Intro By Johnny Brown

[Johnny Brown]
You know, I used to go to the Apollo Theater in New York City, because all the great guys used to come through there, like Sammy Davis, and uh Dinah Washington, and, gee, Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole. Every time Redd performed the Apollo, I used to go see him. Now, the public, these people didn't know about Redd until he came on television, you know, when he started doing guest shots on shows like that, then the people became hip to Redd Foxx.—and, of course, once he did Sanford and Son, you know, with Demond Wilson. Now, I was supposed to do the show at first, I was his first choice to play his son, but, uh, I signed a contract with another show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh In, so I didn't get a chance to work with him. There's a lot of people that Redd Foxx helped. I mean, the man was a real humanitarian, the guy was very generous. He was sort of a springboard for people like, uh, singer Ruth Brown, and Slappy White, or LaWanda who played Aunt Esther, uh LaWanda Page, comedians like Dap Sugar Willie, Bubba Bexley, and uh, Demond Wilson, who also played Redd Foxx's son. I watched him perform for a lot of years. I used to see him when he was in Las Vegas. He never failed to break me up. I mean, of all the years of just listening to this guy, I knew all the jokes and I still laughed at 'em—every time I went to see him, I'd laugh. Same jokes for years and years and years and years. And, to me, that is the proof of a superstar, a guy that could leave a legacy behind, you know, when you remember all the performances, and it was really something. It's a good thing that we had the opportunity to keep Redd's legacy alive. And we took a lot of time to gather up a collection of his legendary humor and wit. So, we present to you The Best of Redd Foxx.