Evolution/Revolution
live album by Richard Pryor
Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966–1974) is a two-CD compilation of live stand-up comedy recordings by comedian and actor Richard Pryor, that predates his 1974 mainstream breakthrough album That Nigger's Crazy.
The album was primarily compiled from tapes recorded by Laff Records between 1966 and 1974. By 1968, Pryor had only recorded and released one album up to that point, the eponymous debut that was released by Dove/Reprise and featured a much milder Pryor.
Background
In 1970 Pryor signed with Laff Records to record and release his second album, the underground classic Craps (After Hours). After its release in February 1971, Pryor sought out a larger label for his next album but didn't find it until 1974 when he signed with Stax Records, who originally released That Nigger's Crazy. Laff promptly sued Pryor, but a settlement allowed Pryor to become a free agent in exchange for allowing Laff to release all previously unissued material with them. After Pryor signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1975, where he kicked his recording career into high gear with the release of ...Is It Something I Said? and the reissue of That Nigger's Crazy, Laff began rushing out badly packaged and mastered albums to piggyback Pryor's Warner Bros. releases.
The public source identifies “Evolution/Revolution” as live album by Richard Pryor. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Evolution, Revolution and live.
Why this record matters
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5418577. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1966, 1974, 1968 and 1970.
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This entry incorporates text from “Evolution/Revolution” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.