Back in Town [PA]

Performer: George Carlin
Engineer: Terry Kulchar
Producer: George Carlin
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: George Carlin (spoken vocals); Klem Klimeck (saxophone). Recorded live at the Beacon Theater, New York, New York on March 30, 1996. Includes liner notes by George Carlin. Personnel: Klem Klimeck (saxophone). Editor: Mike "Clay" Stone . Photographers: Mike Albans; Patrick Harbron. George Carlin fluctuates between two polar extremes of intellect on Back in Town. The album is mostly plagued by this single problem, which prevents it form reaching the heights it might have otherwise. Carlin's material is consistent in that it all takes the form of societal criticism, but whereas at times his caustic gaze can intelligently deconstruct an issue as complicated as abortion, elsewhere his routine devolves into mere profane insults and gross-out humor. The aforementioned abortion bit joins a discussion of familiar expressions as the disc's highlights, and most of the parodies of modern phenomena in "Free-Floating Hostility" are on the mark. This meditation on capital punishment and state prison farms drags on with jokes taken so far that it is difficult to remember that Carlin is parodying these issues. Also, skip over "Farting in Public" -- the title speaks for itself. ~ Brian Egan This 1996 concert set is archetypal George Carlin; a comic barrage that alternates between increasingly cheesed-off rants about various aspects of American culture, and bemused observations about language. Among other subjects, he tackles abortion ("How come most people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to *!*@? in the first place?"), public flatulence (don't ask), the drug wars (his solution: execute the white Republican bankers who launder the drug money). The shallowness of the phrase "bad hair day" ("Put on a hat and go to work!") and capital punishment (he advocates a return to crucifixion, on the theory that it's a method that both American Jews and Christians can really relate to) are also dissected. Typically scabrous and extremely funny stuff.

It's somewhat fitting that visionary stand-up George Carlin would be best remembered by many for a bit on "bad words," the infamous, oft-banned "7 Words You Can't Say on Television." Carlin's zest for words was endless; his obsession with our neurotic dance with language, in particular the hidden evils in soft language, birthed some of his most hilarious routines (and most trenchant commentary). He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a talk show regular with the memorable "Hippy Dippy Weatherman" and relatively tame recollections of his NYC childhood. By the 1970s, Carlin's observations had turned more acerbic, his razor wit informing a legion of angry, hyper-literate, iconoclastic comics from Bill Hicks to Lewis Black. After 71 years of hard living (precisely the sort of phrase Carlin would despise) and brilliant comedy, the irrepressible Carlin died (not "passed away") in 2008.

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