1968 was a very good year for Bill Cosby. He won his third consecutive Emmy for Best Actor in a TV Drama for his work in I Spy—a feat equaled only by Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad—and he was in the middle of his run of six consecutive Grammies for Best Comedy Recording, a feat you’d have to imagine will never be equaled. He also found time to release his second music album, Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band!

The album is a shambolic and funkadelic and frankly amateurish treat. Backed by the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, the Cos takes on the Beatles (“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”) and the Stones (“Satisfaction”). Interestingly, the title track, “Hooray for the Salvation Army Band!,” is actually a strange parody of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”—even though Hendrix is not credited as a composer on the track.
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Puddin’ Pops: Bill Cosby covers ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’
Bill Cosby hoodie