Robert Crumb's Heroes

[Jazzrook]

Here are some of Robert Crumb's brilliant illustrations of early blues musicians.
They come from the book 'R.Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country'(ABRAMS) with an accompanying 21-track CD of some of the featured artists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-D0K1u-4Aw

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Here are some of Robert Crumb's brilliant illustrations of early blues musicians.
They come from the book 'R.Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country'(ABRAMS) with an accompanying 21-track CD of some of the featured artists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-D0K1u-4Aw

Well maybe, but there's something about Crumb's wider depiction of black people and women that is deeply offensive.

Aka Repulsive.


BN.

[Ian Thumwood]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jelly-Roll-B...ennett+recordshttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Jelly-Roll-B...nett+records#_

BN / Jazzrook

I've got the Crumb book too. I'm afraid that I can't agree with your comments about the depictions of the black musicians in the cartoons. My impression is that Crumb is passionate about these musicians and, if anything, the set regarding the jazz musicians are probably more "realistic" than the blues musicians.

I think that this is a book that needs to be read in conjunction with Rick Kennedy's book about the "Gennett " record label. This puts the Crumb cartoons in to perspective and outlines the haphazard nature by which classic jazz and blues recordings were made. (See link above.) For me, the fact that so much of the greatest recordings of the 1920's seem to be made by chance is staggering. I feel that Crumb seemed to totally understand the fact that so much of the music recorded by Gennett was "folk" music as opposed to being commercial and slick. Granted, they did record commercial dance records yet they also issued loads and loads of recordings which would have failed to have found a market outside of the locale. Rather than criticise Crumb, I feel his pictures capture this era expertly. I've seen extracts of Crumbs accounts of the lives of Morton and Patton which, whilst of debatable historical accuracy, seem to evoke the mystique and romanticism of the 1920's.

That said, there is a lot of Crumb's material that is bizarre at best an unsavoury at worst. He is venerated in France despite certain elements of his personality being very unappealing and I suppose that for the French to embrace a graphic artist from another country is really something - especially as the tradition of French BD is typically left-field and frequently anti-establishment / left wing. I would have to say that I am a fan of French BD (a useful tool to understand the language) and I am a big fan of Jacques Tardi . I'm now on the last volume of Adele Blanc Sec which is extremely difficult to read as one of the protagonists speaks with an impediment. Tardi also tends not to shy away from awkward topics and I can see similarities with Crumb even if he lacks the latters obsession with sex. Oddly enough, my Dad is generally hostile to comics but was bowled over by how good Tardi's " Goddam the war" is. (Not a literal translation of the title!!) Here, Tardi expresses the full horror of World War One in a narrative that records the whole conflict from beginning to end. I haven't seen the "It was the war in the trenches" which also deals with the Great War although this shares an equally high rating amongst fans of graphic novels.

The cd with the Crumb book is a mixed bag. The jazz tracks are very familiar and generally classics (I think the last track is Paul Whiteman and not the one listed in the book) whereas the blues records are absolutely terrific. I love the Frank Stokes track and the harmonica records is staggering. As far as the country music is concerned, this seems to be played by amateurs or family groups. Some of it is awful even if it opened my ears to the wider picture of what was available to the record collector in the 1920's.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jelly-Roll-B...ennett+recordshttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Jelly-Roll-B...nett+records#_

BN / Jazzrook

I've got the Crumb book too. I'm afraid that I can't agree with your comments about the depictions of the black musicians in the cartoons. My impression is that Crumb is passionate about these musicians and, if anything, the set regarding the jazz musicians are probably more "realistic" than the blues musicians.

I think that this is a book that needs to be read in conjunction with Rick Kennedy's book about the "Gennett " record label. This puts the Crumb cartoons in to perspective and outlines the haphazard nature by which classic jazz and blues recordings were made. (See link above.) For me, the fact that so much of the greatest recordings of the 1920's seem to be made by chance is staggering. I feel that Crumb seemed to totally understand the fact that so much of the music recorded by Gennett was "folk" music as opposed to being commercial and slick. Granted, they did record commercial dance records yet they also issued loads and loads of recordings which would have failed to have found a market outside of the locale. Rather than criticise Crumb, I feel his pictures capture this era expertly. I've seen extracts of Crumbs accounts of the lives of Morton and Patton which, whilst of debatable historical accuracy, seem to evoke the mystique and romanticism of the 1920's.

That said, there is a lot of Crumb's material that is bizarre at best an unsavoury at worst. He is venerated in France despite certain elements of his personality being very unappealing and I suppose that for the French to embrace a graphic artist from another country is really something - especially as the tradition of French BD is typically left-field and frequently anti-establishment / left wing. I would have to say that I am a fan of French BD (a useful tool to understand the language) and I am a big fan of Jacques Tardi . I'm now on the last volume of Adele Blanc Sec which is extremely difficult to read as one of the protagonists speaks with an impediment. Tardi also tends not to shy away from awkward topics and I can see similarities with Crumb even if he lacks the latters obsession with sex. Oddly enough, my Dad is generally hostile to comics but was bowled over by how good Tardi's " Goddam the war" is. (Not a literal translation of the title!!) Here, Tardi expresses the full horror of World War One in a narrative that records the whole conflict from beginning to end. I haven't seen the "It was the war in the trenches" which also deals with the Great War although this shares an equally high rating amongst fans of graphic novels.

The cd with the Crumb book is a mixed bag. The jazz tracks are very familiar and generally classics (I think the last track is Paul Whiteman and not the one listed in the book) whereas the blues records are absolutely terrific. I love the Frank Stokes track and the harmonica records is staggering. As far as the country music is concerned, this seems to be played by amateurs or family groups. Some of it is awful even if it opened my ears to the wider picture of what was available to the record collector in the 1920's.

Ive got the Robert Crumb handbook...a kind of "career review" of his ouput and if half that "grinning coon" stuff had been produced by the Klan in the 60s there would be no great surprise.

BN.

He did however co produce an illustrated Kafka that was quite effective. Surprisingly or not.