R. Crumb's Music

[journeybear]

Preaching to the choir, man. I'm in the middle of doing just that - having a professional make digital copies of some recently discovered cassette tapes of a couple of my previous bands. I think the fiddler was caught up in the moment and shared this song right away. I understand this, having experienced a similar thrill when I found my tapes - but I had the discipline to keep from putting these tapes into one of my cassette deck, not trusting them with anything so irreplaceable. As I said, he is already planning on doing the same, but perhaps I should reinforce this notion. Thanks!

[jaycat]

What are you doing surfing the net at work?

I'm a Union Man. We get breaks!

[mandoisland]

R. Crumb is a great artist and also a great Oldtime mandolin player.

I have recently found a gallery which sells R. Crumb prints - maybe you like to visit the site and find some interesting Works of Art by R. Crumb:

Crumb Prints

If you are interested in R. Crumbs great collection of 78 records go to:

John's Old Time Radio Show

[Steve Lavelle]

My entry into this comedic form of string band music was through a group called the Star Spangled Washboard Band. My oldest brother would bring tapes home from college in upstate NY (RPI) around 1970. They had one album, A Collectors Item, that eventually led me to Crumb, Redbone, Hicks, Hartford, etc. Thanks for bringing back some of those memories, JB!

re: Analog tape restoration. I highly recommend the site http://www.tangible-technology.com/tape/baking1.html
a.k.a If I knew you were coming I would have baked a tape

[journeybear]

Forgive me if I repeat some of this. I'm a little excited. And this summarizes some earlier posts.

This just in: The fiddler from my first real band found some old tapes and has been having them digitized. Since we were active in the days before everything was videoed digitally, there is no footage of us. I doubt there are many stills either, though I know we had a publicity still. He used our old business card, artwork by the guitarist.

The song is an old novelty tune from the 1930s that we learned from R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders. It was one of our showstoppers, and a song that truly changed my life (I think I've told at least part, if not most, of that story before; it's too long to go into now). We followed their arrangement for the most part, but in this version we repeat a verse, which I believe was a mistake - but we do it seamlessly, so you wouldn't know it. The thing about this band (guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bass added later) is that we met at an open mike / song circle, and it was so odd that we liked the same kooky, obscure musicians - Dan Hicks, Leon Redbone, and these guys - that we just had to form a band. It was a great experience, those two years. I learned a lot and met some lifelong friends through it. And it's great to have something to show for it, and share with you, nearly 35 years later.