Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings

AMG Review of Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings

Jason Ankeny
All Music Guide

Bill Cosby's vocal albums are an eccentric and self-indulgent lot at best, more notable for the efforts of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band than Cos' tongue-in-cheek attempts at singing. Silver Throat is a particularly strange entry, eschewing the funk sensibilities of other Cosby records in favor of a gritty, lues-inspired approach that doesn't really work with the comedian's limited range. Songs like Willie Dixon's "Big Boss Man" and Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" are presented in fairly straightforward renditions, but Cosby deliberately mucks with the lyrics to varying degrees of comedic success -- most impressive is "Lil Ole Man," a wry narrative recited over a backing track that essentially recapitulates Stevie Wonder's classic "Uptight (Everything Is Alright)."