The Banjo as a Comic Strip Character: Jim Scancarelli, “Gasoline Alley,” and the Five-String Banjo by Lew Stern
Jim Scancarelli (b. 1941), an American cartoonist – who, from 1986, was the writer and illustrator for the syndicated comic strip Gasoline Alley for Tribune Media Services – was also a prizewinning bluegrass fiddler and banjo player. Scancarelli was founder of The Kilocycle Kowboys, the banjoist for The Mole Hill Highlanders, and was the power behind the short-lived recording label, “Old Oblivion.” When one looks closely at the entire corpus of his Gasoline Alley work, what stands out is the extent to which the banjo itself has been a character in his comic strip for these many years. This paper will look at that “character,” or how Jim breathed life into the banjos that inhabited his comic strip from 1986 to date. This paper will also look at Jim’s own infatuation with one banjo, his lifelong loyalty to his Fender.
The concert is letting out, and Presley is worried about his car – while the little devil over Slim’s right shoulder is back, 51 years ago today in the Alley:
Lew Stern here. Just finishing the last round of proof reading work on a manuscript about Jim Scancarelli. Should be in the hands of the published by the end of this month, and with any luck published and available for sale by the end of this year. It will be released with a title that does not include references to Dracula.
I started learning ukulele last March (as soon as it looked like all my gigs would be cancelled and the outside world was closing), and the first book I read in that endeavor was by Lew Stern… “First Step”. Without that happening, this strip would have flown right over my head.
“You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t get up, but I’m very tired. I spent all night with a book collector. Specializes in best sellers. He certainly showed me some interesting ones. In fact, he tried to bury me in one. As everyone knows, the very best cellars have corpses in them” -close approximation to an opening of an Inner Sanctum episode.
i started high school in Providence RI, and Latin was a required subject…we had two teachers who would actually have conversations in front of the classroom in Latin…one looked like Boris Karloff, the other was Bela Lugosi’s twin…we had Frankenstein and Dracula speaking Latin…talk about scary
Dirty Dragon over 3 years ago
The Banjo as a Comic Strip Character: Jim Scancarelli, “Gasoline Alley,” and the Five-String Banjo by Lew Stern
Jim Scancarelli (b. 1941), an American cartoonist – who, from 1986, was the writer and illustrator for the syndicated comic strip Gasoline Alley for Tribune Media Services – was also a prizewinning bluegrass fiddler and banjo player. Scancarelli was founder of The Kilocycle Kowboys, the banjoist for The Mole Hill Highlanders, and was the power behind the short-lived recording label, “Old Oblivion.” When one looks closely at the entire corpus of his Gasoline Alley work, what stands out is the extent to which the banjo itself has been a character in his comic strip for these many years. This paper will look at that “character,” or how Jim breathed life into the banjos that inhabited his comic strip from 1986 to date. This paper will also look at Jim’s own infatuation with one banjo, his lifelong loyalty to his Fender.
Orcatime over 3 years ago
… Kinda like a lawyer, but able ter be stopped by garlic and criss-crosses! :P
Dirty Dragon over 3 years ago
The concert is letting out, and Presley is worried about his car – while the little devil over Slim’s right shoulder is back, 51 years ago today in the Alley:
https://i.imgur.com/8cOBifI.jpg
brooklynbanjoboy over 3 years ago
Lew Stern here. Just finishing the last round of proof reading work on a manuscript about Jim Scancarelli. Should be in the hands of the published by the end of this month, and with any luck published and available for sale by the end of this year. It will be released with a title that does not include references to Dracula.
Darryl Heine over 3 years ago
This should have been perfect for a Halloween month (October).
MJ Premium Member over 3 years ago
I started learning ukulele last March (as soon as it looked like all my gigs would be cancelled and the outside world was closing), and the first book I read in that endeavor was by Lew Stern… “First Step”. Without that happening, this strip would have flown right over my head.
JudyHendrickson over 3 years ago
Did he say”cellar?”Hmmmmm!!!!
MJ Premium Member over 3 years ago
“You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t get up, but I’m very tired. I spent all night with a book collector. Specializes in best sellers. He certainly showed me some interesting ones. In fact, he tried to bury me in one. As everyone knows, the very best cellars have corpses in them” -close approximation to an opening of an Inner Sanctum episode.
BlitzMcD over 3 years ago
A subtle reminder that the most endearing attribute of many of the legendary bluegrass and Americana musicians was their virtuoso level musicianship.
oakie817 over 3 years ago
i started high school in Providence RI, and Latin was a required subject…we had two teachers who would actually have conversations in front of the classroom in Latin…one looked like Boris Karloff, the other was Bela Lugosi’s twin…we had Frankenstein and Dracula speaking Latin…talk about scary
Jan C over 3 years ago
Really nice drawing of Bela Lugosi.