Drag City The cover of “Andy and His Grandmother,†a collection of unreleased material by Andy Kaufman.It would be just like Andy Kaufman to find a way to keep releasing records long after his death. The pioneering comedian and “Taxi†co-star’s reputation for pranks and provocations was such that, even when he died of lung cancer at the age of 35 in 1984, some fans believed that this too was one of his outrageous acts of fakery.
While there has been no second coming of Kaufman (yet), this won’t prevent the independent record label Drag City from releasing a collection of recordings he made between 1977 and 1979 on a a microtape recorder he carried around with him. Drag City said in a news release that the album, called “Andy and His Grandmother,†had been culled from more than 82 hours of material that Kaufman created. The comedy writer and producer Vernon Chatman (“Wonder Showzen,†“South Park,†“Louieâ€) reviewed the original tapes, selected material and produced the tracks (with titles like “Andy Goes to the Movies,†“Andy Can Talk to Animals,†“I’m Not Capable of Having a Relationship†and “Hookers.â€) The album also features narration from the “Saturday Night Live†star Bill Hader and liner notes by Bob Zmuda, who was Kaufman’s frequent collaborator and partner in crime.
Assuming this isn’t the setup for Kaufman’s greatest prank yet, Drag City will release “Andy and His Grandmother†on July 16.
