Category Archives: Sheet Music Covers

Comments on some special, funny or beautiful covers

Pas de Quatre, Pas de Doubles

Usually a collector avoids double or triple items. But sometimes they lead to discoveries. Did you know for example that in the 19th-century print shop it was common practice to apply what we could call lithoshopping on the limestone plate? Look for yourself.

Pas-de-Quatre-small
Two almost identical covers for the ‘Pas de Quatre‘ dance by Meyer Lutz.
Added smiles on the faces of the dancers surely had to attract more customers and increase sales.

In fact, some publishers shamelessly recreated on the stone almost identical copies of the covers originally published in another country.

It appears that the French edition on the right is almost identical to the British one (left), after the image is shown mirrored.

And then again, one Pas de Quatre is not the other Pas de Quatre, or is it?

'Pas de Quatre' sheet music covers from www.imagesmusicales.be

Zouzou

Haïti, illustrated by Ch. Roussel
Haïti‘ by Vincent Scotto, published by Salabert (Paris, 1934) and illustrated by Ch. Roussel

Last night I watched the movie Zouzou directed by Marc Allegret in 1934. Jean and Zouzou are two orphans adopted by a sideshow talker. He presents them in the circus as freaky twins because Jean is white and Zouzou is black. Very strange indeed.

baker gabin
Josephine Baker as Zouzou and Jean Gabin as Jean.

As adults, Jean (Jean Gabin) becomes a sailor and Zouzou (Josephine Baker) a laundress. Zouzou has an unrequited love for Jean who is only able to love her as a sister. A few intrigues later Zouzou, who is a talented singer and dancer, starts to work in a music hall. And this leads us to the climax of the film when Josephine Baker sings Haïti. Scantily clad in some feathers she sits on a swing in a gilded bird cage like an exotic bird, ending the song with an elegant stage dive.

Bizarrely, for the cover of the sheet music the illustrator selected another scene from the film. Was the scene in the cage too risqué? You can judge for yourself or just enjoy the talented Miss Baker.

Terribly Drunk

Pochard-11501_1
Un Pochard à la Cambronne‘, a monologue by Lucien Delormel (Paris, s.d.), illustrated by Candido de Faria

The drawing of a drunken man by Faria is more realistic than the complete oeuvre of Emile Zola. The poor devil is so soaked that he can’t control his bowel movements any more. And to make matters worse, his pants have seen better days. Faria took the title of the monologue quite literally: un pochard means a drunk, a dipsomaniac. A la Cambronne can be translated as ‘in the manner of Cambronne’. Pierre Cambronne was a French general who allegedly replied ‘Merde !’ when he had to surrender in Waterloo. So the expression ‘à la Cambronne’ became a euphemism for merde.

Drunk as shit, I suppose…