Product Code Database
Lord Richard Buckley (born Richard Myrle Buckley; April 5, 1906 – November 12, 1960) was an American stand-up comedy and recording artist, who in the 1940s and 1950s created a character that was, according to The New York Times, "an unlikely persona ... part English royalty, part Dizzy Gillespie."Zinoman, Jason. "And Jonah Said, Can You Dig Me Here in This Fish?" The New York Times. December 10, 2005
Michael Packenham, writing in The Baltimore Sun, described him as "a magnificent stand-up comedian... Buckley's work, his very presence, projected the sense that life's most immortal truths lie in the inextricable weaving together of love and irony—affection for all humanity married to laughter."Pakenham, Michael. "A Biography of Lord Buckley". The Baltimore Sun. April 28, 2002.
Buckley's unique stage persona anticipated aspects of the Beat Generation sensibility, and influenced contemporary figures as varied as Dizzy Gillespie, Lenny Bruce, Wavy Gravy, Del Close, and, even after Buckley's death, Ken Kesey, George Harrison, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, Robin Williams, and Jimmy Buffett.Trager, Oliver. Dig Infinity! The Life and Art of Lord Buckley Welcome Rain Publishers. 2001 Bob Dylan, in his book Chronicles, said "Buckley was the hipster bebop preacher who defied all labels."Dylan, Bob. Chronicles Simon & Schuster. 2005 Chapter 5.
After quitting his job in Tuolumne, he travelled to Mexico to work in the oilfields. He moved to Galveston, Texas where he got a job at the Million Dollar Aztec Theatre.
In the 1950s, Buckley hit his stride with a combination of exaggeratedly aristocratic bearing and carefully enunciated rhythmic hipster slang. He was known for wearing a waxed mustache along with white tie and tails. He sometimes wore a pith helmet. Occasionally performing to music, he punctuated his monologues with scat singing and sound effects. His most significant tracks are retellings of historical or legendary events, like "My Own Railroad" and "The Nazz". The latter, first recorded in 1952, describes Jesus' working profession as "carpenter kitty." Other historical figures include Gandhi ("The Hip Gahn") and the Marquis de Sade ("The Bad-Rapping of the Marquis de Sade, the King of Bad Cats"). He retold several classic documents such as the Gettysburg Address and a version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." In "Mark Antony's Funeral Oration", he recast Shakespeare's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" as "Hipsters, flipsters, and finger-poppin' daddies: knock me your lobes." Reportedly, some of his comic material was written for him by Hollywood "beatnik" actor Mel Welles.
Lord Buckley appeared on Groucho Marx's popular TV program You Bet Your Life in 1956. In 1959, he voiced the beatnik character Go Man Van Gogh in "Wildman of Wildsville", an episode of the Bob Clampett animated series Beany and Cecil. (The character reappeared in several episodes made after Buckley's death, when he was voiced by Scatman Crothers.)
Buckley adopted his "hipsemantic" delivery from his peers Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Redd Foxx, Pearl Mae Bailey, Count Basie, and Frank Sinatra, as well as Hipsters and the United Kingdom aristocracy.
Buckley enjoyed smoking marijuana. He wrote reports of his first experiences with LSD, under the supervision of Dr. Oscar Janiger,Trager, Oliver. Dig Infinity! The Life and Art of Lord Buckley Welcome Rain Publishers. 2001. p. 79 and of his trip in a United States Air Force jet.
At a hearing two days later to have his card reinstated, Buckley was supported by more than three dozen major figures in the entertainment and arts world. However, it developed into a confrontation between NYPD Commissioner Stephen P. Kennedy and Buckley's friends and supporters, including Quincy Jones, George Plympton, and Norman Mailer.
Three weeks later, on November 12, 1960, Buckley died from a stroke at New York City's Columbus Hospital. The New York Times obituary, "Richard Buckley Dies; Entertainer, 54, Was Known as the Hip Messiah", November 13, 1960. Pay availability only. Retrieved 2010-12-21. His funeral was at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel at 81st Street and Madison Avenue in New York City on November 16, 1960. Buckley was cremated at the Ferndale Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. The scandal of Buckley's death, partially attributed to the seizure of his cabaret card, helped lead to the transfer of authority over cabaret cards from the police to the Licensing Department.
"The jingle-jangle morning" in "Mr. Tambourine Man" is a phrase Bob Dylan said he took from Lord Buckley.Sounes, H. (2001). Down the Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan. Doubleday. p. 182. . from the line, "Jingle jangle bells all over", in "Scrooge."
Early in his career Dylan performed "Black Cross", one of Lord Buckley's signature pieces, originally written in 1948 by Joseph S. Newman. Dylan's version is one of the tracks on the 1969 bootleg recording Great White Wonder.Williamson, N. The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan. Rough Guides. pp. 301–03
Composer David Amram composed a concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra titled Ode to Lord Buckley, and dedicated it to Buckley's memory.
Arlo Guthrie has cited Lord Buckley and Bill Cosby as the primary inspirations behind his song "Alice's Restaurant".Doyle, Patrick (November 26, 2014). "Arlo Guthrie looks back on 50 years of Alice's Restaurant". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
George Harrison's solo song "Crackerbox Palace" was inspired by Buckley's former home in Los Angeles. The song mentions Buckley in the line "know well the Lord is well and inside of you," as well as Buckley's manager George Grief.
Jimmy Buffett performed a version of Buckley's "God's Own Drunk" on his 1974 album Living and Dying in 3/4 Time and it became a signature piece for him until the release of Margaritaville in 1977. On his 1978 live album You Had to Be There, Buffett stated that the song is performed "with much respect to Lord Richard Buckley." Buffett performed his version less frequently after being sued for copyright infringement by Buckley's son in 1983. This lawsuit prompted the writing of "The Lawyer and the Asshole."
George Carlin, during his acceptance speech at the Second Annual Comedy Hall Of Fame Awards, mentioned a long list of his comedy influences, and ended with "the great, great, great Lord Buckley." This can be heard in the televised show.
A feature-length documentary, Too Hip for the Room: The Righteous Reign of Lord Buckley was released in 2016.
|
|
