The Reason Why I'm Talking Shit

One wonders who talked Atlantic Records into issuing this offbeat LP, the jazz world’s equivalent of the Elvis talking album. It’s a compilation of Eddie Harris comedy monologues before sets at nightclubs in Minneapolis, Evanston, Milwaukee and Redondo Beach, with plenty of sex to go around. Actually, Eddie is pretty droll in his X-rated way, telling the audience what is really on their minds at nightclubs. Still, you get the feeling that all of Side One is frustrating foreplay before the music that never comes. Side Two offers a few snippets of churchy and funky music in between the ha-haahs, and Harris gives his record company a nice little stab-in-the-back at the close. Hard to find — which is just as well. – Richard S. Ginell