Heroes of the Blues • Early Jazz Greats • Pioneers of Country Music

The Ultimate Music Fan Stocking Stuffer!

Each set features four-color images printed on one side, with corresponding bios of the musicians on the other, packaged in full-color boxes, 3″ x 4″ x 1″, on heavy card stock.

Featuring 36, 36 and 40 card images respectively, all sets are sealed, new and mint.. The blues and jazz sheets include promotional cards for their counterpart sets.

Originally released in 1980 by Kitchen Sink Press, the card sets being auctioned were re-released in 2004 (blues) & 2005 (jazz & country) by publisher Dennis Kitchen. The cards are unique and informative tributes to the cream of each genre’s seminal practitioners, each artist wonderfully rendered with nobility and grace in full color by legendary cartoonist R. Crumb.

Heroes of the Blues features 36 of the genre’s most influential and imitated practitioners, from Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House and Big Bill Broonzy , to lesser-known but no less accomplished progenitors like Blind Blake and Memphis Minnie. Biographer Stephen Calt documents the origins of the performers as well as the number of sides they recorded and their respective places in blues history. This is a great place for budding rock players to get a feel for where it all began.

Of the three sets, Early Jazz Greats contains perhaps the most impressive array of well-known characters from American musical mythology, whose contributions continued from the ‘20s and ‘30s well into the 1970s, with their vast influence still informing jazz today. Among the stellar members of this who’s who of jazz royalty are: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Mary Lou Williams, Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Earl Hines, James P. Johnson, Joe “King” Oliver, Joe Venuti, Benny Goodman and many more. All have bios, which include contain details about each musician, including their recording history, often citing their record labels.

Bigger than its counterparts at 40 cards, the Pioneers of Country Music set leads with Country/Folk/Bluegrass heavy-hitters Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. But aside from their musical virtuousity, what names! Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers, The Happy Hayseeds, Hoyt Ming and his Pep Steppers, the Buckle Busters, Log Rollers, Tar Heel Rattlers, Fox Chasers and Possum Hunters to name but a few. Richard Nevins’ cardback bios contain fascinating detail about each performer’s place in history. Nevins also goes into some detail about each performer’s recording history, often noting record labels and “firsts” for performers. There is lots of fun buried in this treasure chest of arcane country lore.

These cards are wonderfully informative, providing insights and little-known facts about each performer and the illustrations are beautiful. The set of three makes for a very desireable collectible gift for fans of early American Music or of R. Crumb.

Card sets ship together in a very sturdy box.

Of the three Crumb music card sets, Early Jazz Greats easily contains the most well-known characters from American musical mythology. The contributions of these 36 legendary musical souls continued from the ‘20s and ‘30s well into the 1970s, with their vast influence still informing jazz today.

The set is colorful and rich with detail as 36 of the genre’s most influential and enduring musicians are depicted with style and grace. The card backs contain concise biographies of each, including recording session details and record label history.

Performers: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Mary Lou Williams, Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Earl Hines, James P. Johnson, Joe “King” Oliver, Joe Venuti, Benny Goodman and more, 36 in all.

Illustrator: R. Crumb

Size: 3 x 4 x 1

Condition: Mint Sealed

Featuring 40 card images, sets are sealed, new and mint.

This country card set was released in 2005 by publisher Dennis Kitchen.  The cards are unique and informative tributes to the cream of the genre’s seminal practitioners, each artist wonderfully rendered with nobility and grace in full color by legendary cartoonist R. Crumb, himself an early American Music devotee.

Bigger than its counterparts at 40 cards, the Pioneers of Country Music set leads with Country/Folk/Bluegrass heavy-hitters Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.

But aside from their pedigrees and musical virtuousity, these great ensembles had some of the greatest band names ever. Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers, The Happy Hayseeds, Hoyt Ming and his Pep Steppers, the Buckle Busters, Log Rollers, Tar Heel Rattlers, Fox Chasers and Possum Hunters to name but a few. Richard Nevins’ cardback bios contain fascinating detail about each performer’s place in history, with as much detail about each performer’s recording history. There’s not much space, but he manages to note record labels and “firsts” for performers. There is lots of fun buried in this treasure chest of arcane country lore.

It is one of three similar sets. The others, Early Jazz Greats and Pioneers of Country Music, are also superbly done. You can click on the boxes at the upper right if you’d like to explore or purchase those as well.

In all the sets, Crumb’s meticulous illustrations, which were created mainly from photographs, belie the hard lives most of these men (and woman — Memphis Minnie is the only woman in the set) led. But the portraits are beautiful, and the card-back biographies by Stephen Calt are very informative, focusing on the often mercurial recording careers of the artists. They are obviously heartfelt, but not sentimental.

The set features 36 of the genre’s most influential and imitated practitioners, from Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House and Big Bill Broonzy , to lesser-known but no less accomplished progenitors like Blind Blake and Memphis Minnie. Calt covers the performers in super-concise prose, covering their origins as well as the number of sides they recorded and their respective places in blues history. This is a great place for budding rock players to get a feel for where it all began.