Just Folks . . . A Firesign Chat is a 1977 comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 album by The Firesign Theatre

The Firesign Theatre

The Firesign Theatre is an American comedy troupe consisting of Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Philip Proctor. Their brand of surrealistic humor is best known through their record albums, which acquired a cult following in the late 1960s and early '70s.The troupe began as live radio...

. It was the only record the group made under a new contract with Butterfly Records.

Side one

1. "Hello, What's Happening? I Die Every Night . . ."
2. "A Stiff Idiot Is The Worst Kind!"
3. "The Truck Stops Here"
4. "Ben Bland's All-Day Matinee, Part One"

Side two

1. "Ben Bland's All-Night Matinee, Part Two (Tudor Nightmare Village and Confidence in the System™)"
2. "Any More Rocket Fuel For You Hardhats?"
3. "Pass The Indian, Please"

Description of the album

This album consists primarily of a series of sketched conversations taking place within the context of a TV news program airing in "Ducktown." There is an ad included for "Confidence in the System™" and also a trip to "Jimmy Carterland."

Much of the recording is excerpted from the group's "Dear Friends" radio series of a few years earlier. These extracts can be heard in that context on the limited-edition "Dear Friends" 12-album set (but not on the Columbia double album of that name). Other portions were extracted from the followup "Dear Friends -- Let's Eat" radio series which aired in 1971–1972 on radio station KPFK in Los Angeles. The "Dear Friends -- Let's Eat" material was never officially released on record. Although only a small portion of the material was written especially for this album, much of the older material was given overdubs and editing to fit into the concept of the album.

The "Ben Bland" segments are among the few items of new material written for the album. These segments parody the old hosted afternoon ("Dialing for Dollars") movies. Host "Blend---Ben Bland" comes off as utterly high, stoned, or perhaps senile, desperately trying to act straight, and unable to resist free association. He earnestly corrects errors in his public service announcement

Public service announcement

A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...

s with even more errors: "Just send ... to ... Barn C, Crabapple, Maryland; that's Born Free ... Marineland ..." And in an eerily prescient ad, Ben Bland informs aliens that "marrying an animal can mean citizenship for you; just listen to these success stories from your U.S. Animal Husbandry Service."

The album ends with the track "Pass The Indian, Please," a skit from several years earlier. Like the track "Temporarily Humbolt County" (sic) from Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him

Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him

Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him was the first comedy album recorded by The Firesign Theatre. It was originally released in 1968 by Columbia Records.-Detailed Track Information and Commentary:...

, it is concerned with the European expansion into North America and the displacement of the Native Americans

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

. In 2002 The Firesign Theatre re-recorded the final track on this album, "Pass The Indian, Please," for NPR's news program, All Things Considered

All Things Considered

All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...

. The NPR re-recording of "Pass The Indian, Please" is included on their 2003 album All Things Firesign.

This was the first album released on the newly formed Butterfly Records. Butterfly Records would become known primarily as a disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 label.

On the inner sleeve of this album there is an ad for an official Firesign Theatre belt buckle and T-shirt. The ad copy reads "Yes, dear bozos, you two can have a remarkable T-shirt and/or cast iron belt buckle for a mere pittance" (sic).

Issues and reissues

• LP Butterfly Records FLY001 1977
• CD Firesign Theatre Records / Lodestone Catalog MSUG120 2005

External links

• Firesign Theatre. Just Folks . . . A Firesign Chat. Butterfly Records, 1977.
• Firesign Theatre. Firesign Theatre. 09 Feb 2006 .
• "FIREZINE: Linques!." Firesign Theatre FAQ. 10 February 2006 .
• Marsh, Dave, and Greil Marcus. "The Firesign Theatre." The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Ed. Dave Marsh and John Swenson. New York: Random House, 1983. 175-176.
• Smith, Ronald L. The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide. Iola: Krause, 1996. 124-127.

Citations

1. Marsh, Dave, and Greil Marcus. "The Firesign Theatre." The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Ed. Dave Marsh and John Swenson. New York: Random House, 1983. 175-176.
2. Smith, Ronald L. The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide
   The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide
   The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide is a 1996 book by Ronald L. Smith. Smith, who has written several books about comedy recordings and comedians, offers 1996 market prices for hundreds of albums ranging in date from 1915-1996. Smith also includes biographical information about the artists...
   
   . Iola: Krause, 1996. 124-127.
3. Firesign Theatre. Just Folks . . . A Firesign Chat. Butterfly Records, 1977.
4. Lopez , Bernard F. "A. J. Cervantes of Butterfly Records (Interview)." Discomusic.com. 15 May 2003. Discomusic.com. 16 February 2006 .