These R. Crumb music sets are authentic, beautiful and timelessly cool. And, at 3" x 4" x 1" they are ideal checkout impulse items and stocking stuffers, perfect for record stores.

And when you buy 15 mix and match sets, you get three collector-grade merchandising posters free with purchase.

Minimum wholesale order is 15 sets and includes the three gorgeous 14" x 17" promotional lithos, one for each set. These crisp full color posters are offset lithographs on the same heavy coated stock as the cards. They are perfect to display and/or sell.

Our standard mix is 8 Blues 4 Jazz 3 Country but we'll give you whatever you want. Just email mike@melodywholesale.com or call him at 916 501 3937

$99 price includes shipping for cards and poster set. (posters ship flat and separately).

Any questions, contact Mike Farrace at 916 485 8302 or email mike@melodywholesale.com

R. Crumb's Heroes of the Blues, Jazz Greats and Pioneers of Country Music Trading Cards.

These rich, vibrant sets are true treasures. Each 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 cardstock.

 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.

 

All three posters are comprised of four-color images printed on one side, with the card images themselves varnish-coated and printed on heavy card stock. They are very impressive -- sturdy with lively colors and impeccably printed.

The card sets they advertise are, of course, the most beautiful tributes to early American musicians ever made.

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 practicioners, each artist wonderfully rendered with nobility and grace in full color by legendary cartoonist R. Crumb, himself an early American Music devotee.


The illustrations and bios are heartfelt and informative, but not sentimental.  

Heroes of the Blues features 36 of the genre’s most influential and imitated practicioners, 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.