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[Crumb interviewed by Eli Smith. Photo by Eden Brower, 2010]
On today’s show I speak with Robert Crumb. R. Crumb is best known as a cartoonist and illustrator, but what a lot people don’t know about him is that he is a very talented old-time mandolin player and a very serious collector of 78rpm records! I caught up with Robert Crumb at John and Eden (The East River String Band)’s apartment over on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. We had a good talk about Crumb’s interest in the old music and his early experiences finding old 78rpm records in the same junk shops where he searched for old comics as a kid. He has traveled extensively in search of records! meeting interesting personalities in strange places, from Delaware and Cleveland all the way to Argentina and Uruguay. Robert Crumb plays live on the show together with Eden and John’s East River String Band.
Tracks played on today’s episode (a lot of this stuff has never been reissued!):
Thanks to John Heneghan for supplying much of the music for this program.
Shook It Up This Morning – Joe Evans & McClain
KWKA Blues – Eddie & Sugar Lou’s Hotel Tyler Orchestra
Happy Days & Lonely Nights – Charlie Fry And His Million Dollar Pier Orchestra
Ginseng Blues – The Kentucky Ramblers
Sacalelo Desparejo – Trio Odeon (Iriate/Pesoa/Pagez)
Your Soul Never Dies – Smith’s Carolina Crackerjacks
Risonha – Luperce Miranda
Farethee Blues – East River Stringband w/ R. Crumb
Hy Patillion – East River Stringband w/ R. Crumb
And don’t forget to check out our good friends at the Old Time Herald Magazine – www.oldtimeherald.org – lots of great articles, reviews and more!
Thanks Eli, Robert, John, and Eden. Very enjoyable interview and fantastic music.Love that Luperce Miranda tune! And very glad you included 2 tunes from ERSB’s new album Be Kind to a Man When He’s Down.Again, thanks for sharing the rarities on shellac and thanks also for the informative conversation. First time I listened to the radion in 30 years-HAH, it was worth the wait!
Thanks to John and Eden, who turned me on to this interview, I spent a good long while picturing Robert rambling on about stories searching for these GREAT OLD TUNES and the weird allusions to colors and chords??? Plaid??? What were y’all drinkin’??? Couldn’t travel to New York to catch the Jalopy show, but you can count on John, Eden, Robert and company to be puttin’ on one heckuva show. Take note that Robert and John, both, have incredibly clean sounding rare 78’s that nobody’s heard in 80 years! And probably multiple copies to boot! I could on and on about all of the music and Robert’s extensive history with it, but the old music is not ‘archaic’ or ‘strange’. Remember, these old 78’s are the beginning of recorded sound, and everything we have now is a direct descendant and goes full circle sooner or later! The whole universe is held together by musical strings, our brains are hard wired for the stuff, and we simply can’t exist without it. One string cigar box guitars or massive mountains of electronic toys, anyone can play music if they just let it out, like Robert and ‘playing by ear’. Man! What a great interview! ‘Til next time, give ’em all a good shellacin’, and THANKS for filling up my night with something other than the ‘cultural hum’….
I am a great fan of Down Home Radio I am grateful for his exposure to the Cangelosi Cards among Mr. Smith’s accomplishment. Having said that I was very disappointed with the Crumb interview. I have a great deal of respect for Mr.Crumb as a cartoonist/Illustrator. His musical comments are wanting. How dare he critize John Hammond Jr. John Hammond is a an accomplished guitarist, slide guitar, slide player. He is also a valuable researcher. how was part of a wonderful expose on Robert Johnson. Mr Crumb is obsessed with his old 78’s We Bluesmen are obsessed with the Human Condition and the stories the music tells. Does Mr crumb no realize that when Walter “Furry” Lewis, Mississippi John Hurt, Son House were rediscovered, none of them sounded like the old 77’s he worships. Does Mr Crumb understand field research that while he was chasing after old records, John Hammond and Henry Vestine and many of the 60’s icons (Mr Crumb expressed disdain for , were chasing after human beings trying to bring them back to the public eye. If Mr. Crumb doesn’t appreciate that, thats regrettable
As the Memphis Jug Band wrote” Mr Crumb don’t like it , ain’t gonna have it here”
I am an XM subscriber to the Down Home Radio Pod casts. Thank you Eli Smith for this priceless radio show.
Let me preface my comments by saying I have the greatest respect for Robert Crumb as an Illustrator and a cartoonist . His music critique I am not so sure of:
I don’t mean to be overly critical but I was taken back by Mr.Crumb’s comments about John Hammond Jr. Does he realize John Hammod’s contribution the Blues Art. His ability as a Guitarist, Slide player and Harp (Harmonica) ? What about his field research. He was responsible for the “Search for Robert Johnson” Film
Mr Crumb seem to question his authenticity : Something Johnny Shines, Dave”Honeyboy Edwards and Robert Junior Lockwood repeatedly validated
I would ask that Robert Crumb rethink his comments:
The fact is, if you are a 78 collector, like I am, you want the authenticity from that time. You do not warm up to reinterpretations of white people who are covering original blues artists from the Jim Crow era. Playing it yourself is something quite different. But I too saw the documentary, and I have to say I had almost the same cringe. I too hate 60’s folk versions of Carter Family etc by Joan Baez and Judy Collins. I do disagree about Dylan tho. He is one of my favorites.