Fred G. Johnson’s (1892 – 1990) banners were used to illustrate A Century of Progress for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair His artwork also advertised the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey and Clyde Beatty circuses.
Hired by banner painter Harry Carlton Cummins to clean equipment and stick up banners, Cummins taught Johnson how to paint them, which he did, producing as many as four a day. The art is fast, subjective and made to deadline.
Not to be confused with the great Fred Johnson, bass singer for The Marcels.
Image captured by American photographer Joel-Peter Witkin.
Much of his work is twisted and creepy, presumably due to what he witnessed as a child, and NSFK. You’ve been warned.
My Good Pott, Doc Pomus & Curley Russell’s All Stars (1948)
Jerome Felder, better known as Doc Pomus, was one of the grandfathers of rock and roll. He wrote and performed rhythm & blues, a genre that belonged almost exclusively to black American artists whose 78s were often categorized as “race records.”
“By the late 1950’s he was established as one of the best songwriters in the business which is where he’d make his name and cement his legend. During that time it’s doubtful anyone buying his classic compositions performed by The Drifters, Dion & The Belmonts, Ray Charles and the ultimate white-Negro Elvis Presley, were even aware Pomus once sung this kind of music before any of those artists had even cut their first record.”
Violent Love, The Big Three Trio (1951) Okeh Records Active from 1946-1952,The Big Three Trio consisted of Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston (piano, vocals), Ollie Crawford (guitar, vocals) andWillie Dixon (upright bass, vocals). Dixon wrote this and many other blues standards during his lengthy career. (Note: Crawford replaced band founder and guitarist Bernardo Dennis in 1947.)
