Redd Foxx: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Redd Foxx bridged two worlds: the raunchy Black vaudeville of the chitlin' circuit and the party-record industry that pressed his bluest routines onto vinyl by the millions, before CBS and Norman Lear made him a primetime junkman. This mix traces the Harlem street hustle and St. Louis roots behind Fred Sanford, the records that made him the King of the Party Records, and the comics who inherited his nerve.

The Kynda mix for Redd Foxx

• Key Influence · Moms Mabley at the UN by Jackie "Moms" Mabley (1961). Mabley was the reigning monarch of the chitlin' circuit when Foxx was coming up, headlining the Apollo for decades and proving that frank, salty talk about sex and race could work on a Black theater stage. Her Chess-era LPs opened the market for the spoken-word comedy album that Foxx would flood with dozens of releases, and both built personas on the elderly, unfiltered truth-teller who says what polite society cannot.
• Influencia Obscura · Open the Door, Richard by Dusty Fletcher (1947). Fletcher's drunken-man-locked-out routine was a staple of the same Black theater circuit Foxx entered, and its 1947 record became a national novelty hit — an early proof that a vaudeville bit could sell as a record. That exact model, a stage routine pressed to shellac and sold where white radio would not play it, is the business Foxx built on Dootone. Fletcher is now nearly forgotten; his template is all over the party-record era.
• Local Roots · The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley (1965). In 1940s Harlem, Malcolm Little washed dishes alongside a young John Sanford; the book recounts the hustling world where Detroit Red and Chicago Red traded wisecracks before one became a minister and the other a comedian. It is the richest surviving document of the street environment that made Foxx — the numbers runners, the nightclubs, the con artistry that he later turned into the comic furniture of Fred Sanford's junkyard.
• Beyond the Medium · Empty Bed Blues by Bessie Smith (1928). The classic blues women perfected the coded sexual double entendre — the metaphor everyone understood and no censor could prove — on the same TOBA circuit Foxx later worked. His party records simply drop the metaphor, but the posture is Bessie's: adult, unembarrassed, aimed at a Black audience that did not need the joke softened. Foxx's Dootone LPs are the blues tradition's bawdy songbook rendered as spoken word.
• Peer · Craps (After Hours) by Richard Pryor (1971). Recorded live at the Redd Foxx Club in Los Angeles, Pryor's album is literally made in Foxx's room — the venue Foxx ran on La Cienega. Pryor was then abandoning his Cosby-style act for the profane, character-driven work that made him, a turn toward the unsanitized Black vernacular Foxx had been selling on records since the fifties. The two shared stages, audiences, and a refusal to clean it up for crossover.
• From the Canon · Laff of the Party by Redd Foxx (1956). The Dootone release that launched the party-record era and earned Foxx the title King of the Party Records. Sold under the counter and passed hand to hand because no radio station would touch it, the album established a distribution model entirely outside white gatekeeping, and spawned a series of sequels. Everything in Foxx's later career — the timing, the persona, the refusal to sanitize — is already fully formed here.
• Key Collaborator · Lawanda! The Watts Star Theatre by LaWanda Page (1972). Page and Foxx knew each other from childhood in St. Louis, and he personally pushed for her casting as the Bible-wielding Aunt Esther when producers were unconvinced. Her own party records, recorded in the same blue tradition, show the comic force she brought independent of the show. The Fred-versus-Esther insult duels are two St. Louis-raised circuit veterans playing the dozens at network broadcast scale.
• Legacy · Raw by Eddie Murphy (1987). Murphy has consistently named Foxx and Pryor as the comics he grew up on, and he hired Foxx for Harlem Nights specifically to put his elders on screen. Raw's unapologetic obscenity, delivered to arena crowds and sold as a theatrical release, is the party record scaled up — the same bet Foxx made in 1956 that a Black audience would pay for comedy with nothing taken out for anyone else's comfort.

