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In this collection of short essays, Maine humor icon Tim Sample shares some of the quirkier aspects of growing up and living in Maine. Along the way he offers listeners a behind the scenes glimpse into his long career in the entertainment business. Sample waxes poignant—recalling old friends...

Recorded at The State Theatre of Maine at Lakewood in the spring of 1983, footage from this performance became the basis of Tim’s first prime-time TV special on Maine PBS. Released on vinyl LP in the fall of 1983, Downeast Standup was the first of four Tim Sample solo albums to be produced on the Bert and I label in the 1980s. Now widely considered a classic of 20th century Maine dialectal storytelling, this recording contains Tim’s signature story "Saturday Night at Moody’s Diner".

There’s an interesting story behind the title of this audio, which was recorded at the Crooker Theatre in Brunswick, Maine, in the summer of 1997. The previous year, legendary veteran CBS newsman Charles Kuralt had personally recruited Tim and invited him join the on-air talent as a regular correspondent for the Emmy Award-winning TV show CBS News Sunday Morning.

This is one of the best-selling New England dialectal recordings of all time, in continuous production since it’s release on the Bert and I label in the fall of 1982. Tim and legendary storyteller and Bert and I co-founder Bob Bryan decided to write and record what they refer to as the first (and only!) "Downeast Foreign Language Record".

This is the fourth and final Tim Sample album to be originally released on the Bert and I label. Recorded before an enthusiastic standing-room-only crowd on the opening night of the brand new Caribou, Maine, Performing Arts Center in 1989, this is classic Tim Sample humor. If you want to introduce your friends to Maine humor, this is an excellent place to start.

Over the years, this has proven to be one of Tim’s consistently best-selling audios. This material was recorded on tour in 1992, and Pumping Irony was the first release on Tim’s own record label. The first nine stories were recorded at the University of Maine in Machias; the rest was captured while Tim was touring “out west”, specifically at The Lebanon (N. H.) Opera House. This recording includes the first mention of Tim’s real-life band from the 1970s, The Dubious Brothers.

Recorded at a show celebrating the sesquicentennial of the town of Brooklin, Maine, this 1999 audio features Tim exploring his roots in growing up in Maine (including Brooklin, where Tim’s mom was born in 1923). This album includes the amazing-but-true story of Tim’s 1956 Chevy - "The American Flag Car" - which sparked a media storm when Tim was attending art school in 1970.

Recorded at The Portland Performing Arts Center in 1985, this performance became the basis for Tim’s second Maine PBS prime-time TV special, as well as his second LP for the Bert and I company. In the two years since the release of Downeast Standup, Tim had been busy with over 150 shows a year, and the maturation of his stage presence and storytelling style is evident here.