A Short History of America by R. Crumb and Joni Mitchell

Music Video: "A Short History of America" cartoon poster by R. Crumb with music by Joni Mitchell, "The Big Yellow Taxi" ("They paved paradise to put up a parking lot!")

[dont-want-no-wrench]

the thing that sometimes gets lost about crumb, in the depths of the general weirdness and such, is that he has huge talent as a pure illustrator- the way the idea is presented.

[andyb.]

I love the way he nailed the changes. Even the telegraph, phone and power lines are accurate. The trolleys, fins on cars, everything.

[prschuster]

I'm 75, and this is exactly how the world looks to me. I've seen so many roads, buildings and street signs come and go. Everything is nostalgic to me.

[bluetortilla]

I need to listen to more Joni Mitchell

[franklinnash]

Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton are the quintessential comic artists of the 1970s. I was glad to discover that they are both still alive. We need more artists like them, honest, funny and supremely talented.

[rs]

Crumb is way deep. My favorite illustrator since the 1960s. Im 74 now still greatly enjoying. Thanks R.C.

[charlesameyer]

I like how one panel depicts the Depression, with the scene almost devoid of people and businesses boarded up, etc. A lesser artist wouldn’t remember or bother. Part of Crumb’s genius is his attention to detail.

[christophermanley]

Why did this take me 14 years to see. Beautiful.

[johnnyfreedom]

It was so good to see Robert crumbs work again! Not exactly the Robert crumb of my youth, but still an amazingly perceptive illustrator! Long live the independence of artists!

[cayankeelord]

The last panel, has a note on the bottom right "What's next ?" He should draw a follow-up to the series showing real estate signs with home prices of $1.2 mil. in "blue collar" neighborhoods and the streets lined with homeless tents and trash, a reflection of what things are like today.

[TheJanssenbart]

My heart broke when they cut down that big tree...

[PaulBonelli-wzzw]

I don't know how the Crumb piece was originally published, but I have it as a poster with all the panels, which I turned into a slide and use to show to my classes when talking about line. As a human being I get a little horrified by Crumb's accurate depiction of a piece of land transforming from wilderness to modern urbanity, but as an artist I have always appreciated his attention to detail and the way he uses line to break up a space. He sees and shows what we all try to forget.

[jimpalmer]

I like how the apartment complex in the last iteration of this scene is called "Oakwood Village, " named after the very thing that was built over.

[climateteacherjohnj]

Still timely as ever. Awesome to see this in my feeds so many years later! Thank you algorithm machine, LOL

[stubbsmusic]

Wow! Two of my favorite humans in the same video! I have multiple volumes of Robert Crumb's work at on my bookshelf, and Joni - what a gift to us all.

[bushtherapy]

I’m 68 and that sums it up
Grew up in Sydney when there were 1 million...now there is 5 million
I don’t recognise it
I moved to a little quiet village bordering a forest 24 years ago
Mainly a few old folks...but now it’s mainly rich folks with big boats and big cars

[jmason]

Beautiful & sad at the same time...the background light of the last panel is gorgeous....

[robertblackburn]

Two of America’s greatest artists tell the sad inevitable story of ‘progress’ (Joni was actually Canadian but that’s close enough for me)

[uncleskipsprairiejustice]

my all time favorite Crumb piece. has anyone presented US history so completely, so definitively and so succinctly in so few images?

[johnfenwick]

I am 71 years old I saw R Crumbs work in the Village in NYC when I was a teenager I was always a big fan no one did Comics like him thanks