R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders are a string band playing songs
from, and in the style of, the 1920s. As a novelty, they issued a number
of recordings on 78rpm discs in the 1970s, long after the format was
obsolete. Their three (33? rpm) albums, all recorded in the 1970s on the
Blue Goose label, were titled R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders, R.
Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders No. 2 (1976), and R. Crumb and his
Cheap Suit Serenaders No. 3 (1978); the latter two have been reissued on
the Shanachie label as Chasin' Rainbows (No. 2) and Singing In the Bathtub
(No. 3).
R. Crumb was the band's frontman and album cover artist though he is no
longer much involved with the band. The band currently includes Bob
Armstrong (vocals, saw, guitar), Bob Brozman (vocals, various steel
instruments, guitar, ukulele), Al Dodge (vocals, mandolin), Terry Zwigoff
(saw, cello, Stroh fiddle, and mandolin), and Tony Marcus
Discography not available
Videos not available
R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders,