American comedian and singer-songwriter

Musical artist

Paul "Biff" Rose (born October 15, 1937) is an American comedian and singer-songwriter.

Contents

• 1 Biography
• 2 Music
• 3 Racism
• 4 Full-length releases
• 5 References
• 6 Further reading
• 7 External links

Biography

Born in New Orleans, Rose moved to Hollywood where he found a job working as a comedy sketch writer with George Carlin working sometimes on the Mort Sahl show. Eventually, Rose moved to songwriting.

Following the release of 1968's The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side, Rose made several appearances on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show from 1968 to 1970. Rose performed on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, American Bandstand, and Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark. He emceed the Atlantic City Pop Festival of 1969 and the Atlanta Pop Festival of 1970.

Music

Rose recorded his first two records for Tetragrammaton Records. Following the release of 1968's The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side, which contained his hit single "Buzz the Fuzz", Rose made 12 appearances on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show from 1968 to 1970. He performed his songs ("Gentle People" and "Myrtle's Pies") on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and appeared on American Bandstand, the Merv Griffin Show, the David Frost Show, and Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark.

The song "Fill Your Heart", one of Rose's best-known compositions, was adopted by Tiny Tim as the B-side of his 1968 hit single "Tiptoe through the Tulips" before the release of Biff's own version, and recorded by David Bowie on his album Hunky Dory (1971), with Rick Wakeman (session musician on Hunky Dory) commenting that Rose "obviously influenced David". Rose wrote the song with Paul Williams: Williams later wrote that Rose was his first songwriting collaborator and his first connection to A&M Records, having arranged a meeting for him with the publisher Chuck Kaye. Rose and Williams also wrote "I'll Walk Away", from Rose's third, eponymous, record, and "Someday", recorded by Sajid Khan in 1969 (Rose having composed the music and Williams the lyrics).

Rose's songs have also been covered by John Denver ("Molly"), Michael Johnson ("I've Got You Covered"), Vetiver ("To Baby") and Pat Boone.

Racism

In October 2017, Indy Week pointed out that Rose's website contained "blatantly racist and anti-semitic material". Rose has since taken down one website but operates several others along with several social media accounts where he continues to express himself with racist and anti-semitic language and ideas.

Full-length releases

• The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side (1968, Tetragrammaton, re-released on Buddha)
• Children of Light (1969, Tetragrammaton, re-released on Buddha)
• Biff Rose (1970, Buddha)
• Half Live at the Bitter End (1971, Buddah)
• Uncle Jesus, Aunty Christ (1972, United Artists)
• Roast Beef (1978, Pacific Arts)
• Thee Messiah Album/Live at Gatsby's (1979, Pacific Arts)

References

Further reading

• Stevenson, Salli. "An Outasight Rap with Biff Rose; Far Out! (or 'Marching Through Georgia')". UCLA Daily Bruin. February 4, 1970.
• Dawson, Jim. "Biff Rose back at the piano after some burned-out years". The Baltimore Sun. May 29, 1978.

External links

• http://www.biffrose.com