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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | Anyone who knows R. Crumbs work as an illustrator knows of his passion for music. And all those who collect his work prize the Heroes of the Blues, Early Jazz Greats, and Pioneers of Country Music trading card sets he created in the early to- mid-1980s. Now they are packaged together for the first time in book form, along with an exclusive 21-track CD of music selected and compiled by Crumb himself (featuring original recordings by Charley Patton, Dock Boggs, Jelly Roll Morton, and others). A bio of each musician is provided, along with a full-color original illustration by the cartoonist. A characteristically idiosyncratic tribute by an underground icon to the musical innovators who helped inspire him, R. Crumbs Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country is a must-have collection for Crumb aficionados, comics fans, and music lovers alike. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Hardcover: | 240 pages | | Publisher: | "Harry N. Abrams, Inc." | | Publication Date: | November 01, 2006 | | ISBN: | 0810930862 | | Package Length: | 7.2 inches | | Package Width: | 5.8 inches | | Package Height: | 1.1 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.2 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 15 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
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Great for the music too... Jul 05, 2008
In 20/20 hindsight (or hindsound?) I bought the book intending to learn about music. Taken purely as an introduction to three genres of early American music, the book is a success. The pictures (and introduction to R. Crumb the artist) were a huge bonus. Wow! The CD with it completes the trifecta.
This is a fantastic introduction to multiple artistic elements - perhaps a few that will catch the reader/viewer/listener off guard. Enjoy!
Novelty Item Reincarnated As Artistic Tour De Force Jun 18, 2008
Richard Nevins of Rounder Records first came up with the idea for Robert Crumb to illustrate a series of early Blues, Jazz, and Old Time Music and Bluegrass greats along the lines of the baseball cards of his childhood. Crumb went for the idea and produced what became three boxes of cards with illustrations taken from old photos on the front and write-ups about the players on the back (many of them by Nevins).
Now the famous fine arts publisher Abrams Books has designed and published a superb volume that includes the Crumb artwork as never before -- in brilliant color and on a larger scale than the cards -- along with expanded bios and a bonus CD that samples some of this great American roots music. Anyone interested in high-level cartoon art and this powerful expressive music will want to own this book.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
"So what is it you like about that old music?" * Mar 07, 2008
Wow! Every so often you run across something that knocks your socks off. R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz, & Country left me barefooted.
In the 1980s, Robert Crumb, whom Robert Hughes appropriately once called the "Breughel of the 20th century," created sets of trading cards featuring some of his favorite blues, jazz, and country musicians. (The plan was to include one card per LP sold by innovative record firm Yazoo.) This collection, edited by Terry Zwigoff, the same guy who directed the documentary "Crumb," pulls together the illustrations from all three sets. They're wonderful. The blues and country illustrations are drawn, and are vintage Crumb: crosshatched, brooding characters. The jazz illustrations are water-colored. They're identifiably Crumb, but have a definitely different feel to them.
Crumb is a fascinating genius. Although his art and comics tend to be avant-garde (a term he might well disdain) and iconoclastic, Crumb also has a real affinity for late 19th and early 20th century American culture. Part of this love for an earlier time, no doubt, stems from his intense dislike of the fast-paced, loud, and garish American culture he eventually fled in the 1990s (Crumb now lives in France). But part of it is that he thinks the music produced in the early 20th century represents folk art at its finest and purest, before music became an industry. Crumb began collecting old 78s when he was still a teenager, and his love for the older music has never waned.
And so to the piece de resistance of this book: the accompanying 21 cut CD. Crumb personally chose the pieces, and they're absolutely fantastic. Except for a couple of the blues and jazz musicians, all of the artists are virtually unknown except to the afficionado. But man oh man, are they wonderful. Skip James' rendering of "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues" is a heart-breaker. Dock Boggs' "Sugar Baby" and Burnett & Rutherford's "All Night Long Blues" are haunting in their strange but beautiful ways. And no matter how bad things get, Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra's "Kater Street Rag" will pick you up. My son and I have listened to the CD over and over and over, and we never get tired of it. He prefers the blues and jazz, I'm in love with the hillbilly blue grass cuts. But the whole CD--well, it just knocks your socks off.
Wow.
_____
* From R. Crumb's essay "To Be Interested in Old Music is To Be a Social Outcast!", The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book, p. 191. "You play old records for most people, and, if they listen at all, after the record's over they turn to you and say, 'So what is it you like ab out that old music?' You just want to throw up your hands."
Great collection Jan 03, 2008
I have the original jazz card set by R. Crumb, so I was very happy to receive this re-compendium as a gift. The reproductions of the artwork are better than the cards, and Zwigoff's introduction is amusing. The CD is a great bonus, also. One goof I noticed is that the final cut is not Jimmy Noone's "King Joe," but Paul Whiteman's Orchestra with Bing Crosby's vocal, "From Monday On," featuring a good Bix Beiderbecke solo.
what a delight Nov 09, 2007
What a gem to find on your doorstep on a sunny afternoon. Book-CD full of mystery and joy. I passed it around at a picnic and everyone had a personal take on it. The music took me way back to my early childhood and me dad playing that early jazz stuff on Swaggy records. Dock Boggs music is chilling - always sends shivers up my spine. Jaybird Coleman is a revelation. It would be worth it for these alone but theres much much more.
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