Thanks a ton to Brooklyn, NY (via SF Bay Area) soulhead Anthony Morris for hipping us to this amazing footage which we can’t get enough of. While many only know of Richard Pryor from his amazing comedy or his many movie appearances (including Piano Man from Lady Sings The Blues), this incredible performance shows this brother had it all. Check out this really cool writeup from deathandtaxesmag.com:
Richard Pryor is sort of the archetype of the comic with the dark side. Like Don Draper, he grew up in a brothel where his mom worked. And he apparently stumbled out with more talent than he knew what to do with.
Moving to New York City in 1963, Pryor immediately began performing both in comedy but also in singing, where he opened for Bob Dylan and Nina Simone. Simone recalls of his performance anxiety, “He shook like he had malaria, he was so nervous. I couldn’t bear to watch him shiver, so I put my arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down.”