Redd Foxx spent years touring the "chitlin' circuit" before (and after) he cut his first comedy album in 1956, but it was when he started appearing at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas that he began making an impression on mainstream audiences and the showbiz elite (it's said that
Frank Sinatra signed
Foxx to Loma Records, the R&B-oriented subsidiary of
Sinatra's Reprise label, after he caught one of the comic's Aladdin engagements). So it made sense for
Foxx to record one of his Vegas shows for posterity, and 1967's
'Live' Las Vegas offers a bit less than half an hour of the comic on-stage, in loose but energetic form, tossing out one-liners and short comic bits in his trademark earthy style for an audibly enthusiastic crowd. By 21st century standards, this is rude but restrained comedy, often dealing with sex but exchanging euphemisms for some of the more graphic terminology. However, in 1967 this was the kind of stuff you only heard in Vegas at the 4 a.m. show, and
Foxx was an acknowledged master of the form, reeling off one blue gag after another with an easygoing charm and just the right amount of sassy bite to keep audience members on their toes. In its own way, this kind of comedy was as much a part of Las Vegas' golden era as the hijnks of
the Rat Pack or
Louis Prima's frantic swing, and hearing
Foxx in one of his favored rooms practically demands you light up a cigarette, pour a double bourbon, and take a laugh break before hitting the craps tables in hopes of winning back the money you lost earlier in the evening. Listen and enjoy.