More Covers: David Stone Martin
Well, we just caught up with some Andy Warhol covers, now how about some David Stone Martin? Let’s start with one of our favorites, covers and music: Lester Young, The President Plays, Norgran 1050. This was an original yellow label pressing. The record was in VG+ condition and the cover was VG++. The price was $120.50. Here’s another one from Pres: Lester Young, The President, Norgran 1005. This LP was in just good condition for both the vinyl and the cover. It sold for $261. Beats us.
Benny Carter, Cosmopolite, Norgran 1070. This was an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $111.50.
Bud Powell, Jazz Giant, Norgran 1063. This was an original pressing that was
also in M- condition for both the vinyl and the cover. It sold for $400.50.
Count Basie, Basie, Clef 666. This was an original pressing that looked to be in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $89. You don’t often see Count Basie in Jazz Collector, but we have a feeling this one sold for a decent price specifically for the great David Stone Martin cover.
Al: it is good you are highlighting these Norgrans and Clefs. They are an essential part of the jazz landscape.
i was just surfing the Web and found this obituary of David Stone Martin from the NY Times in 1992. It’s nice that they are archiving all of this material. It may be interesting to go back to and do other searches as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/09/obituaries/david-stone-martin-78-an-artist-who-specialized-in-jazz-albums.html
didn’t “The New Yorker”, some decades ago, do an article on DSM?
I didn’t find that, but I did find this. Did you know of the “torrid affair” with Mary Lou Williams?
“llustrator David Stone Martin was one of the most prolific and influential graphic designers of the postwar era, creating over 400 album covers. Much of his work spotlighted jazz, with his signature hand-drawn, calligraphic line perfectly capturing the energy and spontaneity of the idiom. Born David Livingstone Martin in Chicago in 1913, he later studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and began his career as an assistant to the social realist painter Ben Shahn, designing murals during the 1933 World’s Fair. Martin spent the remainder of the decade as art director of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and served during World War II as an artist/correspondent for Life magazine. After returning to the U.S. he mounted a career as a freelance artist, landing advertising gigs for clients including the Disc Company of America, CBS Television, and Lincoln Center; in 1948, he also began teaching at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art, followed in 1950 by a year at New York City’s Workshop School of Advertising and Editorial Art. Martin entered music illustration through his longtime friendship with producer Norman Granz, designing label art for Granz’s Verve, Norgran, Clef, and Down Home imprints as well as hundreds of now-classic cover paintings for acts including Count Basie, Art Tatum, Gene Krupa, and Lionel Hampton. Martin also created a series of designs for the pianist Mary Lou Williams, with whom he enjoyed a torrid affair. Martin’s work has exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and others. He died of pneumonia in New London, CT, on March 6, 1992. Jason Ankeny”
no, I didn’t. Interesting necrology.
I just got a perfect copy of -The President Plays- at a garage sale here in Hopkins, MN. $5
Couldn’t believe it. The lady didn’t know what she had.
JR
I’ve been a 78 collector since 1942. Between 1955 and 1981, I didn’t buy a single 78—just LPs. I then began re-buying 78s. Today, I buy 78s at record bashes, through mail auctions, from estates of deceased collectors, directly from collectors, collectible stores, and once in awhile from a record store. Only twice have I experienced record breakage of merchandise shipped via mail. I mainly buy 78s issued between 1930 and 1945, but have a lot of Bop and modern jazz.
Do you buy David Stone Martin covers and vinyl?