Earl King at Tastee Donuts

Rick Olivier

Artist's Proof, edition of 50, printed by the artist circa 2009

16x21" pigment photograph, 12x18" image, unframed

Signed, titled in ink below image and on verso

Provenance: The Artist

Condition: Excellent, rare semi-gloss/lustre surface, a.p.

Price: $450

In the early 1980's Earl King (born Earl Silas Johnson IV) could be spotted at the Tastee Donut shop on Prytania Street busily writing song lyrics in a notebook. His pen produced numerous iconic New Orleans songs and were covered by Lee Dorsey ("Do-Re-Mi"), Jimi Hendrix ("Come On"), and others, but he remains best known for the wry domestic funk of "Trick Bag". He learned his early guitar chops at the Dew Drop Inn and once filled-in for an ill Guitar Slim on national tour. Earl was a mild-mannered New Orleans original with boundless musical creativity.