A Place for My Stuff

One thing definitely hasn't changed since the 1980s: people, at least people living in consumer societies, continue to possess a lot of stuff. The vertiginous rise of the off-site storage industry should provide all of the evidence anyone needs. Not to mention the gigantic homes, piled to the brim with stuff, that dominate residential landscapes. Given rather rough economic times, it seems like no one could possibly afford such monstrosities, yet many extend their dominions into distant cabins or vacation homes that line now heavily crowded and dessicated lakes. These structures often bulge with different kinds of stuff: cabin stuff, or "home away from home" sort of stuff. If all of that surface area still doesn't suffice, enormous buildings divided up into small garage-sized units will rent one of their niches for what seem like fairly reasonable prices. Put the stuff in, lock it up and hopefully don't completely forget about it forever. When that fills up, plenty of other such buildings await with similar little secure caves to gobble up and store further items in perpetuity. One could go on forever, really. Addiction to the acquisition of stuff has expanded to what one could only describe as an imperial level since George Carlin released his poignant manifesto on the infinite proliferation of stuff early in the Reagan era. This piece still resonates loudly today. In fact, it nearly shouts and screams. The earth now has some 3.1 billion more people on it. With more people comes more stuff and more stuff always entails more places to put more stuff. Not only that, more people create even more people and these additional people of course need more and more stuff. The cycle appears endless, interminable and ultimately self-destructive. Mister Rogers once sang, "You Can Never Go Down the Drain," but he likely didn't have this metaphoric situation in mind. In the intervening years, Carlin's satirical, and even somewhat cute, piece has transformed into a description of mass insanity that one laughs at only to keep from crying. "A Place For My Stuff" remains one of Carlin's comedic masterpieces.In 1981, Carlin released an entire album of the same name almost four years after his previous release, "On the Road." His self-admitted heavy drug use in the 1970s and doubtlessly frantic show business schedule probably caught up with him and he suffered a heart attack in 1978. After an understandable few years break, his comedic themes and approach didn't really change too much, but the new album, his first in the 1980s, experimented with an altered format. The title track, identical to his previous albums, featured Carlin performing in front of a live audience, usually one laughing raucously. He then created additional tracks in a studio with no audience and interspersed these between snippets of live recordings. This allowed him to include sound effects and background or incidental music and even an additional cast member. This gives the album a slightly more sketch-comedy feel. For the first time, Carlin seemed focused more on making a structured album rather than simply recording and releasing the best bits from his live touring shows. After all, the album's first words are literally the self-referential "this album," referring self-consciously, of course, to the album itself. Situation alone may have dictated this, as his health probably led to less touring, which led to considerably less live material to extract from for a new album. So why not just go into a studio without the stress of an audience and the ability to record multiple takes? Whatever the reason behind mixing live and studio recordings, it worked incredibly well and "A Place for My Stuff" arguably qualifies as one of Carlin's best releases.As a whole, the album's quality remains consistently high throughout, with no real "why didn't he cut this out" moments. The unforgettable title track only takes up a mere four and a half minutes of the album's fifty one minute duration. A pre-recorded "Acknowledgments" lists the album's "funders," including "The Institute for Yahtzee Theory," "The Society for the preservation of Spanish Rice," "The Laser Enema Foundation" and a few other unmentionables. A gentle chime sequeways into a live audience reflection on Thanksgiving, "...I think it's because all the coats are on the bed." He then revisits the often revisited "making up goofy s***" theme as his "occupation." Comments on office furniture flow effortlessly into the title track. "They always take the good stuff... they don't bother with that crap you're saving." The first in a series of seven "Announcements" follows. These brief all-studio snippets cover everything from becoming a licensed schm*ck, community news, the classic "Dempsey's Department Store" rant, "get one now they won't rust, tarnish, blister, crack or peel, but they might kill you," reverse talking, tautologies, "Ranger Dan" and an enlightening lesson on stressed syllables, "join up an' die," a message from a famous person for sale, "tree hunting," the "Fart Retrieval League," a "National Apple Institute" announcement and "hors d'oeuvres for Bangladesh." A final announcement, not read by Carlin, closes the album with "stay tuned now for 'Let's injure Dave.'"Longer pieces between the shorter announcements delve into voluminous themes. "Have a Nice Day" remains as relevant today as "A Place For My Stuff." That phrase, "It puts all the pressure on you... all because of some loose lipped cashier." "Maybe I don't feel like having a nice day. Maybe, just maybe, I've had 63 nice days in a row and by god I'm ready for a crappy day." "Nice," "fine" and the manly "great" receive full deconstructions. "Rice Krispies" requires a listen to appreciate. "You can all just sit there in the milk until I found out which one of you said that!" "Interview With Jesus" also features a female voice credited on the original LP back cover as "females played by Denny Dillon." The interview itself revisits the Christmas story, "oh, great, great... just what I need... a gum resin," alternate explanations for the miracles, how the Apostles smelled like bait, the thirteenth Apostle "Red," his book "Three's A Crowd" on the Trinity, Heck, Limbo, worrying about getting hit by lightning during the crucifixion and why he presumably would not join Christianity. "Buddha's laughing, I'm on the cross." "Join the Book Club" presents an onslaught of amazing Carlin-isms that requires multiple listenings for a full appreciation. A litany of phrases whiz by the unprepared psyche, including, "Eat, Run, Stay Fit and Die Anyway," "Rid Yourself of Doubt, or Should You?" "64 Good Reasons for Giving Up Hope," "You Give Me Six Weeks and I'll Give You Some Disease," "Fill Your Life With Croutons," "Cooking With Heat," "I Gave Up Hope and Died and It Worked" and "How To Turn Unbearable Pain into Extra Income." Some may find the very short track "Abortion" kind of a cheap shot bolstered by a huge audience reaction, but many will also find it hilarious, depending upon where one sits on that particular issue's continuum of tolerance. It definitely works as a quick example of shock comedy. "Ice Box Man" discusses the politics of the refrigerator and ways to dispose of degraded food that someone will just "throw away." It also includes one of the album's only, and extremely brief, drug references, a topic that greatly diminished on Carlin's albums of this era. Another studio recording, once again featuring Dillon, seeks to identify people by three terms that likely contributed to the later inclusion of a "Parental Advisory" label on the album's cover. The label did not appear on early pressings, or on any of Carlin's albums until the mid-late 1980s. "Fussy Eater," a two part diptych, explores the effect of a food's name and appearance on its potential edibility. "Frog's legs... I can never order them, I keep wondering what they did with the rest of the frog? What do they do, do they give them little dollies and send them back out on the street to beg? ...trouble is the dollies for froggies program is underfunded." As mentioned above, Dillon, not Carlin, speaks the album's final words."A Place For My Stuff" feels like a comeback of sorts given Carlin's relative retreat in the late 1970s. Following a long string of exclusively live recordings it also has a unique character within his total body of work. If it proves anything, it proves beyond a doubt that Carlin could perform brilliant sketch comedy, which he acquiesced to for his second Saturday Night Live appearance in 1984, which morphed into real acting roles further along in the 1980s. This era marks the beginnings of Carlin's long involvement with the HBO cable network, a new paid medium at the time that allowed him full artistic freedom for the remainder of his career. Perfect timing, as the variety show, a genre on which he often appeared, began to vanish from network television (reference "Pink Lady and Jeff"). Though he largely returned to pure stand up comedy on subsequent albums, "A Place For My Stuff" exudes a retrospective feeling of revitalization and a newness that seems to have energized his late career. By 1981 he had spent over two decades in the business. No one probably suspected at the time that he still had a few more decades to go.

