LOVE, LAUGHTER & TRUTH
CREDITS
Written and performed by Bill Hicks
Executive Producer: Mary Reese Hicks
Compilation Producer: Jeff Rougvie
Mastered and Edited by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering
Cover Photography: Dorothy Low
Design: Steven Jurgensmeyer
Special thanks to Jim Hicks, Lynn Hicks, Ryan Hicks, Rachel Hicks, Maria & Nash Rougvie, Philip Lyon, Don Chesebro, Stephen Vornhof, Matt Adams and most especially Bill's loyal fans, his friends and his family whose names are not listed and to the club owners where Bill performed.
(P) 2002 Arizona Bay Production Co., Inc. (C) 2002 Rykodisc. All Rights Reserved.
Manufactured and Marketed by Rykodisc under exclusive license.
Rykodisc RCD 10631
LINER NOTES
Unfortunately for everyone, the genius Bill Hicks tragically passed away in 1994. I call him a "genius" because a) he was a genius, and b) "comedian" is insufficient to describe Bill's talent.
Bill is gone, gut his words resonate. That's why I'm writing liner notes to a new CD of unreleased Bill Hicks material (the most recent of which was recorded nearly ten years ago) instead of laughing my ass off to his thoughts on current events.
During his lifetime Bill recorded four albums. The first two, Dangerous and Relentless, were released while Bill was still here trying to enlighten us.
In 1997, Bill's Arizona Bay and Rant In E-Minor were posthumously released by Rykodisc. Although completed after his death, Bill had meticulously plotted out and left detailed instructions on how to edit and sequence them.
Those four albums are the official Hicks canon; the releases that he oversaw, were created to his specifications, and released as he envisioned them.
Since Bill's death his legend has continued to grow. Today, his audience is arguably bigger than it was while he was alive. Every week brings a new Hicks sighting, ranging from feature articles in magazines, to books on his life, to rock bands name-checking Bill in interviews or on stage.
To provide a starting point for the multitude hearing about Bill for the first time, his fifth album, Philosophy: The Best of Bill Hicks, collects reverently unedited material from the aforementioned titles. Auteur filmmaker/writer Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back) recently named it one of his favorite albums. Philosophy summarizes the work that Bill oversaw and closes the chapter on the first four releases.
All of Bill's albums prior to this one were recorded professionally with public consumption in mind. When Bill stepped on stage the nights of those performances the mics were prepared and the levels were set. Bill knew he was recording an album and performed accordingly. Virtually all of his professionally recorded material is on the aforementioned albums.
Understandably, rabid Hicks fans wanted more and, as Bill promised earlier, there was "plenty more dark stuff where this came from."
That brings us to this CD.
Bill regularly recorded his performances and kept the tapes. His family safeguards the precious bounty and this CD was culled from those tapes.
In capturing his concert efforts Bill was often hampered by the setting. He had to use substandard club microphones and P.A.'s and record without monitoring the volume levels. As a result, the recordings herein are technically uneven, captured on a variety of equipment from many locations under varying circumstances. To be fair, Bill recorded these shows for his personal use and almost certainly didn't envision that they would be released.
In conjunction with the Hicks Estate, hours of Bill Hicks shows were reviewed, and the bits that weren't released on Bill's other albums were compiled. This was ultimately edited down to two CD's with nearly three hours of material on them, then edited again to what you're holding in your hand.
Some bits appeared many times and we reviewed them all in an effort to pick the best version available. A few amazing shows were too poorly recorded to used here. This CD was culled from the recordings made from 1990 to 1993 in Denver, San Ramon, West Palm Beach, San Francisco, and a particularly rough stretch in Pittsburgh where Bill had to play a non-smoking show and was greeted more often than not by audiences that did NOT get it (see Flying Saucer Tour Vol 1 for a complete recording of one of these gigs).
Most bits appear completely intact, but a few were edited to remove references to bits that Bill performed that night, but not included here (those bits appear on earlier releases).
After choosing the selections the recordings were carefully mastered. Over 120 pops were removed, seven sections were de-hissed and the file was diced and edited into over 400 pieces in an effort to create a smooth flow from patchwork source material. Even with all this work, you will no doubt notice audible differences from track to track. We hope that you find this bounty of "new" material worth the slight audio inconsistencies.
There are still untold hours of Hicks material to review and the process will continue. In the meantime, join us in missing Bill and enjoy some gems from his personal stash.
-- Jeff Rougvie / 2002
More about Bill Hicks: Light Fantastic, John Lahr's book of profiles collected from the pages of The New Yorker, includes "The Goat Boy Also Rises," his amazing depiction of Bill and his comedy. The original article appeared in the November 1st, 1993 issue of the magazine. Light Fantastic published by The Dial Press.
On June 3rd, 1994, Robert Seidenberg chronicled the "Death Of A Comedian" in Entertainment Weekly. Mike Sager profiled the brilliant end of Bill Hicks' life in his article "The Gospel According To Hicks" (GQ, September, 1994). The Tiger Aspect Video documentary, It's Just A Ride, has appeared on Comedy Central (US) and Channel 4 (UK).
Bill Hicks died of pancreatic cancer on February 26, 1994. He was 32 years old.