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Bert and I ...
And Other Stories from Down East
by Robert Bryan and Marshall Dodge

$12.95
1 CD, Maine Humor



audio Which Way to Millinocket?
Down East Socialism


CD: The Best of Bert and I
CD: Bert and I ... On Stage
DVD: A Downeast Smile-In

Get the T-shirt!
Now available: Bert and I T-shirts

ABOUT THE CD
The iconic "Bert and I" stories were first created by Yale University students Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan in the late 1950s and performed around campus. The two amateur storytellers soon recorded a short 10-inch album of 11 stories for friends and family, but ultimately pressed just a few hundred. However, growing popularity prompted them in 1958 to record and release the seminal commercial album of New England humor and storytelling – "Bert and I ... And Other Stories from Down East."

Featuring 19 stories, the album depicted Maine fishermen and woodsmen with dry, classic humor and set the tone of direction of the genre for decades. More than 50 years later, their milestone album has been digitally remastered for the special CD edition, which also includes three bonus stories taken from the private 10-incher that preceded the first commercial record. These three stories either did not appear on the commercial album or were changed. Eventually, Dodge anD Bryan recorded three more "Bert and I" albums together and remain the godfathers of Down East humor.

ABOUT THE STORYTELLERS
Marshall "Mike" Dodge stands undeniably as a godfather of Down East humor, bringing an energy and imagination to the stage that took him from a small Connecticut studio to his standing as the premier "New England" humorist of his era, before he was tragically killed by a hit-and-run driver in Hawaii in 1982. He was just 45. Mike was born in New York, attended high school in New Hampshire (where he first heard "Down East humor"), and graduated from Yale, where he studied philosophy. It was at Yale in 1958 that he and Bob Bryan cut the first Bert and I album and launched what is now a Maine icon.

Robert Bryan helped launch Bert and I with Dodge in part by drawing upon his memories from childhood summers spent at his beloved Tunk Lake, where he was fascinated by the area's stories and storytellers. Like Dodge, Bob was born and raised in New York and graduated from Yale. Unlike Dodge, who continued as full-time performer, Rev. Robert A. Bryan used earnings from the early records in the 1960s to help launch and grow another dream – the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, which provides support to remote communities mainly in Quebec and Labrador. Bob continues as a major force at QLF and remains involved in the continued life of Bert and I.


TRACK LIST for Bert and I ... And Other Stories from Down East
1. Bert and I
2. Kenneth Fowler Goes Hunting
3. Camden Pierce Goes to New York
4. The Sassage
5. The Lighter-than-Air Balloon
6. Which Way to East Vassalboro?
7. Which Way to Millinocket? (Click the title to hear this track)
8. The Long Hill
9. The Liar
10. Mad Dog
11. Down East Socialism (Click the title to hear this track)
12. Down East Religion
13. Albert's Moose
14. Virgil Bliss
15. Chester Coomb's Firstborn
16. Arnold Bunker Testifies
17. The Body in the Kelp
18. The Long Fezzle
19. Harry Whitfield's Trip
Bonus: Bert and I (Alt.)
Bonus: Effie and the Iron Lung
Bonus: A Fair Trade