Paul "Biff" Rose is an American comedian and singer-songwriter.
Born in New Orleans, Rose first came to prominence as a banjo-toting standup comedian, profiled in Time magazine in 1965. By 1966 he moved to Hollywood, working as a comedy sketch writer with George Carlin for a host of television variety shows, ultimately working with some regularity on the Mort Sahl show.[1] Eventually, Rose moved back to songwriting.
David Bowie covered the song "Fill Your Heart," co-written by Rose and Paul Williams, on his album Hunky Dory (1971). The song was originally released by Tiny Tim as the B-side to his 1968 hit single, "Tiptoe through the Tulips." Bowie played another Rose song, "Buzz the Fuzz," in live performance.[2] Other Rose songs were covered by John Denver[3] and Pat Boone.[4]
Following the release of 1968's The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side, Rose made several memorable appearances on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show from 1968 to 1970.[5][6] He also performed his songs on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,[7] American Bandstand,[8] and Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark.[9] He emceed the Atlantic City Pop Festival of 1969,[10] replacing Joni Mitchell who left the stage crying after being razzed by the hip rock audience early Friday of the three day two weeks before Woodstock mega-fest, and the Atlanta Pop Festival of 1970.[11]
1978's Roast Beef was produced by Mike Nesmith and recorded in a single take.
2005 saw a revival of label interest in Rose's work. A US CD re-released his Tetragrammaton albums and singles, and a UK compilation covered Rose's work from 1968 through 1985.
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Rose's early work consists of unaccompanied piano and vocals as well as more heavily orchestrated numbers. His lyrics have been described as romantic and humorous, while promoting a left-wing hippie philosophy.[12] His piano-playing has been described as jaunty, reminiscent of pre-World War II Broadway musicals.[13]
Rose's work of the past ten years differs from his early recordings. He has introduced spoken word and rap elements into his songs; some recordings experiment with extended song forms and eccentric instrumentation. He makes controversial use of racial stereotypes. In his web-based art, Christ and Hitler are referenced often, apparently as icons/personifications of good and evil. Many of his websites, such as jewmanity.com,[14] openly deal with race and religion. This has resulted on various online postings criticizing Rose of being antisemitic and racist.[15] It is said that Rose denies the charge.