"R. Crumb And His Cheap Suit Serenaders" has been added to your list of bookmarked artists
close
R. Crumb And His Cheap Suit Serenaders
Biography
A zany sense of humor fused by a psychedelicized vision made Robert Crumb one of the most influential comic artists of the 1960s. His characters, including Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, Flakey Froont, and the Vulture Demoness, and his underground comic books, such as Zap Comix, combined elements of social commentary and the British tradition of caricature. His illustrations often graced the covers of record albums, including one for Big Brother & the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills. Comics, however, represented only one side of Crumb's eccentric persona. A clawhammer-style banjo player and vocalist, Crumb led his band, the Cheap Suit Serenaders, through three albums of tongue-in-jowl, early 20th century string band and jazz ditties.

The third of five children born to career Marine Charles Crumb, Sr. and his wife, Crumb started drawing comics at the age of three. As a child, he spent hours drawing comics and was heavily inspired by Mad magazine. In 1962, Crumb accepted a job drawing greeting cards for American Greetings Corporation in Cleveland. Two years later, he married Dana Morgan and drew the earliest version of Fritz the Cat for Cavalier magazine. A turning point came in 1965 when Crumb experienced his first trip on LSD.
Selected Discography
report abuse