This is classic Carlin at his best -- there'll never be another. I have amazing memories of my late parents howling uncontrollably when they heard this primary skit. We weren't even allowed to say the word, "fart" in front of my Mom, as she was a right proper gal. But when she heard George Carlin say (about his friends spare bedroom), "Hey, get your S#@! out of here, I don't have any room for my stuff! Your stuff is S#@! and my S#@! is stuff," she roared with laughter. I thought my Dad was gonna shoot his previous sip of Manhattan through his nose, he was laughing so hard. I also remember seeing Carlin do his famous, "Hippy-Dippy Weatherman" skit on the Ed Sullivan Show when I was probably 10-years-old. Those are the kinds of things memories are made of. Thanks, Amazon. Your professionalism and proficiency in move large volumes of product is truly mind boggling.

I was about 10 when I heard this album for the first time and it's still as funny today as it was the day I heard it. In fact, it's probably funnier because I get all of the subtler references I missed back in 1980.As others have mentioned, the album is compiled from material taken from one of Carlin's live shows and interspersed with studio materials. And while others have also used this kind of a format (for example, Denis Leary's Lock-N-Load album), this is by far the penultimate example of a mix between live and studio comedy.From the live material, the "Place for My Stuff", "Rice Krispies", and "Ice Box Man" are still laugh out loud funny. The studio material is also very funny and I have always thought that it was included to highlight the wittier side of Carlin's comedy -- the "Book Club" and "I'm a famous person and I'm for sale" bits make me laugh every time I hear them.I don't think you can call yourself a Carlin fan and not own this album.

One of the highlights of Carlin's classic comedy. Satirical riffs on religion, foreshadowing the hysterical atheistic bits of Carlin's last years, the refreshing "Have A Nice Day" ("Maybe I don't FEEL like having a nice day."), the amazing "Fussy Eater" ("I don't like that. Why? They wanted reasons. Well, you don't always have a reason.") &, of course, the title track ("Your house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out & get...more stuff!"). A must have for the serious comedy fan.

This is a very funny album. I first heard Ice Box Man on a Dr Demento album and was on the floor laughing. It took me a while to get this on cd because they only had it on cassette at the time. I was probably among the first to get it when they released it on cd. Besides Ice Box Man we have Rice Crispies the title track A Place For My Stuff Fussy Eater parts one and two Have A Nice Day and other stuff every bit of it funny. Along with Class Clown and FM And AM this is one of his funniest albums. You should get it.

Excellent book of comedy routines by the master of nastiness and rancor. Hits all subjects without missing a beat. Some routines may not hit you as they may be sensitive to your beliefs but it is truely a comedy routine with a bit of truth. Well worth the read for anyone who enjoyed George's comedy!

This 1981 release is a mixture of live stand-up and studio material. Of the former, the hilarious "A Place For My Stuff" is perhaps the best known and most enduring piece in the public consciousness. Most of this material still stands up (no pun intended) pretty well today and you can hear Carlin's situational approach which influenced so many subsequent stand up artists that it evolved into an entire genre of the artform. The addition of Carlin's personalised viewpoint (usually a peeved one) reveals the roots of what became his full on, vitriolic rants of the 90s and beyond. In short, a historically significant recording for satirical comedy buffs.

The must have CD for fans of the late George Carlin's comedy material. As George said, "Your house is nothing but a pile of stuff with a lid on top of it."

Lots of talk and wasn't funny . Will not be buying George Carlin CD's again