Colonel William A. Phillips

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Why Is There Air? (1965) is Bill Cosby's third album. It was recorded at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. It won the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

The final track, "Hofstra", is an expanded re-telling of the "TV Football" routine from Cosby's second album, I Started Out as a Child. "I played for Temple University, and it's the truth," he says, "Don't keep asking 'Did you really play?' Yes, I really played. At one time I had a beautiful body."

Track listing

Side one

  1. Kindergarten – 8:15
  2. Personal Hygiene – 1:04
  3. Shop – 3:10
  4. Baby – 3:49
  5. Driving in San Francisco – 3:45

Side two

  1. $75 Car – 7:40
  2. The Toothache – 4:10
  3. Hofstra – 8:00

Legacy

Jerry Seinfeld has cited this album as a major influence, stating that it "drove [him] crazy" and inspired his career as a comedian.

References