Silver Throat. Bill Cosby Sings

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, blues-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)'.