George Carlton

George Carlin is not amused.

The Eardrum/Atlantic companion album to the double Grammy Award-winning comic’s eleventh HBO comedy concert, “YOU ARE ALL DISEASED” is a self-proclaimed “series of things that are pissing me off.”

Recorded live last February at New York City’s Beacon Theater, the album finds Carlin at his hilarious, unrelenting best, spewing righteous outrage and mad comic genius at the idiocy and ridiculousness of the world we live in. Among the topics to inflame his ire: airport security, angels, children, germphobia, religion, tough guys, the House of Blues, television, singles bars, “urban” culture, and why a cigar isn’t always just a cigar.

Yes, America, “YOU ARE ALL DISEASED.” George Carlin is the cure.

In July 1956, a nineteen-year-old George Carlin began his professional career in radio at Shreveport, Louisiana’s KJOE, while continuing his service in the U.S. Air Force. By 1959, he had started working at Boston’s WEZE, a job which lasted all of three months. Carlin’s next gig was the 7PM-to-midnight shift at KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas, where, together with newsman Jack Burns, he began developing comedy routines for a nightclub act. In 1960, the two headed west to become “The Wright Brothers,” the morning DJs at Hollywood’s KDAY. They left the radio game after three months, preferring to embark on a comedy career as “Burns and Carlin.”

While they worked mainly mainstream clubs, the team of Burns and Carlin had a decidedly anti-establishment flavor. The act did well, though, receiving plenty of press, headlining America’s top clubs, and appearing on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. 1962, however, saw the amicable end of the Burns and Carlin team, with both men opting to pursue solo careers.

After the split, Carlin worked the nightclub circuit, scoring his first solo network TV appearance on The Tonight Show (with Mort Sahl serving as host). In 1964, he returned to his hometown of New York City and began performing at alternative establisments – folk clubs, coffee houses – where the audiences were more progressive, and where he could blend his more outspoken and irreverent material into his traditionally mainstream routines. With the Caf au Go Go in New York City’s Greenwich Village serving as his de-facto homebase, Carlin spent close to two years developing his first well-known bits, routines which featured such characters as “The Indian Sergeant,” “Wonderful Wino,” and “Al Sleet, the Hippy Dippy Weaterman.”

Carlin soon began receiving extensive TV exposure, logging 58 appearances in 1965 and ’66, mostly on The Merv Griffin Show and The Mike Douglas Show, with other spots on The Hollywood Palace, The Jimmy Dean Show, The Roger Miller Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (after that debut, Carlin appeared on Carson’s show over 130 times). After moving his family to Los Angeles, George worked as a featured comic/writer on The Kraft Summer Music Hall with John Davidson (1966), followed by his co-hosting Away We Go (1967) with Buddy Greco and Buddy Rich.

1967 saw the release of Carlin’s debut album, “TAKE-OFFS AND PUT-ONS” (RCA Victor), as well as the beginnings of his acting career. He made guest appearances on That Girl and in the Doris Day/Brian Keith film, With Six You Get Egg Roll (1968), but felt that his future was truly in stand-up. Between 1967 and ’70, George made over 80 TV appearances on such shows as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Steve Allen Show, The Jackie Gleason Show and The Tom Jones Show. In addition, George worked America’s major nighclubs, including a three-year contract at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas – an association which would later prove significant in a most unexpected way.

During the late Sixties, Carlin’s material grew bland and safe due his regular appearances on television. He was forced to move away from the rebellious, anti-establishment tone of his early routines, and as a result, Carlin felt increasingly bored and dissatisfied. By 1970, though, George had begun to drift towards the counterculture, an audience who shared his out-of-step attitude and opinions. Carlin grew out his beard, began to dress more casually, and restored social and political irreverence to his act.

Unfortunately, the “new and improved” George Carlin didn’t sit well with middle-class audiences, not to mention nightclub owners. In September 1970, a series of incidents with audiences and owners culminated in George being fired from the Frontier Hotel – the result of his saying “shit” in his act. December found Carlin working at the San Francisco Playboy Club, the comic’s last stand at an “establishment” venue.

1972 saw the release of “FM & AM,” which was certified gold by the RIAA and brought Carlin his first Grammy Award. “FM & AM” was the first of four successive gold records for Carlin and Atlantic’s Little David Records, including “CLASS CLOWN” (1972), “OCCUPATION: FOOLE” (1973) and “TOLEDO WINDOW BOX” (1974). As of this writing, no less than ten of Carlin’s albums have been nominated for Grammy Awards.

