Drew Friedman Illustration

This is a portrait of me by the brilliant illustrator, Drew Friedman. The drawing was commissioned by my wife, Joette Katz, for my 70th birthday in 2019. In the original photo that the portrait is based on I am playing a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Special that has a long history. I purchased it for $100 in 1967 from another local musician. It was the third guitar that I used while playing in “The Institution”, a northern New Jersey garage band that I co-founded with Richard Lester, J. Howard Duff, and Marvin Coopersmith. This is a one-of-a-kind guitar. Originally a Les Paul Special in TV Yellow, the body was sanded down by its previous owner and it was stained dark brown prior to my purchasing it. Around 1969 I had the body altered by Dan Armstrong (creator of the Plexiglas “see-through” guitar; he is now deceased) in New York City. The front of the body was resurfaced by Dan with a blonde maple veneer with inlaid piping around the edge. The entire guitar was cleaned-up and reconditioned in 2016 by DRG Guitars in Fairfield, CT.

My collection of Drew’s work includes his books, comics with his art, and several limited edition prints, including: Charles Bukowski; Cheap Thrills: Janis Joplin and R. Crumb; Jerry Lewis: Hey Oscar; Plan 9 From Outer Space; R. Crumb at 75; The Three Stooges With Vernon Dent; and Zacherly.

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