(This post is by Dad.)

I love Jazz and Blues. I also love R. Crumb’s illustrations. I still have a few of his underground comics from the late 60’s and early 70’s. Mr. Natural was my favorite. The illustrations were superb and the stories were funny, perverted and usually satirized some aspect of 60’s counterculture, of which I was a participant. So, when I saw “R. Crumb’s Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country,” I knew I wanted a copy. This is a somewhat more serious Crumb. His illustrations are finely drawn and each jazz or blues great is posed naturally. Even as a blues aficionado, I wasn’t familiar with many of the groups in the book. Whoever heard of “Red Peterson’s Piedmont Log Rollers” or “The Happy Hayseeds?” Crumb surely wanted to represent the lesser known groups. The original drawings were done in the 1980’s from old photographs. They came as a boxed set of trading cards and were available in shops in the West Village. They sold well and there were numerous printings. Now, it’s a treat to have them in book form. Each illustration has a bio of the musician on the facing page. On the inside cover is a music CD with 21 songs chosen by Crumb. Even the CD looks great. This book is a treasure I look at again and again.

© Julia Rothman 2007