What influenced Redd Foxx

• Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes (1965). Cotton Comes to Harlem (Chester Himes) — culture for Redd Foxx (openlibrary.org)
• Empty Bed Blues by Bessie Smith (1928). Empty Bed Blues (Bessie Smith) — culture for Redd Foxx (musicbrainz.org)
• Open the Door, Richard by Dusty Fletcher (1947). Open the Door, Richard (Dusty Fletcher) — ghost for Redd Foxx
• Dirty Dozens by Speckled Red (1929). Dirty Dozens (Speckled Red) — titan for Redd Foxx
• A Trip from the Bottom by Butterbeans and Susie (1920). A Trip from the Bottom (Butterbeans and Susie) — ghost for Redd Foxx
• Steptoe and Son by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson (1962). Steptoe and Son (Ray Galton and Alan Simpson) — culture for Redd Foxx
• Moms Mabley at the UN by Jackie "Moms" Mabley (1961). Moms Mabley at the UN (Jackie "Moms" Mabley) — titan for Redd Foxx
• Here Comes the Judge by Pigmeat Markham (1968). Here Comes the Judge (Pigmeat Markham) — titan for Redd Foxx

Peers and kindred spirits

• Eddie Murphy (1961). Murphy featured his idol Redd Foxx in Harlem Nights. (also via You Gotta Wash Your Ass, Raw) “In 1989, Foxx was featured in the film Harlem Nights , written, directed, produced and starring Eddie Murphy .” (Wikipedia)
• Richard Pryor (1940). The discography credits Pryor alongside Foxx on Down N’ Dirty. (also via The Best of Redd Foxx, Craps (After Hours)) “A184 - Down N' Dirty (with Richard Pryor)” (Wikipedia)
• Sanford and Son. Lear cast Redd Foxx to star in Sanford and Son. “Bud and I found Redd Foxx in Las Vegas. I was very much a part of that decision to do the show.” (Fresh Air (NPR))
• Slappy White. The discography credits White alongside Foxx on Red & White!!. (also via Slappy White: Stag Party) “A175 - Red & White!! (with Slappy White)” (Wikipedia)
• Teddy Reig. Foxx recorded five songs under Reig’s direction. “On September 30, 1946, Foxx recorded five songs for the Savoy label under the direction of Teddy Reig .” (Wikipedia)
• Demond Wilson. Foxx and Wilson co-starred in Sanford and Son. “Foxx played the role of Fred G. Sanford (“Fred Sanford” was Foxx's father's and brother's name), while co-star Demond Wilson played the role of his son Lamont.” (Wikipedia)
• Della Reese. Foxx co-starred with Reese in The Royal Family. “Foxx made a comeback with the short-lived series The Royal Family , in which he co-starred with Della Reese .” (Wikipedia)
• Hattie Noel. The discography credits Noel alongside Foxx on The Battle of Sex. “DTL836 - The Battle of Sex (with Hattie Noel)” (Wikipedia)
• Dinah Washington. Washington helped Foxx’s career by urging him to come to Los Angeles. “After performing on the East Coast, his big break came after singer Dinah Washington insisted that he come to Los Angeles, where Dootsie Williams of Dootone records caught his act at the Brass Rail nightclub.” (Wikipedia)
• Craps (After Hours) by Richard Pryor (1971). Craps (After Hours) (Richard Pryor) — peer for Redd Foxx “== Influence == Comedian and actor Richard Pryor cited Redd Foxx as an influence.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley (1965). The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Malcolm X and Alex Haley) — geography for Redd Foxx (wikidata.org)
• Lawanda! The Watts Star Theatre by LaWanda Page (1972). Lawanda! The Watts Star Theatre (LaWanda Page) — collaborator for Redd Foxx “Foxx used his starring role on Sanford and Son to help get jobs for acquaintances such as LaWanda Page, Slappy White, Gregory Sierra, Don Bexley, Beah Richards, Stymie Beard, Leroy Daniels, Ernest Mayhand and Pat Morita.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Eat Out More Often by Rudy Ray Moore (1970). Eat Out More Often (Rudy Ray Moore) — peer for Redd Foxx “In 1970–71 he recorded three albums of material, Eat Out More Often, This Pussy Belongs To Me, and The Dirty Dozens, where "with jazz and R&B musicians playing in the background, [Moore] would recite raunchy, sexually explicit rhymes tha…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Watermelon Man by Melvin Van Peebles (1970). Watermelon Man (Melvin Van Peebles) — peer for Redd Foxx (themoviedb.org)
• All in the Family by Norman Lear (1971). All in the Family (Norman Lear) — collaborator for Redd Foxx (themoviedb.org)
• Slappy White: Stag Party by Slappy White (1960). Slappy White: Stag Party (Slappy White) — collaborator for Redd Foxx “Foxx used his starring role on Sanford and Son to help get jobs for acquaintances such as LaWanda Page, Slappy White, Gregory Sierra, Don Bexley, Beah Richards, Stymie Beard, Leroy Daniels, Ernest Mayhand and Pat Morita.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry (1958). Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry) — geography for Redd Foxx (musicbrainz.org)
• The Light Side: The Dark Side by Dick Gregory (1969). The Light Side: The Dark Side (Dick Gregory) — geography for Redd Foxx
• Moms Mabley (1894). Laff of the Party (Redd Foxx) — peer for Moms Mabley (via Laff of the Party)

