It's certaily wouldn't be difficult to make the argument that Lordy Buckley was for live humorous monologues what Elvis Presley was for Rock n Roll and, more recently, what Eminem was for Hip Hop... he was a honky who got kudos for using something black people invented but received next to no admiration themselves for. And that's true. It's pretty much impossible to argue against.
But unlike The King and Slim Shady, squillionaires both of them, Lord Buckley never really escaped the cult hero ghetto. He died November 12th 1960 at the age of 54 unable to play most venues due to his cabaret card (a necessity in those days to perform) being revoked, allegedly for possession of whacky tobaccy.
He may have used the backstage parlance of his black jazz friends for the amusement of largely cracker audiences, but I'm personally happy I live in a world where Lord Buckley once existed.
Below is Lord Buckley on Groucho Marx's television show "You Bet Your Life"... he's a little stiff in the beginning, but relaxes as the clip progresses and eases into the performance. Despite the onscreen claim, I suspect Groucho and Buckley were already acquainted before he walked onstage. I could be mistaken, but Groucho seems to me to have a little gleam in his eye when he begins questioning him:
And if you want a little sprinkled surreality to your morning Corn Flakes, dig this clip from Bob Clampett's "Beany and Cecil" cartoon which features Lord Buckley voicing the beatnik character of 'Go Man Van Gogh'...
