March 1990
Leader Of The Banned is the title of Sam Kinison’s third album, and the man dubbed “the most controversial comic in America” is making sure that his latest comedy record lives up to its name.
“There have been a few other comedians who have jumped on my bandwagon,” Kinison says. “I don’t want to mention any names, but some folks have seen what’s worked for me — and grafted it onto their own acts hoping to get a piece of my audience. They might as well put on a hat and ask Jessica Hahn for a date to the drive-in.”
Competition aside, Banned promises to be the most complex comic and commercial album to be released on the national scene in 1990. “Half of it is comedy,” he says, “the other half is music. When ‘Wild Thing’ came out, it was a big hit, but I didn’t have anything to follow it up with. Now I’ve got four songs that are not parodies, not novelty tunes, but legitimate rock and roll remakes: Cheap Trick’s ‘Gonna Raise Hell’, Mountain’s ‘Mississippi Queen’ — which I’ve rewritten to tell the story of convicted felon Jim Bakker (AKA Prisoner Number 06-8493) — The Rolling Stones’s ‘Under My Thumb’ and AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell.’”
Although producing four songs destined for maximum radio rotation was costly and time-consuming, “I devoted just as much tim and energy to the live stand-up on the album. Just ask the women I live with. I drove them nuts,” Kinison says. ” A lot of comics don’t realize that editing is just as important in the pacing of a comedy album as it is in a feature film.”
For the release of Banned, Kinison is already planning a video for “Mississippi Queen” and a tour of America’s largest comedy venues. In addition, he has just finished developing the first draft of a feature-length screenplay in which he stars as an “out-of-control rock and roller.” “I’ve already done months of character research that would put DeNiro to shame,” he adds.
As the next decade rolls into view, Sam Kinison is ready to maintain his title as “Leader Of The Banned.”