In the '80s, underground cartoonist Robert Crumb published his Heroes of the Blues, Early Jazz Greats
and Pioneers of Country Music trading card sets, featuring his
highly stylized drawing of the artists on the front and biographical
and discographical information on the back. In 2006, they were collected in book form, along with a 21-track CD compiled by Crumb.
Muddy Waters
On Monday, cartoonist William Stout released a new book, Legends of the Blues,
which includes 100 additional portraits of blues artists done in the
Crumb style, along with a CD of his own. He does not repeat any of
the 36 blues people in Crumb's original set. I haven't seen the
Stout book yet, but if you go to this article on the Mother
Jones website, you can sample
Robert Johnson, Huddie Ledbetter, Muddy Waters, and ten other Stout
portraits.
Jerry's Records is a Pittsburgh store
run by Jerry Weber and his son Willie that specializes in rare
vinyl—or in this case, shellac. He made the news in November when
he bought several boxes of old 78 rpm records for $50. The stash
turned out to include a rare copy of Robert Johnson's 1936 recording
of “I Believe I'll Dust My Broom” (Vocalion 03475). The record
was in VG condition (that is, worn but still listenable) and was
valued at between $6,000 and $12,000.
A couple of weeks ago, Jerry and Willie had another stroke of good luck—although this is the kind of luck
that is most likely to come to experts in their field. They bought a
group of 78s by Blind Lemon Jefferson—for a lot more than $50, I'm
sure—and discovered in the set an extremely rare country blues
recording: “Adam and Eve in the Garden”/”I Heard the Voice of
a Pork Chop” (Paramount 12693), by Bogus Ben Covington, recorded in
September 1928. This one is in mint condition, making it very
valuable.
Little is known about Ben Covington.
His real name may be Ben Curry, and he also recorded as Blind Ben
Covington and Memphis Ben. The nickname “Bogus” is said to come
from the fact that he pretended to be blind while busking.
Fortunately, both sides are posted on You Tube. They can also be
found on two 4-CD box sets on the British JSP label. “Adam and
Eve” is on When the Levee Breaks: Mississippi Blues, Rare Cuts,
1926-1941, and “Pork Chop”
is on A Richer Tradition: Country Blues and String Band
Music, 1923-1942.
Both
sides are essentially the same tune with very different lyrics.
Covington accompanies himself on banjo, and probably on harmonica as
well. (On old records, you can usually tell whether a singer is
accompanying himself by the overlap, or lack of it, between voice and
harmonica.) Rather than suggesting that Covington was schizophrenic
or religious, the talking pork chop song is a novelty about his
dietary preferences. The style of these songs is consistent with the
hypothesis that he was a minstrel show performer.
The
story gets even more interesting. The great cartoonist Robert Crumb,
who now lives in France, is an avid country blues collector. You may
have seen Crumb's trading cards with drawings of early jazz and blues
artists. A mutual friend arranged a trade between the Webers and
Crumb. In exchange for the Covington 78, he has done a drawing of
Jerry and Willie which they are free to use in promoting their
business. They expect to have a T-shirt with the drawing available
in the Spring.