Who Redd Foxx influenced

• Chris Rock (1965). Redd Foxx is named among Rock's comedy influences. (also via Bigger & Blacker) “Comedian Chris Rock also cites Redd Foxx as an influence.” (Wikipedia)
• The Last Temptation of Krust. The Simpsons episode invokes Foxx’s reputation for bawdy comedy. “Krusty mentions Redd Foxx .” (Wikisimpsons)
• Blood's a Rover. Ellroy’s novel includes Foxx as a character. “Ellroy contextualizes expertly, bringing everyone from a swish Leonard Bernstein to a randy Redd Foxx to a junkie Sonny Liston onto his lurid playing field.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, quoted by Penguin Random House)
• Jamie Foxx (1989). Jamie Foxx chose his professional surname in tribute to Redd Foxx. “Actor and comedian Jamie Foxx has stated that he chose his professional surname as a tribute to Foxx.” (Wikipedia)
• The Opera. The Seinfeld episode compares George’s language to a Redd Foxx record. “In the 1992 Seinfeld episode “ The Opera ”, Jerry chastises George for swearing during a wedding speech, saying “You were like a Redd Foxx record.”” (Wikipedia)
• Why Do Fools Fall in Love. Spears portrayed Foxx in the film. “In the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love , Foxx is portrayed by Aries Spears . He is shown performing a stand-up comedy routine.” (Wikipedia)
• Everybody Hates Chris. An episode depicts Foxx’s recordings prompting its young Chris Rock character to tell jokes. “An episode of his show Everybody Hates Chris shows young Chris Rock overhearing his parents' Redd Foxx albums and getting started doing stand-up by retelling the jokes at school.” (Wikipedia)
• In Living Color. The show’s pilot portrayed Foxx in a sketch about his financial troubles. “In 1990, in the pilot episode of In Living Color , in reference to Foxx's financial troubles, Foxx was portrayed by Damon Wayans , who is making a public service announcement to encourage people to pay their taxes.” (Wikipedia)
• Pat Morita. Morita identified Foxx as an early comedy mentor. “Pat Morita also named Foxx as his mentor from his early days as a nightclub comedian.” (Wikipedia)
• Raw by Eddie Murphy (1987). Raw (Eddie Murphy) — legacy for Redd Foxx “In 1989, Foxx was featured in the film Harlem Nights, written, directed, produced and starring Eddie Murphy.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Bigger & Blacker by Chris Rock (1999). Bigger & Blacker (Chris Rock) — legacy for Redd Foxx “Comedian Chris Rock also cites Redd Foxx as an influence.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Lenny Bruce (1925). Laff of the Party (Redd Foxx) — ghost for Lenny Bruce (via Laff of the Party)
• Dick Gregory. The Sidesplitter (Redd Foxx) — titan for Dick Gregory (via The Sidesplitter, The Light Side: The Dark Side)