Biff Rose

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Paul "Biff" Rose is an American comedian and singer-songwriter.

Born in New Orleans, Rose first came to prominence as a banjo-toting standup comedian, profiled in Time magazine in 1965. By 1966 he moved to Hollywood, working as a comedy sketch writer with George Carlin for a host of television variety shows, ultimately working with some regularity on the Mort Sahl show.[1] Eventually, Rose moved back to songwriting.

David Bowie covered the song "Fill Your Heart," co-written by Rose and Paul Williams, on his album Hunky Dory (1971). The song was originally released by Tiny Tim as the B-side to his 1968 hit single, "Tiptoe through the Tulips." Bowie played another Rose song, "Buzz the Fuzz," in live performance.[2] Other Rose songs were covered by John Denver[3] and Pat Boone.[4]

Following the release of 1968's The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side, Rose made several memorable appearances on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show from 1968 to 1970.[5][6] He also performed his songs on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,[7] American Bandstand,[8] and Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark.[9] He emceed the Atlantic City Pop Festival of 1969,[10] replacing Joni Mitchell who left the stage crying after being razzed by the hip rock audience early Friday of the three day two weeks before Woodstock mega-fest, and the Atlanta Pop Festival of 1970.[11]

1978's Roast Beef was produced by Mike Nesmith and recorded in a single take.

2005 saw a revival of label interest in Rose's work. A US CD re-released his Tetragrammaton albums and singles, and a UK compilation covered Rose's work from 1968 through 1985.

Contents

[edit] Musical style

Rose's early work consists of unaccompanied piano and vocals as well as more heavily orchestrated numbers. His lyrics have been described as romantic and humorous, while promoting a left-wing hippie philosophy.[12] His piano-playing has been described as jaunty, reminiscent of pre-World War II Broadway musicals.[13]

Rose's work of the past ten years differs from his early recordings. He has introduced spoken word and rap elements into his songs; some recordings experiment with extended song forms and eccentric instrumentation. He makes controversial use of racial stereotypes. In his web-based art, Christ and Hitler are referenced often, apparently as icons/personifications of good and evil. Many of his websites, such as jewmanity.com,[14] openly deal with race and religion. This has resulted on various online postings criticizing Rose of being antisemitic and racist.[15] It is said that Rose denies the charge.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Full Length Releases

  • Biff, Cliff, and Warren (1961)
  • Banjo and Ballyhoo (1963, Angry Young Man Records)
  • The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side (1968, Tetragrammaton, re-released on Buddha)
  • Children of Light (1969, Tetragrammaton, re-released on Buddha)
  • Biff Rose [some copies titled Ride On] (1970, Buddha)
  • Half Live at the Bitter End (1971, Buddha)
  • Uncle Jesus, Aunty Christ (1972, United Artists)
  • Hamburger Blues [w/ Wall Matthews] (1974, Sweet Jane Limited)
  • Roast Beef (1978, downpatrecords/Pacific Arts)
  • Thee Messiah Album/Live at Gatsby's (1979, downpatrecords/Pacific Arts)
  • Bone Again (1996, Fast Eddy)
  • The Elizabethan Period [w/ Elizabeth Suggs] (2000, GoddessOne)
  • E-Stir Parade (2003, Wascals)
  • Live At The Earl Of Oldtown (recorded 1977, released 2003, Wascals)
  • The Knight Wigguh and the Nippie Higger (2004, Wascals)

[edit] Singles

  • What's Gnawing At Me/Molly (1968, Tetragrammaton)
  • Buzz the Fuzz/Gentle People (1968, Tetragrammaton)
  • Take Care of My Brother/Myrtle's Pies (1969, Tetragrammaton, non-album single)
  • I Forgot to Tell You/The Captain (1970, Buddha)
  • Rudolph [features Biff and his children Terry, Eben, and Andy Rose] (1971, United Artists)
  • Garbage/Lord I Done Bumped Into You (1972, United Artists)

[edit] Compilations

  • Urban (folk) Renewal: Blue Dog Cellar [live compilation w/ 3 other artists] (1962, Kimberly)
  • Put Your Hand in the Hand [odd various artist compilation featuring songs from 1970s Biff Rose] (mid 1970s, Pickwick)
  • The Acoustic Highway Collection: The Road To Country Rock [features previously unreleased 1972 track] (EMI, 1996)
  • The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side/Children of Light (2005, Water Records)
  • Fill Your Heart With Biff Rose (2005, RPM Records)

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://howlinwuelf.com/_wsn/page3.html
  2. ^ http://www.5years.com/early.htm
  3. ^ http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~nisenora/jd-discography-top1.html
  4. ^ http://www.mp3.com/albums/1983/summary.html
  5. ^ http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/column6.php
  6. ^ http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/search.do?singleDateMonth=12&singleDateDay=11&singleDateYear=1970
  7. ^ http://www.smothersbrothers.com/episodes.htm
  8. ^ http://www.tv.com/joe-south---biff-rose---rhetta-hughes/episode/168294/summary.html
  9. ^ playboy-after-dark
  10. ^ http://www.e-rockworld.com/AtlanticCity.htm
  11. ^ http://www.classicrockpage.com/newslet/issues/aug11.htm
  12. ^ http://jhendrix110.tripod.com/BiffRose.html
  13. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p20258/biography
  14. ^ http://www.jewmanity.com/
  15. ^ http://www.coolname.com/pipermail/maplepost-mirror/2003-April/014606.html

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biff_Rose&oldid=471453781"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export