'' Richard Pryor '' is the debut album of comedian Richard Pryor . It was recorded live in 1968 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood , California . Gary Burden , an American artist , designed the album cover which was nominated for Best Album Cover at the 12th Annual Grammy Awards Gary Burden , who designed the album cover , said Pryor wanted to do something " kind of Roots-y " for the cover . Burden thought " roots " for Pryor would be some kind of tribal or African thing , so he got authentic African artifacts and weapons that fit the idea of a " tribal bushman " . Pryor said he knew of a cave right near his home in Beverly Hills that would be an ideal location for the shoot . Burden found charred sticks from a previous fire , and Pryor donned the necklace , belt and the authentic brass nose ring , and posed with the bow and arrow for the cover . After seeing the photos , and how primitive Pryor looked in them , Burden thought they had the look of '' National Geographic '' . Burden then enlisted his friend Rick Griffin to do artwork that resembled their magazine border , which made the cover look " totally real , like a cover of National Geographic " . Burden said that as a result of that cover , he received two letters : " one was a letter from the National Geographic Society ’s attorneys offering to sue me for defaming their publication . The second letter was a Grammy nomination for the best album cover " . The album was later re-issued with a modified cover , the yellow border was intact , but the inner border of oak and olive leaves was replaced with the Statue of Liberty in what appears to be a lined ruler
12th Annual Grammy Awards
12th Annual Grammy Awards
Richard Pryor (album)