Like Crumb I’m both an artist and musician*, so I find this fascinating and compelling in just about every way one could. His tastes in music are, like all sorts of folk, from Woody Allen to the now deceased Dan Hicks, to some extent, what is sometimes called ‘old timey’.
Whilst my musical tastes overlap with Allen and Crumb et al to some extent, their passion for these older art forms is obsessive – i.e. well beyond my own dilettante interest – which is great, as one can learn a lot from them. Crumb’s distinctive visual style includes not just his talent as an artist, with an emphasis on the cartoonish, but also as both designer and calligrapher.
In addition to his many terrific album covers, for labels like Yazoo, Shanachie, and others, this book also gathers together many music related Crumb works, from his early blues and jazz trading cards, to pin badges, calling cards, posters, and other related ephemera.
The whole lot comes in a slipcase, the shiny black hardback making a square yet ‘record’ like insert, complete with circular cut-outs on the hardback slipcase, like an old paper record-sleeve. As with all Crumb’s stuff, it’s eclectic, individual, beautifully done, and filled with verve and joie de vivre.
Superb, and highly recommended.
* I’m not comparing myself to Crumb in terms of talent or success!