Let's Get Small
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Let's Get Small (1977) was Steve Martin's first album, and a major success. It made it to number ten on a Billboard album chart traditionally dominated by music. It included Excuse Me, a comedy bit whose title went on to become a national catch phrase. The album went platinum and was #44 in 1978's Billboard Top 50.
Side one includes:
- Ramblin' Man/Theme from Ramblin' Man (2:14)
- Vegas (5:45)
- Let's Get Small (13:34)
Side two includes:
- Smoking (2:10)
- One Way to Leave Your Lover (1:33)
- Mad at My Mother (1:22)
- Excuse Me (2:32)
- Grandmother's Song (http://www.stevemartin.com/albums/grandmothers_song.php) (3:33)
- Funny Comedy Gags (3:05)
- Closing (2:02)
An excerpt from the title cut:
- I'm on drugs. You know what I'm talking about. I like to get small. It's very dangerous for kids, because they get realllly small.
- I know I shouldn't get small when I'm driving, but I was drivin' around the other day and a cop pulls me over ... says, 'Hey, are you small?' I say, 'No, I'm tall.' He says, 'I'm gonna have to measure you.' They give you a little test with a balloon. If you can get inside it, they know you're small ... and they can't put you in a regular cell either, because you walk right out.
Inside the unfolded album cover was printed an excerpt from his book Cruel Shoes:
- He lit the cigarette and smoked it down to the filter in one breath. He silently thanked the cigarette company for being thoughtful enough about his health to include a filter to protect him. So he lit up another. This time he didn't exhale the squeaky-clean filtered smoke, but just let it nestle in his lungs, filling his body with that good menthol flavor. Some more smokers knocked on his door and they came in and all started smoking along with him.
- "How wonderful it is that we're all smoking," he thought.
- Everyone smoked and smoked and after they smoked they all talked about smoking and how nice it was that they were all smokers and then they smoked some more.
The album was produced by his manager, William E. McEuen, and recorded at The Boarding House in San Francisco, California.