I Got a Head Like a Rock; Fare Thee Well: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Josh White. side 1: I Got a Head Like a Rock; side 2: Fare Thee Well (Asch 348-1), from the album, Songs By Josh White (Asch 348). 78 rpm.

Album cover illustration was by David Stone Martin (born David Livingstone Martin, 1913-1992). Martin was an American artist best known for his illustrations on jazz album covers for labels including Mercury, Asch, Disc, and Dial. Many of his commissions were from Martin’s longtime friend, American jazz record producer and concert promoter Norman Granz (1918-2001).

American writer and social activist Langston Hughes (1901-1967) wrote the liner notes for this album.

Materials, dates and provenance

• release date: 1944
• recording artist: White, Josh
• artist: Martin, David Stone
• writer: Hughes, Langston
• manufacturer: Asch
• Object Name: sound recording
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Physical Description: shellac (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 10 in; 25.4 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York
• ID Number: 1988.0824.33
• accession number: 1988.0824
• maker number: 348-1
• catalog number: 1988.0824.33
• Credit Line: Gift of Lillian S. Kaplan
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.