Claudine: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A song book with sheet music for the 1974 film, Claudine. The front cover is white with rows of orange hearts, black text, and eight (8) color photographs. Black cursive text at the top of front cover reads, [Claudine]. Across the center of the front cover is a light blue field. At the center of the blue field is a large color image of Gladys Knight and the Pips. Gladys Knight is depicted wearing a blue dress with two (2) metal rings below the shoulders. Standing behind Gladys Knight, and depicted from left to right, is Edward Patten, Merald “Bubba” Knight, and William Guest. The men are wearing matching costumes with red collared shirts, blue vests, and blue ties. Seven (7) small, color film stills from the movie are displayed around the central image. Most of the images depict Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones. Two of the images also depict Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Tamu Blackwell, David Kruger, Yvette Curtis, Eric Jones, and Socorro Stephens. The interior pages are white with black text, black-and-white photographs, and sheet music. The booklet includes sheet music for the songs “On And On”, “Claudine,” “The Makings Of You,” “Make Yours A Happy Home,” “Hold On,” “Mr. Welfare Man,” and “To Be Invisible.” On the second page has a large black-and-white photograph of Curtis Mayfield. The back cover is white. In the bottom left corner is black text that reads, [Exclusive Selling Agent for / the United States and Canada / WARNER BROS. PUBLICATIONS INC. 75 Rockefeller Plaza · New York, N.Y. 10019]. In the center of the bottom edge is black text that reads, [CURTOM PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.]. Printed vertically along the right edge is black text that reads, [Printed in U.S.A.]. A white adhesive label in the bottom right corner that reads, [8 95]. The booklet is forty-three (43) pages.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1974
• Published by: Curtom Publishing Company, American
• Published by: Camad Music Company
• Subject of: Gladys Knight, American, born 1944
• Subject of: Bubba Knight, American, born 1942
• Subject of: Edward Patten, American, 1939 - 2005
• Subject of: William Guest, American, 1941 - 2015
• Subject of: Diahann Carroll, American, 1935 - 2019
• Subject of: James Earl Jones, American, 1931 - 2024
• Type: sheet music
• Medium: ink on paper with metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Closed): 11 15/16 × 9 1/16 × 3/8 in. (30.4 × 23 × 0.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Open): 11 15/16 × 18 1/16 × 1 in. (30.4 × 45.8 × 2.5 cm)
• Place printed: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Hollywood (Film)
• Topic: Motown (Music)
• Topic: Popular music
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2014.288.26
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Merald "Bubba" Knight, William Guest and the Estate of Edward Patten of Gladys Knight & the Pips
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Curtom Publishing Company, Inc & Camad Music Company Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.