Amoeba is delighted to offer these extremely limited, original Louis Armstrong prints designed by renowned artist Robert (“R.”) Crumb. These hand drawn collector pieces are an Amoeba exclusive and are available in full color ($100, 20" x 25 1/4") or black-and-white ($50, 20" x 25 1/4"). We also have a limited amount of numbered full color posters signed by R. Crumb himself for $600.

Robert Crumb - Louis Armstrong [B&W]	Robert Crumb - Louis Armstrong [Color]

R. Crumb is a long time supporter of Amoeba and a huge collector of the antiquated 78 shellac record format, and also a huge fan of Armstrong (read more about Louis Armstrong's legacy here). Crumb was aware of Amoeba’s ongoing vinyl preservation and remastering process (more about that here) and was introduced to Amoeba co-founder Dave Prinz through a mutual friend, director Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Ghost World, Bad Santa), another avid 78 collector. Amoeba asked Crumb if he would create a piece for the store to commemorate its work in preserving Armstrong’s music, and he obliged. In December 2010 he drew the amazing piece that would become this print. You can own these one-of-a-kind pieces only from Amoeba.

To check out extensive LP label and price guides, head to the Vinyl Beat website!

One reaction to the digitization of our world has been the resurgence of vinyl and record collecting. People say it’s because a record feels real and sounds better than its CD or MP3 counterpart. Also dropping a needle on a turntable feels like a throwback to simpler times. Some people are taking it even further.

Some collectors are going to the roots and discovering 78s. BTW, these aren’t vinyls; they’re actually made out of a shellac mixture and are pretty fragile compared to vinyl. 78s have a broader tonal spectrum of 400hz to 10,000hz and they sound noticeably better than a 45, LP, CD, or MP3. There’s more music in their grooves!

However, there are some prerequisites for collecting 78s. First you need a turntable that can play them. A good portable ‘50s electric tube record player that can be bought at a garage sale for $50 - $100 will suffice. Purists will get an old wind up Victrola from the ‘20s or ‘30s that’s a real piece of furniture. Some prefer the cheap new designer players. They’ll work, but only until you get something better. The next step is to get a 78 needle if needed and to get your player in working order. Finally, you need to appreciate some of the music from before 1956, because there ain’t no Madonna 78s.

            

Amoeba Music is now carrying an exclusive new T-shirt with artwork by the King of Underground Comics, R. Crumb, featuring the King of the Delta Blues, Robert Johnson!

Amoeba Music has partnered with filmmaker Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Ghost World, Bad Santa) in producing a T-shirt of iconic Delta blues singer Robert Johnson drawn by underground comic artist R. Crumb from the first found photo of Johnson. This T-shirt is an Amoeba Music exclusive, available only through Amoeba.com or at all three Amoeba stores.


Here's a brief history of the image on the shirt. Up until 1973, there was no known photo of Robert Johnson, the haunting, mysterious Delta blues singer lionized by countless rock and roll bands. A postage stamp size photo taken by Johnson himself in a photo booth in the early 1930s turned up in 1973 and was published in Rolling Stone in 1986. After it was published, underground comix artist R. Crumb, a life-long 78 collector and blues fan, drew it as a cover for a highly specialized collector's publication called 78 Quarterly, a magazine specializing in stories on rare pre-war blues and jazz artists and their impossibly rare, highly coveted 78s. 

Harvey Pekar, the creator of the acclaimed autobiographical comic-book series American Splendor and the subject of the 2003 film of the same name his work inspired, was found dead by his wife, Joyce Brabner, early this morning in their Cleveland, Ohio home. He was 70 years of age. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death. Pekar and Brabner wrote the book-length comic Our Cancer Year after Pekar was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1990 and consequently underwent an exhausting treatment for the disease.

In addition to his renowned comic book series, Pekar was also a jazz music and book critic, as well as an author of short stories. Pekar won wide exposure in the 1980's for his numerous guest spots on the Late NIght with David Letterman show on NBC, during which he constantly stirred up controversy for speaking his mind and often verbally denouncing the GE corporation, who owned the network Letterman was on. Eventually he was banned (temporarily) from the show. The above Letterman show clip contains some classic Pekar moments with the no-holds-barred Pekar speaking his mind.

But it is for American Splendor that Pekar will be always best remembered. In the brutally honest, autobiographical comic-book series, he portrayed himself, in his mundane everyday trials and tribulations, as a neurotic, anxiety-ridden, obsessive compulsive, far from glamorous, file clerk "from Off the Streets of Cleveland," as the comic's subtitle stated. In real life Pekar worked as a file clerk in the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Cleveland, where he found more than a little inspiration for his work, and continued working there up until his retirement in 2001.