4 and 6–7 recorded at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California, December 1981 (except track 3, recorded in October 1981).
- Track 5 recorded at The Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California, January 5, 1982.
- Location recording by Wally Heider Recording, engineers Biff Dawes, Jack Crymes and Bill Broms.
Reception
editRoger Ebert rated Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip four out of four stars, describing it as a "breathtaking performance" by a comedian who had returned from the brink of self-destruction. He noted Pryor's initial nervousness but observed that, as the performance progressed, Pryor transformed into an "older, wiser, and funnier" version of himself, delivering extraordinary comedy and self-reflection. Ebert highlighted the brilliance of Pryor’s vignettes, including a Mafia nightclub skit and physical comedy inspired by African wildlife, culminating in a final segment he called "one of the most remarkable marriages of comedy and truth I have ever seen." He concluded, "It is good we still have him. He is better than ever."[2]
References
edit- ^ [Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip at AllMusic
- ^ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1982). "Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip movie review (1982)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
External links
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