AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Don Rickles

Artist:Don Rickles

Album:Hello Dummy!

When I was a kid, I loved comedy albums. Some of them were big sellers back in the 60s by guys like Bob Newhart. Today it seems that Comedy Central is the only one to produce comedy albums. There's no demand for them. This 1968 album by insult comic Don Rickles may be the funniest comedy album ever released. It is a full unedited concert at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Rickles didn't write his routines in advance. He usually riffed off the audience. Rickles only recorded two albums so I guess this didn't sell. Rickles was born May 8, 1926 in New York City. His parents were European Jewish immigrants. After graduating from high school, Rickles enlisted in the US Navy and served during WWII. After his discharge, Rickles studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and played a few bit parts on TV. He started to perform comedy in clubs and became known for insulting hecklers. The audience seemed to enjoy his insults better than his prepared material. Rickles became famous while performing in Miami. One night Frank Sinatra was in the audience and Rickles insulted him. Sinatra enjoyed him so much that he brought Rickles to Las Vegas. So that was his main stage for most of his career. Of course Rickles also wanted to be a serious actor. But comedy was his main calling card. The 1968 album Hello Dummy! was the first of two albums Rickles recorded for Warner Bros. Sinatra got him a record deal. Your enjoyment of this album will depend on if you like Rickles' comedy in the first place. I first heard it back then and I think it's still funny today. And it's available as a budget CD. Warner Bros. released the 1969 album Don Rickles Speaks!. I haven't heard it but it's not a live album and it flopped and Rickles never recorded again. Of course Rickles continued to appear in films and TV for years. But his bread and butter was always Las Vegas. And he continued to perform until his death on Apr. 6, 2017 at age 90. Here's a video of Hello Dummy by Don Rickles. This show was never filmed so there is no video footage from the show. But this video is the entire album.