Let’s Get Small was an album by American comedian Steve Martin

Steve Martin

Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....

. It included Excuse Me, a comedy bit whose title went on to become a national catchphrase. The album went platinum

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

 and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Pop Albums Chart

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

.

It was recorded at The Boarding House

The Boarding House (nightclub)

The Boarding House was a nightclub located at 960 Bush Street in San Francisco, California. Steve Martin's first three albums, Let's Get Small, A Wild and Crazy Guy, and Comedy Is Not Pretty were recorded there, in whole or in part...

 in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

.

This album won the Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 in 1978 for Best Comedy Album

Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album

The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album was awarded from yearly 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to present day. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*From 1959 to 1967 it was Best Comedy Performance...

.

Some of Martin's bits were dependent on visual demonstration, such as when he dances as a Vegas pop singer on the track "Las Vegas" (presumably recognizing this, Martin's shoes are audible and quite loud as he performs the dance on this track) and also during the "Let's Get Small" track where he discusses getting small while driving - here he mimed driving a car while being so short as to barely reach the bottom of the steering wheel. Martin had debuted this particular bit in a 1976 appearance on the show Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

.

The album cover shows Martin wearing balloon animals, bunny ears, and a fake arrow through his head; these were all staples of his live act. He made balloon animals on some of his Saturday Night Live appearances as well as his guest appearance on The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...

, while the fake arrow through the head was spoofed by Dinah Shore

Dinah Shore

Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...

for a guest appearence by Martin on her talk show.

Track listing

1. “Ramblin' Man/Theme from Ramblin' Man" – 2:14
2. “Vegas" – 5:45
3. “Let's Get Small" – 13:34
4. “Smoking" – 2:10
5. “One Way to Leave Your Lover" – 1:33
6. “Mad at My Mother" – 1:22
7. "Excuse Me" – 2:32
8. "Grandmother's Song" – 3:33
9. "Funny Comedy Gags" – 3:05
10. "Closing" – 2:02

"Let's Get Small" was released as a single, b/w "Grandmother's Song"

Excerpts

At the end of "Grandmother's Song", Martin says to the audience, "You guys are gonna be on a record" (making reference to the fact that his live performance that night was being recorded for an album), to which the audience responds positively. Seconds later Martin says, "Maybe someday; not mine, of course".