I wish I could remember the name of the library book I got these pictures from. Maybe it was a history of rock & Roll. Anyway, what do you think of them? I love the picture of the Jitterbug musicians on top. Is that Duke Ellington on the left? No, it couldn't be, he'd be older. The guy on the right is surely one of the happiest people ever captured by photography. I know how he feels. It's a great feeling to get some drastic new threads! Other musicians and vocalists (below) include Louis Jordan, Nathaniel Mayer, Little Richard and...who are those 70s guys?
I love that top picture. It's almost like going through my mom's old photos. I'm gettin' a suit like that, soon as I get paid. Check out how much yardage is in those pants. Killer! How could anybody not want to be like them guys? I wish I coulda been around back in the 40's. Too cool.
ReplyDeleteI used to do the vintage fashion thing, then 2 things happened. It became harder to find, and I didn't want to look that hard, and somebody stole my rental Cadillac from by the Boston Commons with my irreplaceable never-worn-before-I got-'em 1950's handmade cap toe shoes in the trunk. Screw the car, I lost my goddamn cap-toes! You could not believe how beautiful they were. I used to wake up screaming, in a cold sweat, knowing that another man had his nasty feet inside them. Neither me nor my image ever recovered.
Eddie - this is complelely off-topic, but can you do a post about Sports Cartoonists soon?
ReplyDeleteThey seem to have fallen off the face of the earth, along with blacksmiths, dog catchers, milkmen and truant officers.
Young cartoonists should at least know who Willard Mullin was.
I have plenty of reference for you to scan, don't worry about material...
Mike
Mike
ReplyDeletewhy don't you do one?
Me or Eddie could post it. But you should write one, 'cause you're the expert. Talk about how important it is for cartoonists to be athletic.
Um, I don't actually know any cartoonists who are athletic!
ReplyDeleteThe most excercise I get is typing fast when I'm mad at the comments.
I don't reckon I have descend by websites alike this usually enough . I surely am for sure even if I came , I would not yearn to head anywhere else. - contact lenses
ReplyDeleteHoly crap! English lessons are two doors down, pal.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he lost his contact lenses...
ReplyDelete"I think, therefore I am." - Descartes
ReplyDelete"I surely am for sure even if I came." - Anonymous
(I'm adding that one to my list of quotable quotes for surely sure!)
Jesus, Eddie--you simply have to enable that "Jumble" feature here--otherwise before you know it the usual backchat will be subsumed in contact lenses and viagra and vicodin ads. We can take it!
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a good book-I wish you could recall the title. Great pictures. As for the sports cartoonists...*sigh*--Mike really must do a guest post. All I can say is that I've heard the name Mullins, and that's probably "Moon" not Willard...so ignorant! I want to know.
They had style. Rich or poor. Legends or forgotten, those guys knew how to craft an image. That's what's lacking in most of today's performers.
ReplyDeleteHi Eddie
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Rock & Roll from the 1950's! Heres a list of my favorite 50's Rock & Rollers.
1. Little Richard
2. Chuck Berry
3. Fats Domino
4. Bo Diddlely
5. The Platters
6. The Coasters
7. The Drifters
And many other 50's and early 60's R&B, Doo Wop or Blues songs.
P.S.
ReplyDeleteI also love Jazz, Swing, Big Band, Lounge and Quartet singers. Heres my list of favorite singers.
1. Louis Prima
2. Frank Sinatra
3. Dean Martin
4. Sammy Davis Jr.
5. Bobby Darin
6. Keely Smith
7. Sam Butera
8. Tony Bennett
9. Nat King Cole
10. The Mills Brothers
11. The Four Lads
12. The Crew Cuts
13. Count Basie
And many others!
I am a 21 year old man who LOVES old music, And proud of it!
Hi Uncle Eddie,
ReplyDeleteGreat post as usual! I always feel like I'm learning something new every day when I read your posts.
Some of those guys in this post were the innovators of modern music. Re: the 70s guys in the post - I'm wondering if that's the Spinners - don't quote me, I'm not sure.
I think I'm going to try to find that book and add it to my own library. Thanks for the recommendation!
I never understood why it's ok to think ridiculous "hip" clothing styles from the 40's and 50's are cool but not ridciculous "hip" styles from the modern hip-hop era are cool. Instead most of us get mocked for keeping up with the times. I think the 40's Zoot Suit pachuco style is sweet, but I can see that it's not logical to wear pants that high and that baggy.
ReplyDeleteI don't see anything ridiculous about those suits. I see something ridiculous about wearing lime green polyester leisure suits.
Wearing clothes used to be about fashion. Now it's about logos.
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ReplyDeleteI don't see these styles as "ridiculous", either. To the contrary - there's something classic about them. They still look awesome almost 50 years later - no mean feat. It remains to be seen how today's hip-hop fashion will hold up twenty years from now.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it'll wear nearly as well, to put it mildly. With their 10-pound imitation "gold" chains, and trademark XXXL pants sagging idiotically around their knees - they already look like retarded, homeless clowns.
It's the perfect look for hip-hop, actually, because it captures the ignorant aspects of the music perfectly.
Here's the other thing-- hip hop isn't really fashion, it's anti-fashion. It's not about style, it's about street cred. It's about looking hard, not about looking sharp. It's a look based in gang-banging and hiding sawed-off shotguns in your pants. Jailhouse chic, yo. No doubt.
ReplyDeleteIf I see one more rapper on stage under those hotass lights pimpin' a XXXL antarctic parka and a ski cap...
When I was a kid I wanted to wear what kids wore, but I still had my own sense of style about it. If I was a kid today I'd be the same. No popular trend could get me not to pull my pants over my ass and wear a belt, or to refuse to tie my shoes.
M.C. Hammer ruined his own fashion legacy by allowing himself to be the subject of that piece of shit DIC cartoon series.
ReplyDeleteLOL I think sparkle parachute pants did it all by themselves. Hammer was doomed from the minute gangsta rap appeared in the mainstream.
ReplyDelete