In 1973, New York’s WBAI-FM aired the “Filthy Words” bit from “OCCUPATION: FOOLE,” setting off a firestorm of controversy. After a complaint was made to the Federal Communications Commission by a lone professional moralist, the FCC issued a Declaratory Order against the station, who promptly brought the matter to court. Two years later WBAI filed an appeal of the Declaratory Order with the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, who reversed the FCC order (by a 2-1 vote) in March 1977. An FCC petition for rehearing was denied in May, but in October, the Commission petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, requesting a review of the Court of Appeals decision. On July 3, 1978, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the FCC by a 5-4 vote (Justices Stevens, Burger, Rehnquist, Blackmun and Powell, with Justices Brennan, Stewart, White and Marshall dissenting). In effect, the Supreme Court ruling declared the words “shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits” to be “indecent,” allowing the FCC to ban them from the airwaves during hours when children might hear them.

Despite the verbal restraints of the FCC, Carlin was a familiar face on Seventies television, hosting the premiere episode of Saturday Night Live (October 11, 1975) and doing stand-up on the Tony Orlando and Dawn Variety Hour (1976). Fortunately, the new world of cable TV – specifically Home Box Office – proved fertile ground for his satirical and profane stand-up. 1977 saw his first special for HBO, On Location: George Carlin at USC, initiating a string of comedy concert broadcasts. Among Carlin’s other acclaimed HBO specials are 1982’s Carlin at Carnegie (taped at New York’s renowned Carnegie Hall) and 1990’s CableACE Award-winning Doin’ It Again (the Grammy Award-nominated album of the show was renamed “PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICIT LYRICS”). In April of 1992, George received his second consecutive CableACE Award for Jammin’ In New York, a live concert broadcast from New York’s Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden, which also led to an Emmy Award nomination. In addition, the “JAMMIN’ IN NEW YORK” CD won Carlin a 1993 Grammy for “Best Spoken Word Comedy Album.”

1983 saw the publication of Sometimes A Little Brain Damage Can Help, Carlin’s first best-selling humor collection. The book – which compiles short humor pieces and odd comedy lines that George felt were best suited for the printed page – has sold over 70,000 copies.

In 1987, Carlin received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame (located at the corner of Vine and Selma Streets, betweeen Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards). “I like it because it’s tangible recognition,” George noted upon being honored. “I only hope no one throws up on it.”

The late Eighties/early Nineties found George’s acting career on the rise, with leading roles in Outrageous Fortune (1987), Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), and The Prince of Tides (1991). Carlin also worked steadily as a television actor, starring in the Blake Edwards-directed NBC pilot, Justin Case (1988), as well as the Fox TV movie Working Trash (1990) with Ben Stiller. He earned a pair of 1992 Emmy Award nominations for his portrayal of “Mister Conductor” on the critically-acclaimed PBS childrens series, Shining Time Station. In 1995, he was seen on four one-hour prime time Shining Time Station specials. George’s other TV work includes hosting The 20th Anniversary of Comedy on HBO (1995) and a starring role in the CBS miniseries, Streets of Laredo (1995).

Carlin created Eardrum Records in 1992 with longtime business partner Jerry Hamza after gaining ownership of his former label, Little David Records. The purchase gave Carlin ownership of all master tapes to the George Carlin album catalogue. The first Eardrum/Atlantic release was the double CD, “George Carlin: CLASSIC GOLD” (1992), a complete compilation of George’s three gold-certified classics, “”FM & AM,” “CLASS CLOWN,” and “OCCUPATION: FOOLE.”

January of 1994 saw the Fox Network premiere of The George Carlin Show, which lasted twenty-seven episodes. In 1996 Carlin took to the stage of New York’s Beacon Theater for another HBO Comedy Concert, the CableACE-nominated Back In Town. The Eardrum/Atlantic CD of “BACK IN TOWN” was released in September of that year.

In 1997 George celebrated a pair of significant anniversaries: 40 years in show business, as well as a 20-year association with HBO. February found the cable network devoting an entire week to Carlin, broadcasting all of his HBO concerts – plus the new retrospective George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy – in conjunction with the annual Aspen Comedy Arts Festival. His tenth HBO special, George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy received two CableACE Awards, as well as a pair of Emmy nods.

On May 12, 1997 – George’s 60th birthday – Hyperion published Brain Droppings, a collection of thoughts, musings, questions, lists, beliefs, curiosties, monologues, assertions, assumptions and other verbal ordeals. The book spent 18 weeks on the New York Times’ Best Seller List, and has sold over 300,000 copies in hardcover alone.

George Carlin continues to perform over 150 concert dates each year.