To Russell, My Brother Review

07/13/2005 5:44 AM, AMG


By the time 1968 rolled around, Bill Cosby was popular enough to sell out over 10,000 seats at a Cleveland auditorium, and this album's bits were taken from that show. There are four shorter bits on side one, including a story about his two daughters, touchingly called "The Losers." Side two, consisting solely of the title track, is a half-hour long tribute to his brother and the nighttime shenanigans siblings get up to when they're supposed to be sleeping. Despite assorted episodes of violence and Cosby telling his brother, Russell, that Russell's parents were actually the police, you can hear the love between the two brothers, which makes it both touching and incredibly funny. ~ Sean Carruthers, All Music Guide