Redd Foxx, real name John Elroy Sanford, became well-known in the USA as a stand-up comedian during the 1950s, developing a raunchy night-club act on the East Coast and finding fame when Dinah Washington invited him to perform in Las Vegas.

Foxx was one of the first black comics to play to white audiences on the Las Vegas Strip. He was seen, and signed, by Dootsie Williams of Dootone Records, for whom he released a string of highly-successful ‘live’ albums. He later had a successful television career, starring in the situation comedy Sanford & Son, with overt racial humour that helped redefine the genre of black situation comedy.

This 3CD collection of selected live recordings from his early years with Dootone features the entire Laff Of The Party Vol. 1 album, a number of tracks from his Best Of album culled from other Laff Of The Party volumes, plus the complete Burlesque Humour, Side Splitter Vols 1 & 2 and Sly Sex albums, along with one side of the album Have One On Me. Also included are a couple of his early singles for Savoy when he was a jump blues singer. As the comedy albums were all ‘live’ recordings, most of them comprise complete continuous sides of LPs, with no separate tracks.

Comedian and actor Richard Pryor cited Redd Foxx as an influence as does Chris Rock. While the actor Jamie Foxx has stated that he chose his professional surname as a tribute to Foxx. Some of the material is risqué and close-to-the-edge for its time, as was his style. It’s a collection which offers a window on a strand of not widely known, but has a substantial following among aficionados.

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