A songwriter, pianist, and comedian, Biff Rose was a cheerful anomaly in the rock & roll scene of the 1960s and '70s, a tunesmith whose music had more to do with classic stride piano than psychedelia or hard rock, and whose storytelling balanced whimsy and sentimentality against occasional bursts of surreal and deliberately confrontational humor. Rose had mild success as a recording artist -- his debut album, 1968's The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side, featuring two modestly successful singles, "Buzz the Fuzz" and "Warm Your Heart," was his most successful release -- but he fared be...