Jonathan Winters – The Complete Albums 1959-62 – 3CD

Jonathan Winters was an American comedian, actor, broadcaster, TV presenter, artist and author who received eight Grammy nominations for Best Comedy Album during his career. He had a troubled childhood and developed his comedy persona as a response to his emotional traumas, and won a talent competition which led to a job as a DJ where his comedy gradually took over the show. He was a constant sufferer from nervous breakdowns and bi-polar disorder, which contributed to his approach as a pioneer of improvisational stand-up comedy, with a gift for impressions and mimicry, developing a range of characters that he used in his act – as he said himself: “I was fighting for the fact that you could be funny without telling jokes”. This 3-CD set comprises the complete contents of his first five albums, all on the Verve label – “The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters”, “Down To Earth”, “Jonathan Winters In Concert: Here's Jonathan”, “Another Day, Another World” and “Humor Seen through the Eyes of Jonathan Winters”, all of them recorded in front of a ‘live’ audience. It naturally includes many of the routines which made him famous on TV. For those unfamiliar with his work, it’s a great introduction to a highly individual entertainer, and for those revisiting his work from those times, it’s a feast of comedy very much of its era, but which laid the groundwork for later performers.

Track Listing:

CD1:
1. Medley: Introduction, Flying Saucers -   2. Western -   3. Football Game -   4. Airline Pilots -   5. Used Pet Shop -   6. Hip Robin Hood -   7. Medley: Super Service Station, Marine Corps -   8. Introduction, Horror Movies, Amateur Show, Commercials, Great White Hunter -

CD2:
1. Introduction, Scratchy, Broadway Musical, Interviews, Prison Scene -   2. Opening -   3. Test Flight -   4. Billy The Kid -   5. New Flying Saucer -   6. Opening - Portugese Pirate Ship -   7. Oldest Airline Stewardess - Maude Frickert -   8. Child Psychiatrist -   9. Driving On The Turnpike - Thoughts Of A Turtle -   10. Opening – California -   11. The Lost Island -

CD3:
1. Igor And The Monster -   2. New Frontiers, Civil War -   3. TV Commercials, American In Paris -   4. Moon Map / Ivy Leaguer -   5. Human Torpedo -   6. Sail Cat -   7. My School Days -   8. Hungry 'i' Opening -   9. Moby Dick & Capt. Arnold -   10. Elwood P. Suggins' Automobile -   11. Dr. Werner: German Scientist -   12. S.S. Robert E. Lee -   13. Chief Running Fox -   14. Maude Frickett & The Funeral -   15. International Folk Singers -   Terry Thai (Thailand) -   16. International Folk Singers - Lonesome Tom (Western) -   17. International Folk Singers - Ivan Korkoffskinovki (Russian) -