Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him

Infobox Album |
Name = "Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him"
Type = Album
Artist = The Firesign Theatre


Released = 1968
Recorded =
Genre = Comedy
Length =
Label = Columbia
Producer = Gary Usher and The Firesign Theatre
Reviews =
"The New Rolling Stone Record Guide" ref|rsrating
rating|2|5
"The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide" ref|gmrating
rating|1.5|4

Last album =
This album = "Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him"
(1968)
Next album = "How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All"
(1969)

"Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him" was the first comedy album recorded by The Firesign Theatre. It was originally released in 1968 by Columbia Records.

Track listing

ide one

#"Temporarily Humbolt County"
#"W.C. Fields Forever"
#"Le Trente-Huit Cunegonde"

ide two

#Waiting for The Electrician or Someone Like Him ref|album

Detailed Track Information and Commentary

As originally programmed on vinyl, side one consisted of three short pieces:
*"Temporarily Humbolt County" " [sic] " is a compressed timeline of the European expansion into North America and the displacement of the Native Americans, a theme the group would revisit often. (The group had been told by friends in Humboldt County, California, that the local Indians added "Temporarily" to the county's name as a way of saying no one could really own the land.)
*"W. C. Fields Forever" is a plotless series of vignettes satirizing hippie culture and philosophy, through a parade of characters at a commune (referred to by a narrating character as "The 'Lazy O' Magic Circle Dudes Ranch and Collective Love Farm") who variously take drugs, eat "natural" foods, practice yoga and embrace Eastern religions. The commune's spiritual leader, "Tiny Doctor Tim", who speaks as if he is very drunk, appears to be a parody of counter culture figure Timothy Leary. The title appears to be a take off on the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever".
*"Le Trente-Huit Cunegonde" imagines what the world would be like if the counterculture of 1960s were the mainstream. People are arrested for "not" possessing drugs, politicians use the word "groovy" in their speeches, and bomber aircraft drop copies of "Naked Lunch".

Side two consisted of one 18 minute long track:
*"Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him" begins as what appears to be a Turkish language instruction record and quickly becomes a Kafkaesque fantasy of paranoia in which an unnamed innocent (played by Phil Austin) is manipulated by mysterious strangers and authority figures into situations beyond his control. (In the written script, the character is called simply "P." for Phil, a reference to Kafka's use of "K." in "The Castle.")

A highlight of side two is the "Beat the Reaper" sketch, a mock game show in which the contestant is injected with a disease and must guess what it is before being given the antidote. This segment, included on both the "" and "Forward Into The Past" compilations, probably comes closest to being a self-contained bit that can be successfully separated from the rest of the story.

Issues and reissues

"Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him" was originally released on Mono LP, Stereo LP, and 8-Track. ref|linques
*Mono LP — Columbia CL-2718
*Stereo LP — Columbia CS-2718
*8 Track - 18C-09518

It has been re-released on CD at least three times
*1992 - Mobile Fidelity MFCD-762 ref|linques
*2001 - Sony
*2001 - Laugh.com LGH1071 ref|laugh

The Sony re-release includes one bonus track "Chakras and Mantras" which is not included on any other Firesign release.

Some of the Sony CDs are defective and omit material that should be included. For more information about the defective copies see: http://www.firesigntheatre.com/albums/wfte_bad.html

Miscellanea

On this album only, the group's name was spelled "The Firesign Theater."

On this and the three subsequent albums, a different member of the quartet would assume the lead role on the title track.

One of the producers of this album, Gary Usher, was primarily known as a producer of "Surf Rock" and produced songs and albums by "Surf Rock" artists such as The Surfaris, Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, as well as songs and albums by other 60s icons such as The Byrds and Frankie Avalon.

References

*Firesign Theatre. "Firesign Theatre". 19 January 2006 .
*Firesign Theatre. "Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him". Columbia, 1968.
*"FIREZINE: Linques!." "Firesign Theatre FAQ". 20 January 2006 .
*Marsh, Dave, and Greil Marcus. "The Firesign Theatre." "The New Rolling Stone Record Guide". Ed. Dave Marsh and John Swenson. New York: Random House, 1983. 175-176.
*Weekes, Ron. "Original Gary Usher Web Page." Original Gary Usher Web Page. 23 September 2005. 21 January 2006 .

External links

* [http://firezine.net/faq/fst-humboldt.html A transcription of "Temporarily Humbolt County"]

Citations

*Marsh, Dave, and Greil Marcus. "The Firesign Theatre." "The New Rolling Stone Record Guide". Ed. Dave Marsh and John Swenson. New York: Random House, 1983. 175-176.
*Smith, Ronald L. "The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide". Iola: Krause, 1996. 124-127.
*Firesign Theatre. "Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him". Columbia, 1968.
*"FIREZINE: Linques!." "Firesign Theatre FAQ". 10 February. 2006 .
*"Firesign Theatre — Waiting for the Electrician CD — AUDIO ONLY." "Laugh.com". Laugh.com. 11 February. 2006