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For complete annotation and a wealth of information about all these Mort Sahl records (and, come to think of it, every comedy
record ever made) read: GOLDMINE COMEDY RECORD PRICE GUIDE by Ronald L. Smith (Krause Publications; 800-258-0929)
MORT SAHL AT SUNSET (Fantasy 7005)
This was not the first Sahl record to be released, but it was the first to be recorded. He was taped in 1955 at the Sunset
Auditorium in Carmel, California at a jazz concert featuring Dave Brubeck. This red vinyl rarity didn't turn up in stores
till after most of the Verve albums appeared.
THE FUTURE LIES AHEAD (Verve MGV 150002)
1960: LOOK FORWARD IN ANGER (Verve MGV 150004)
A WAY OF LIFE (Verve MGV 150006)
AT THE HUNGRY I (Verve MGVS 15012)
THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Verve MGVS 615021)
GREAT MOMENTS OF COMEDY (Verve V 15049)
Sahl's last two albums for Verve (At the Hungri i and The Next President) were both released in stereo. "The Next
President" was recorded during the thick of the Nixon vs Kennedy campaign. He warns, "whoever the president is -
I will attack him." Which is why he only made two albums for Reprise. Certain people didn't want him satirizing John
F. Kennedy.
THE NEW FRONTIER (Reprise R 5002)
ON RELATIONSHIPS (Reprise R 5003)
Mort wrote jokes for JFK and seemed to support him over Nixon. But once Kennedy was in office, Mort began doing JFK satire.
On "New Frontier" Mort describes people coming over to him and protesting the Kennedy jokes. "We thought [JFK's
election] was what you wanted," they gasp. He retorts, "You didn't have to do it for ME!"
"On Relationships" amuses trivia buffs: the woman on the cover is Joan Collins.
THE AGE OF ANXIETY (Radiola MR 1151)
THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS (Radiola MR 1123)
"Age of Anxiety," hour-long documentary that includes five minutes of Mort, circa the LBJ era. It's not material
from the Mercury album. The album was first issued in the late 70's. The other Radiola release, compiling segments from the
old "That Was the Week That Was" TV show, has literally one Sahl one-liner.
ANYWAY...ONWARD (Mercury MG/SR 61112)
SING A SONG OF WATERGATE (GNP Crescendo GNPS 2070)
Mort issued one album for the Lyndon Johnson era, and when Richard Nixon was in office (barely) he recorded "Sing
a Song of Watergate...apocryphal of lie." He re-works one of his finest lines on this album:
"We've gone from Jefferson to Nixon and we've gone from Hearst to Hefner. There were four million people in the Colonies
and we had Jefferson and Paine and Franklin. Fantastic. And now we have 208 million and the two top guys are McGovern and
Nixon. What can you draw from this? Darwin was wrong!"
MORT SAHL'S AMERICA (Dove Audio 2291731802)
Mort Sahl '97! The Clinton administration can be thanked for one thing - getting people riled enough to demand a new Mort
Sahl album. Here it is, on tape and CD, with special guest Eugene McCarthy.
Mort on abortion, divorce, the AMC channel, Popeye, Larry King, contributions to various movies ("Ordinary People,""Nobody's
Fool," etc.), behind the scenes with Bush, Dole and many others. "Everything I tell you is true, but this is factual..."
Mort supplied the album notes for a Paul Desmond album (Fantasy 3235) as well as "Inside Shelley Berman."
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